| Assessment Number | 1 |
| Assessment Type (and weighting) | Written Essay – (50%) |
| Assessment Name | Legal and Ethical Issues – Accountability |
| Assessment Submission Date | 27/04/20 |
Learning Outcomes Assessed
LO2: Investigate local and professionally prescribed codes of ethical conduct
LO3: Appreciate the importance of professional accountability in care settings
LO5: Appreciate the importance of accurate record keeping
Essay Brief:
Accountability is a fundamental part of health and social care practice. To demonstrate your understanding of legal and ethical issues in health and social care settings you are required to write an essay of 1,750 words on Accountability. You will be required to produce a plan of your essay to discuss at your tutorial.
Your essay will be expected to address the following:
- Defining Accountability in relation to health and social care practitioners.
- To discuss the different areas that health and social care workers are accountable for within care settings. This may include:
- Self
- Patients/Public
- Employer
- Professional Regulators
- Discuss the importance of accurate record keeping
This essay should be in a standard essay format and fully referenced throughout using the Harvard System. Please ensure confidentiality is adhered to throughout.
This assignment provides 50% of your overall mark for this module
Learning Outcomes and Assessments
Learning Outcomes | Assessment |
| LO2: Investigate local and professionally prescribed codes of ethical conduct | Assessment 1: Written Essay |
| LO3: Appreciate the importance of professional accountability in care settings | Assessment 1: Written Essay |
| LO5: Appreciate the importance of accurate record keeping | Assessment 1: Written Essay |
Essay Plan
| Introduction |
| Begin with a broad and relevant statement about accountability. Move on to make three or four more focussed statements that relate to the content of the essay. This could be about the pillars of accountability, professional codes of conduct, good practice (confidentiality, consent, record-keeping, delegation), poor practice (acts and omissions), links to ethical principles and law. Finish your introduction with a ‘thesis statement’ and clearly state what the essay will do. |
| Topic 1: LO1 & 3 |
| Define accountability as you understand it Explore some definitions of accountability and what they mean Link these to some codes of conduct Relate this to health and social care |
| Topic 2: LO1 & 3 |
| The Pillars of Accountability & Spheres of Accountability Self: personal moral codes, links to ‘virtue ethics’, could bring in delegation Patient/public: criminal law and courts, civil law and courts Employer: contracts of employment, employment tribunals Professional Regulators: codes of conduct |
| Topic 3: LO5 |
| Good practice Confidentiality: GDPR & DPA 2018 Consent: MCA 2004 Record-keeping: Legality, importance, GDPR & DPA 2018 Links to Ethical Principles (Autonomy, Non-Maleficence, Beneficence, Justice) |
| Topic 4: LO2, 3 & 5 |
| Bad practice Failure to act or omission Accountability to the law Regulators Delegation Bring in ethical theories and/or principles |
| Conclusion |
| State what the essay did Make some broad points about accountability, codes of conduct, good and bad practice Make a broad statement on the importance of accountability for health and social care work |
Bibliography
Suggested for student purchase
Cuthbert, S. and Quallington, J. (2017a) Values and ethics for care practice. Banbury: Lantern
Seedhouse, D. (2007) Ethics: the heart of health care. Third edition. Chichester: John Wiley
Essential
Caulfield, H. (2005a) Accountability. Oxford: Blackwell
Dimond, B., Griffith, R. and Dowie, I. (2019a) Dimond’s legal aspects of nursing; a definitive guide to law for nurses. Eighth edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson
Griffith, R. and Tengnah, C. (2020) Law and professional issues in nursing. Fifth edition. Los Angeles: Learning Matters.
James F. Childress and Beauchamp, T. L. (2019) Principles of biomedical ethics. 8th edition
Tilley, S. and Watson, R. (2004b) Accountability in nursing and midwifery. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Science.
Recommended
Brotherton, G. and Parker, S. (2013) Your foundation in health & social care. (2ndEd). Los Angeles: SAGE
Edwards, D. and Best, S. eds. (2020) The textbook of health and social care. London: Sage
Kushner, T. and Thomasma, D. C. (2001) Ward ethics: dilemmas for medical students and doctors in training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peate, I. (2017) Fundamentals of Care: a textbook for health and social care assistants. Chichester, England: Wiley Blackwell.
Websites
HCPC – Health and Care Professions Council – Standards of conduct, performance and
ethics (no date). Available at:
http://www.hpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/
The Nursing and Midwifery Council | Nursing and Midwifery Council (no date). Available at: http://www.nmc-uk.org/
