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Importance of policies and procedures in health and social care

Having robust, detailed, up-to-date policies and procedures in health and social care is an essential part of running a care service wherever you are in the UK.

We’ve covered what policies and procedures are already, but if you want to know why policies and procedures are important in health and social care then you’re in the right place.

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Written by James Taylor

  1. Why are policies and procedures important in health and social care?
  2. When registering a care service
  3. Keeping service users and staff safe
  4. Regulatory compliance
  5. Can I be prosecuted for not having the right policies and procedures?
  6. OK, so policies and procedures in health and social care are very important – is there an easier way to do it right?

Why are policies and procedures important in health and social care?

 

Policies and procedures are important in health and social care for a variety of reasons. Social care policies and procedures must be kept up to date, reviewed by management on a regular basis and:

  • Comply with current legislation, (such as The Care Act, 2014)
  • Comply with the latest regulations from your national regulator (CQC in England, Care Inspectorate Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales, RQIA in Northern Ireland)
  • Reflect best practice in the area they cover

When registering a care service

 

Perhaps the first time you will see that policies and procedures are important in health and social care is when you attempt to start a care business.

In order to provide care anywhere in the UK you need to register with your national regulator where your service is based.

No regulator will complete your registration unless you have the necessary policies and procedures (that fit the criteria in the introduction above) in place.

Links to further information on registration requirements below:

Putting in place all the necessary policies and procedures at the same time as going through the other challenges of setting up a new care service is something many new providers struggle with, even if they have worked in care already.

Not only does putting together the policies and procedures take a lot of time, they also demand expertise in lots of different areas. Many care providers used to employ consultants to provide them with policy and procedure templates.

Now, more providers are using health and social care policies and procedures software. Its better value, easier to access, understand and update, with lots of additional features that help support compliance on an ongoing basis.

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Keeping service users and staff safe

Policies and procedures are important in keeping your service users and staff safe. Policies set out your approach, attitude and values in a specific area, informing staff on why, for example, safeguarding service users, or whistleblowing is important, and how you want everyone to handle it.

Procedures are step-by-step guides to carry out specific activities, for example, administering medication to people, or providing food and drink.

Without policies and procedures in place your organisation lacks the rules and guidance needed to respond to specific situations, leaving staff to improvise or avoid action where it is necessary. This is not conducive to ensuring people are kept safe and well.

Pen on paper

Regulatory compliance

 

Maintaining robust, up-to-date policies and procedures is part of health and social care regulation. For example, under the CQC’s Regulation 17: Good Governance:

The systems and processes must also assess, monitor and mitigate any risks relating the health, safety and welfare of people using services and others. Providers must continually evaluate and seek to improve their governance and auditing practice.

In addition, providers must securely maintain accurate, complete and detailed records in respect of each person using the service and records relating the employment of staff and the overall management of the regulated activity.

Specifically, within component 17(2)(d) of CQC Regulation 17:

Records relating to the management of regulated activities means anything relevant to the planning and delivery of care and treatment. This may include governance arrangements such as policies and procedures, service and maintenance records, audits and reviews, purchasing, action plans in response to risk and incidents.

For providers in England, not meeting CQC Regulation 17(2)(d) can result in the regulator taking action. The forms of action will vary. Regulators will typically work with providers to help them improve where there is not a risk to people using the service or staff. When deciding what to do the CQC will use their decision tree.

Can I be prosecuted for not having the right policies and procedures?

Regulators of care across the UK can prosecute providers for the most serious breaches of regulations.

Not having the right policies and procedures in place does not fit in this category, however it could be used as evidence in the prosecution of a more serious failure, for example if someone was subjected to abuse and the provider did not have adequate safeguarding policies and procedures in place.

Papers

OK, so policies and procedures in health and social care are very important – is there an easier way to do it right?

 

As I’ve mentioned above policies and procedures in health and social care require a lot of time and expertise to produce. While lots of providers used to outsource this work to consultancies (and pay a fair whack for it), policies and procedures software is now the done thing.

Access Policies and Procedures is a market leading polices and procedures solution, with all the documentation you need to implement and maintain regulatory compliance. Watch a short on-demand video demonstration of the software now.

You can even download the contents list of policies and procedures for domiciliary/community or residential care settings via the links below:

Contents list for Residential Care

Contents list for Domiciliary Care

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James Taylor Head of Content health support care

By James Taylor

Head of Content health support care

James is the Head of Content in the Health, Support and Care Division at The Access Group, and has been researching and writing about health and care in the UK for over a decade.

His specialisms include how social care businesses and markets work, and the use of data and technology in health and social care. James believes in turning complex and difficult information into practical, understandable answers for health and care providers, so that they can continue their important work more easily.

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