Principles for Implementing Duty of Care in Health and Social Care or Children

Part of my work is to ensure that the children in my care are allowed to develop these skills in a safe environment. At Westview I carry out day-to-day risk assessments for activities and excursions that each child participates in. These risk assessments look at both the spreading of infection amongst children and potential accidents, enabling children to develop more robust immune systems. As part of this I also ensure the children wash their hands after going to the toilet and eating as well as covering their mouths when sneezing and coughing.Part of my role is helping the children see the potential hazard whilst in and out of the nursery setting for example on our excursions if we are by a busy road the children know to stay as far away from the road as possible (next to the wall).

We also make them pair up to look after each other (usually an older and younger child) and the children wear high vis jackets. I have explained to the children why it is important to wear the jackets. In my role at Westview I help the children develop empathy and communication skills in various ways.I often explain to children in conflict the situation from the other child’s point of view to try and get them to think about how they would be feeling.

I patiently ask the two children together what has happened and discipline accordingly ensuring apologies are given and accepted. Part Two - Explain how duty of care contributes to the safeguarding or protection of individuals. The children at Westview are dependent on me as a childcare professional to protect them from harm.I do this in the following ways: Risk Assessments – At Westview we carry out risk assessments to ensure that we have enough staff, all medical supplies and assess risks in the area we are visiting before we take the children, for example the adult leading the group will scope out a safe area, therefore protecting the children in my care. * Setting boundaries for the children’s behavior – In order to discourage behavior that may cause distress to others or themselves, I talk to the children to explain why it is important to be well behaved and how they are expected to behave on excursions and in each different setting.

I also discipline accordingly explaining why their behavior may be wrong or upsetting to others. This shows safeguarding as we try to ensure all children are happy and not distressed by others or themselves. * Observing children and assessing development – I act as key worker for several children charting their development and monitoring progress in different areas. I monitor the children in my care and would report to the room leader should I feel that a child is not progressing to their expected age level.This would be monitored and worked through with the parents to aid development.

 Abuse – My duty of care can involve understanding how children may be abused by others for example bullying, observations can be used as a tool in order to be aware of the signs that a child could be experiencing harm physically or mentally. I would again report this information urgently to the room leader to ensure the proper procedure is followed.Part One – Describe potential conflicts or dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individual’s rights. A balanced approach need to be taken when considering conflicts between the duty of care and an individual's rights as on some occasions the individual's rights and my personal duty of care may come into conflict for example a child playing on a set of monkey bars at a playpark could be seen to put the child at risk but the risk the child is taking is part of their healthy development and my duty of care would be to keep the child safe which would conflict with this as the child could potentially fall off and hurt themselves.At the same time if I was to not allow them to go on the monkey bars to protect them from any injury I would be preventing them from natural healthy development as I would not be allowing them the element of challenging risk that is needed to be taken to allow the child to predict and avoid dangerous situations in the future.

The parents views need to be considered when analysing the child’s rights. Should the parents not want a child to participate in a certain activity this must be considered in a way that does not make the child feel isolated from the others.Part Two- Describe how to manage risks associated with conflicts or dilemmas between an individual’s rights and the duty of care. We manage risks associated with the conflicts and dilemmas between an individual's rights and the duty of care by sensibly and logically looking at the situation at hand and deciding on whether the rights of the individual or duty of care take precedence over the actions involved again this must be balanced as certain risks may need to be taken for the individual to develop in a safe and healthy environment as they may need this information to take the correct actions when needed.In cases where I would suspect child abuse or neglect of parents, I would immediately report this to management who would check the EYFS Statutory Framework and are legally obligated to report this neglect, this can be reported confidentially without breaking the confidentiality agreement with parents as our duty of care to the child outweighs this agreement with the parent.Part Three – Explain where to get additional support and advice about conflicts and dilemmas.

 If I am ever in doubt and I need additional support and advice about conflicts and dilemmas between activities or the believes of an individual child’s parents then I look to support through my room leader, mentor or other qualified staff and mainly government legislation (EYFS Statutory Framework and The Childrens Act 1989) on the rights of the child. This is all treated in a confidential manner.;