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Understanding Your Duty of Care in Health and Social Care

In the world of health and social care, there’s one essential promise that underpins every helping hand, every comforting word, and every professional decision: the Duty of Care. This is a commitment to act in the absolute best interest of the individuals in care homes, ensuring their safety, upholding their dignity, and championing their well-being.

Whether you’re a devoted care worker providing daily support, a manager setting policy, or a family member entrusting a loved one to a care home, understanding what the duty of care is in health and social care is vital. This guide explores the meaning and scope of the legal duty of care in the UK, offering clarity on the responsibilities we all share and highlighting why this principle is so important to building a truly safe and nurturing environment.

Key takeaways:

  • Duty of care is a non-negotiable legal mandate: It is a legal and ethical obligation established through common law and legislation to act in the best interest of service users, prevent foreseeable harm, and protect their dignity.
  • Goes beyond physical scope: Duty of care extends beyond basic physical safety to include mitigating risks related to privacy, dignity, autonomy (consent under the Mental Capacity Act 2005), competence, and financial well-being.
  • Compliance covers safety, trust and quality: It protects vulnerable people, builds public trust, guarantees consistent quality of care, and ensures adherence to regulatory standards like those set by the CQC.
  • Active reporting is essential: A care worker’s role requires constantly assessing and mitigating risks, accurately documenting care, and having a responsibility to challenge or immediately report any unsafe or negligent practice.
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Contents

  1. What is the duty of care?
  2. Is duty of care a legal requirement?
  3. Why is duty of care important?
  4. Who is responsible for the duty of care?
  5. Responsibilities of duty of care
  6. Careworkers’ guide to duty of care responsibilities
  7. Duty of care at Dunham Care Homes

What is the duty of care?

Duty of care is a legal and ethical obligation to act in the best interest of individuals under your care, preventing foreseeable harm, and protecting their rights and dignity. It establishes a relationship where one party (the care provider or organisation) accepts responsibility for the safety and well-being of another (the service user or patient).

As well as being a moral principle to minimise risk to those under your care, the legal duty of care is more than an ethical guideline. It is also a binding requirement established through common law and reinforced by sector-specific legislation and regulatory bodies across the UK

Yes, duty of care is a legal requirement for care providers. It is an obligation to provide care safely and competently. While there is no single duty of care act in the UK, the requirements are deeply embedded in several pieces of legislation, including:

Breaching the duty of care can lead to serious consequences, including civil claims for negligence, professional misconduct hearings, and criminal charges.

Why is duty of care important?

The duty of care is vital as it is a legal and ethical obligation to protect individuals from harm or negligence by ensuring care providers act with reasonable care. This includes:

  • Protecting vulnerable people: It is the primary safeguard against abuse, neglect, and avoidable harm for individuals who may lack the capacity or resources to protect themselves and rely on caregivers for support.
  • Ensuring consistent quality: It provides a clear benchmark for safe practice, ensuring that consistent standards are maintained throughout an individual’s care.
  • Championing dignity and rights: The duty of care ensures that every person has the right to privacy, make choices and be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their capacity.
  • Legal compliance: It ensures that organisations meet the fundamental standards set by regulators like the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to protect the individual, staff and organisation from any penalties.

Who is responsible for the duty of care?

Registered provider / care home owner

The organisation or individual named as the Registered Provider holds the ultimate accountability for the duty of care. Their duties include:

  • Systemic responsibility: The provider is responsible for ensuring the care home meets the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Fundamental Standards, such as maintaining safe facilities, providing suitable equipment, and guaranteeing sufficient staffing.
  • Policies and training: Establish clear procedures and a robust safeguarding framework, ensuring every member of staff receives mandatory and role-specific training.
  • Whistleblowing: They must have an accessible whistleblowing policy to allow staff to raise concerns about duty of care without fearing backlash.

Registered care home manager

Care home managers are responsible for the day-to-day implementation and monitoring of the duty of care.

  • Operational oversight: Ensure that the care provided is safe, effective, and person-centred. This includes reviewing and signing off on all risk assessments and care plans.
  • Staff competence: Make sure all staff are competent to perform their roles, such as proper training in administering medication.
  • Facilities management: Monitor budgets, contracts, and internal audits to proactively identify and address areas where duty of care may be compromised.
  • Handling complaints: Be the first point of contact for external complaints, and manage them promptly and effectively.

Registered nurses and senior Carers

These roles involve an enhanced duty of care based on their specialist skills and knowledge.

  • Clinical judgement: Monitor patient needs, manage medication administration, and escalate changes to care plans based on their professional competence.
  • Team leadership: Supervise junior staff to ensure tasks are performed safely, standards are met, and accurate records are kept.
  • Regular assessments: Perform individual needs assessments, ensuring the care plan reflects the current physical, mental, and social well-being of the resident.

Care workers and support staff

Every member of the care team has a personal duty of care towards the people they support, their colleagues, and themselves.

  • Direct care delivery: Responsible for the hands-on care described in the resident’s care plan, which must be carried out with dignity, respect, and skill.
  • Vigilant reporting: Observe changes in the resident’s condition and report any concerns, incidents, or breaches of safety to the senior staff.
  • Respect patient autonomy: Uphold the resident’s choices and decisions, always acting in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act when navigating choices versus safety.

Ancillary Staff (Kitchen, Maintenance, Administration)

Even staff without direct care roles share the duty of care in maintaining a safe environment. This includes administrative, maintenance or catering staff.

  • Health and safety: Maintenance staff have a duty to ensure equipment – such as fire alarms, hot water systems, hoists – is safe and certified. Similarly, kitchen staff have a duty to manage food safety and allergens.
  • Confidentiality: Administration staff have a legal duty to protect confidential resident and staff data in line with GDPR, which is an integral part of maintaining the resident’s dignity and trust.

Family, friends, and representatives

While family members do not have the same legal duty of care as the paid provider, they play a vital role in monitoring and advocating for their family member.

  • Vigilance and monitoring: Families should monitor changes in their family member, such as changes in health, mood, or environment that staff may miss. They hold the moral responsibility to ensure their loved one is receiving the promised standard of service.
  • Advocacy and communication: They have the right and responsibility to actively participate in care planning and challenge decisions they feel compromise the resident’s safety, dignity, or autonomy. Raising a concern or lodging a formal complaint is a critical mechanism for ensuring the nursing home addresses breaches of its duty of care.
  • Information sharing: They have a duty to share relevant, up-to-date information about the resident’s health, preferences, and personal history with the care team to ensure the care plan is accurate and effective.

Regulatory bodies

Regulatory bodies exist to enforce the legal duty of care and hold providers accountable to the national standards set by Parliament (like the Health and Social Care Act).

  • Inspection and enforcement: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and equivalent bodies are responsible for routine and responsive inspections. They assess whether the provider is meeting the Fundamental Standards of the duty of care.
  • Safeguarding oversight: They collaborate closely with Local Authorities to investigate incidents of actual or suspected abuse or neglect, which are considered a gross breach of the duty of care.
  • Quality grading: Provide transparency to the public by publishing ratings to encourage organisations to continuously uphold and improve their standards of duty of care. Failure to meet these standards can result in penalties, special measures, or closure.

Healthcare advocates

Independent professional advocates play a crucial role in upholding the duty of care, especially for residents who lack the mental capacity to express their wishes or who do not have engaged family members.

  • Representing rights: Ensure the resident’s human rights and legal entitlements are upheld, acting as their voice during complex decisions regarding treatment, care, or changes in living arrangements.
  • Challenging best interests: Attend ‘Best Interest’ meetings to assess decisions made by the care home and clinical team, ensuring the care plan reflects the resident‘s wishes.
  • Mediation and support: Provide impartial support during complaints or disputes, helping residents navigate the formal process against the service provider without intimidation.

Responsibilities of duty of care

The duty of care combines 5 key principles that must be upheld at all times.

1. Physical safety and risk management

This involves proactively identifying and mitigating hazards in the care environment.

Example: A care worker notices spilt liquid in a hallway and immediately clears it to prevent a resident from falling.

Breach: Failing to maintain lifting equipment (hoists) or ignoring staff fatigue, leading to an unsafe transfer and injury.

2. Competence and skill

All professionals must work within the limits of their training and competence.

Example: Staff only administering medication they are trained and certified to give, or a care worker raising a specialised task they lack competence in to a senior member.

Breach: Attempting a complex medical procedure without the required training, or failing to recognise and escalate a serious change in a patient’s condition.

3. Privacy, dignity, and respect

The duty of care requires respecting the individual and their personal space.

Example: Always knocking before entering a patient’s room, ensuring personal care is provided with screens or curtains drawn, and protecting confidential patient information.

Breach: Discussing a patient’s private diagnosis in a public area, or leaving a resident exposed or undressed during a routine check.

4. Consent and autonomy

Protecting a person’s right to make their own decisions.

Example: Clearly explaining the purpose and risks of a procedure to a patient who has capacity, or adhering to the guidelines of the Mental Capacity Act when making decisions in a person’s best interest.

Breach: Administering treatment without obtaining informed consent, or unlawfully restricting a patient’s movement (false imprisonment).

5. Reporting and escalation

The duty to report any suspected harm, abuse, or negligence.

Example: An agency manager ensuring a whistleblowing policy is known to all care providers, or any staff member reporting a concern about the standard of care to a senior colleague or the appropriate regulatory body.

Breach: Ignoring or covering up an incident of abuse or failing to document a medication error.

Careworkers’ guide to duty of care responsibilities

As a careworker, your primary duty of care is to exercise reasonable skill and care in carrying out your daily tasks. This encompasses several active and passive responsibilities:

  • Risk assessment: Constantly assess the environment for immediate hazards to yourself and patients.
  • Working safely: Adhere strictly to all organisational policies, such as manual handling, infection control, and medication procedures.
  • Accurate reporting: Record all care, observations, and incidents that occur. If it’s not documented, it didn’t happen, and the duty of care may be considered breached.
  • Continuing competence: Engage in mandatory and continuous professional development (CPD) to ensure your skills remain current and competent.
  • Challenging poor practice: Question or immediately report any behaviour or practice that could foreseeably harm an individual.

Duty of care at Dunham Care Homes

The duty of care is more than just a regulatory box to tick – it is at the heart of compassionate healthcare and social support. This legal and ethical commitment is shared by everyone involved in a person’s care, from the Registered Provider to the kind-hearted care worker and the vigilant family member. Understanding the duty of care empowers us all to act proactively, ensuring every environment is not just safe, but truly nurturing. 

At Dunham Care Homes, we ensure all our staff embrace this responsibility with kindness, competence, and consistent vigilance. We do more than just meet the standards; we honour the fundamental trust placed in us. To find out more about how we put the care and dignity of your loved ones first, get in touch with our care team or have a look around one of our care homes.