The General Social Care Council Codes of Practice - Essay Example

The General Social Care Council s of Practice In September 2002, GSCC for the first time in response to the ethical discrepancies in the workplace proposed a set of codes of practice with a main emphasis upon social care workers and employers. The Care Standards Act 2000 keeping in view the social workers and employers implemented a clear set of principles that helped to serve as a guideline for meeting the standards of the devised code of practice (GSCC, 2009). These codes work in a manner in which they improve the social care workforce by helping them to improve their levels of professionalism and making public protection better. The codes have similar regulation to doctors, therapists and health care practitioners and provides a way to social workers and employers to register themselves, so that one who breach the codes could be removed from the Social Care Register, once and for all. The Care Standards Act 2000 after analysing the decreasing concern over social services marked further developments to underpin quality in care where a National Care Standards Commission was to make provision for the registration, inspection and regulation of a range of services that included childrens homes, independent hospitals, care homes, domiciliary care agencies, fostering agencies and voluntary adoption agencies (Leathard, 2003: 29). The concern of Care Standards Act was to induce ethical and moral values where social workers may perform their jobs in inter-professional working environments. Ethical practice seeks to express the basic value of social justice by applying the principles from areas of social practice, such as advocacy on behalf of people with learning difficulties, improving childrens life and social work education programs. The purpose behind GSCC codes is the theoretical incorporation of anti-discriminatory practice into social work teaching (Weinstein et al, 2003: 83). In recent years professional values have been defined for both health and social care which set out in detail the rights and responsibilities of service-users, autonomous and informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and care of records. Purpose of the code of Practice The main purpose behind the code of practice was to provoke the concern over ethical values in relation to social work and inter-professional collaboration. It was to alleviate the barriers of misunderstanding that social workers are not only to promote individual well-being and autonomy in a context of social justice, but to make them remember that the main responsibility of social working is to share a common set of ethical values and not the belief that different professions own distinctive set of values and ethics (ibid). The code of practice imposes certain values and ethical issues that provokes the significance and role every individual plays in the society. However the main purpose of the code is to represent value base of the social work profession, addressing ethical dilemmas in social work, promoting ethical decision making in social work and to limit and set boundaries over practitioner malpractice and misconduct (Reamer, 1999: 3). Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) considers the code of practice and enforce care standards so as to signify in social work, those values that have been a part and parcel of values and that represent ethics in several key respects. CSCI while enforcing the code takes into account the scenario in relation to the nature of social works mission, the relationships that social workers have with their clients in the longer or shorter run, the methods of intervention that social workers prefer to use in their work, and the ways they usually resolve their issues relating to ethical dilemmas in practice (Reamer, 1999: 11). The Need for GSCC The need for GSCC arise when it was recognised that moral and social ethics of professional groups, whether working in isolation or in fully integrated teams were confronting challenges in the delivery of their particular skills and services. These challenges were almost existed in all areas from consumer expectations to government policy initiatives and turnovers inclusive of all the financial considerations of the social economy. Professional sector within the UK society has a defined contribution to make that is sometimes shard and sometimes not shared by others, however irrespective of this shared factor each professional group has its own positive specialty with a specific contribution to make in the upbringing of the society. The resulting profession specific duties impose certain obligations upon each professional on an individual basis to that do not apply to other members of the society (Carnwell & Buchanan, 2005: 38). For example a teacher is obligated to promote knowledge and facilitate learning, a doctor is obligated to heal his or her patients, a lawyer to advice social justice, and a social worker to look after the well-being of the society (ibid). Moral approach suggests that each professional group must perform its responsibilities and obligations in a manner that fulfills the internal nature of human values. That means a doctor who is obliged to heal would not consider any other factor than seeing that patient needs his help, similarly a lawyer would not indulge in any illegal activity for the sake of preventing his client from loss and so on. GSCC codes of practice have enabled professional ethics to concentrate upon improving practice. This way the codes have fixed a standard or goal for each of us towards which we have to move by measuring our current state. GSCC state that their codes have a number of purposes which though have different wordings but are aimed to work for the same purpose, which according to Bowles et al (2006) are: 1) identification of core values and principles that underpin social work, 2) provide a guide or standard for ethical social work conduct to which the code can take action against social workers and their accountability, 3) help social workers in ethical reflection and decision-making in critical situations, and 4) acting as a basis for investigation and judging whether a social worker or employee has become unethical through a formal complaint process (Bowles et al, 2006: 76). It would not be wrong to say that GSCC code of practice is actually a code of ethics that work at the ground root level to protect users from malpractice or abuse while maintaining a professional identity. Dimensions of Social Care We can conceptualise care in context with various dimensions, paid or unpaid, formal or informal and the extent to which state is serious in determining these and other boundaries. It is the contribution of state policy that governs the essential fragmentation of these apparent dichotomies irrespective of the concern that whether care is informal or formal, unpaid or paid or fixed or variable (Cass, 2007). Social care is located within a theoretical framework of obligations and responsibility in which every individual is responsible for playing a practical role in maintaining a healthy society. UK policies after witnessing decades of criticism on behalf of the social workers and employees have taken initiative which tends to provide under conditions of social, usually familial relations and responsibilities, making it inappropriate to consider the labour aspects of care alone. The GSCC code has shaped social care in the context in which it incurs costs, financial, physical and mental health and emotional costs, which extends across public or private boundaries (ibid). Cass (2007) points out that these costs include the direct cost with respect to expenditure to physical and mental health by monitoring opportunity, education scenario, training, income earning and participation in social networks. Social workers must identify their purpose of keeping an eye upon how the costs involved are shared, among individuals, families and within society at large (Cass, 2007). With such costs at the expense of health and education, GSCC has raised a growing concern of legal and policy mandate for involvement in the social work which has increased the concern for the service users and carers to converge in social work of traditional and radical segments around the values of ethics and respect. To remind social workers of their roles and responsibilities The key feature of GSCC is to remind the already existing workforce to understand their roles and responsibilities in a society, and for those who enter the workforce to follow the written policies and procedures to meet the GSCC code of practice (GSCC, 2002). In addition to meet up the legislation, GSCC expects from the employers proper training and development opportunities for the workers. The ethical enforcement of GSCC also induces social control to the extent where a social worker is bound to perform his or her duties keeping in view the everyday ethics at workplace. A social worker is a paid employee of the state and he is also expected to perform certain statutory duties on behalf of society, as it is his duty to bring them into contact with certain acts which society regards as deviant and may sometimes lead to conflicting imperatives within the workers role. We are aware of the fact that these duties generally have the wider support of society, therefore there is no need to be afraid of the problems, however usually problems arise as to the best way to carry them out. Ethical issues arise in scenarios when workforce do not conduct necessary action to resolve the issue or take it for granted, for example in the case of child protection; there may be general agreement that children should be protected from abuse, but there is no real consensus as to how. Children protection at this level where a family desperately feels the need and further is carried out to the detriment of the general support of the family, create more problems than it prevents because in case social support is not provided on behalf of the social workers, over-protection may create greater stress for families, resulting in the breakdown of relationships, which in turn can lead to further abuse of children (Parrott, 2002: 16). Here the need for immediate social help is required and there is a need for the workers to understand the role they are suppose to play in gaining confidence of the society. Ethical values are reflected in numerous way that social workers adopt while making choices about the people with whom they work. These are the values that let the workers decide to devote their careers to clients they perceive as innocents, such as homeless people, abused children and individuals born with severe physical disabilities. Decision making escorts to other ways to keep values central to social work, like they are key to efforts to resolve ethical dilemmas that involve conflicts of professional duties and obligations. To resolve ethical dilemmas Social work practice is complex and creates tensions for many social workers who work as students in providing evidence of an ethical and value-based framework in their integrated job or assignment (Watson et al, 2002: 106). Ethical dilemmas are not the same, it varies according to the situation, the role of the social work and the extent to which they are analysed. Clark (2000) suggests that social values are not the things which are directly or clearly observed, they are actually important influences on our actions and attitudes (Clark, 2000: 27). Since our actions require some kind of limitations or boundaries to be monitored so as to make sure they are going in the right direction, CSCI takes into account the actions and tries to fit it in social care theoretical frameworks at the crux of policy settings. This way CSCI knows better who fits in the framework and who is inappropriate for fitting in the framework, and takes necessary actions accordingly. Ethical dilemmas involves conflicting values that are often unethical in nature, like a social worker who is unable to decide which part in between the values of respecting her clients right to self-determination to choose? The client do not wish that the social worker should report the incident involving her injured son to the local child welfare authorities and of complying with the states mandatory child-abuse reporting law. Such situations are often confronted by social workers where they feel difficulty in tackling such ethical dilemmas, and ultimately base their decisions on their beliefs about the nature of social work values particularly as they are translated into specific professional duties and obligations and which values take precedence when they conflict (ibid). One of the greatest challenges to code of ethics comes from the workplace and licensing codes of conduct to guide and inform employees and practitioners. One of the reasons professional codes of ethics are being seen as irrelevant is to do with the combination of low membership of social work associations and the increasing use being made of organisational codes of conduct. These codes tend to be more specific than professional code of ethics and in some situations spell out exactly what an employee should do. In todays workplace, in which many think that work practices are shaped by neo-liberal values, code of ethics provide social workers with a reference point from which they do not only evaluate the ethical worth of policies and procedures, but also the code of conduct for employers (Bowles et al, 2006: 81). Blaming the Social Care Council Despite setting code of ethics for workers and employers in the form of GSCC, ethical dilemmas have been witnessed many times which indicate that still there has been a room for professional misconduct. An example of breaching code of ethics is the case of Derbyshire social worker, Hilary Sampson who was suspended for the reason to have a relationship with a service user and that for 2 years (Community Care, Feb 2008). Similarly a recent Baby P. case is the result of the inefficiency of social workers for which Chairperson of the GSCC expressed his gratitude for the child and conducted exclusive preliminary inquiries to make out whether the circumstances in the ethical code of GSCC have any bearing on the suitability of individual social workers to remain on the register (GSCC, 2008). Inquiry reports in UK social care sector has been able to dominate some major, eye-catching features in which public attention has focused on inquiries into homicides committed by users of mental health services and those addressing the deaths of children known to statutory services. Critics have witnessed and conveyed the experiences of those who are most reliant on health and welfare services and have spend long periods engaged in complex transactions with professionals. Many accounts provided by inquiry reports show despite imposing regulations on social workers, recipients of services in a variety of roles have made repeated requests for help or support, they may seek to evade statutory scrutiny, and they may attempt to exploit or abuse services and professionals. Similarly, GSCC have failed to reshape professionals who are depicted as failing to respond to the needs of vulnerable people, actively pursuing those who need help, and abusing or exploiting those who rely on them for protection. Public inquiries into many cases of child abuse reveal that Baby P is not a single example of breaching before us, as there are many cases that require not only attention but serious measures since society gets seriously worried about the way social care professionals handle particular cases. The GSCC must analyse what went wrong and to identify where there is a loophole by making lessons to prevent a recurrence. Unfortunately, public concern is biased because when in the context of social workers, child welfare services are concerned, they have a broad remit, ranging from supporting families who are struggling to care adequately for their children, to protecting children from highly dangerous parents. It is heartbreaking to note that public interest is aroused only by certain types of adverse outcomes, predominantly deaths and, occasionally, the removal of children from their parents on what seems insubstantial grounds (Stanley & Manthorpe, 2004: 75). However other areas of service are least considered by public, such as failure to provide adequate preventive and supportive services lead to less extreme adverse results and these outcomes have a less clear-cut causal connection to professional actions or omissions. The social services sector alertness is a concern to professionals and, to the policy makers but less so to contemporary British society in general where parenting is seen as primarily a private rather than a social responsibility. Parents often impose their own responsibility on the shoulders of social care and perceive it that the impact of inquiries has been to prioritise the child protective functions against a backdrop of professionals struggling, with varying degrees of success, to continue to meet the broader remit of child welfare. Critics also claim that even on numerous occasions it is witnessed when the most basic principles of practice were not followed. This criticism applies not only to a particular profession of social care but to all the social workers who are related to any profession. There has been many cases in the past like Victoria who was seen by nurses in hospital as a victim of intense physical abuse where her extensive and varied injuries were not even recorded or mentioned to doctors or social workers (Stanley & Manthorpe, 2004: 86). Final Thoughts Although the GSCC by imposing strict ethical values have been able to answer the public but who would fill the gap which through the passage of time is getting wider in increasing by the evidence of a national crisis in recruiting and retaining staff. There has been a sharp drop in the number wanting to become social workers which is evident from the decline in applications. That gives us the main cause of unethical and immoral practices i.e., people are so much used to take pressures of fulfilling their social roles, that they avoid to work in a social sector. The solution is to keep on with the good work which may develop increasingly ethical values among social workers, which may in the long run would influence general public to follow detailed procedures, protocols and guidelines to standardise their personal practice criteria and make it visible for monitoring and audit. The question not only pertains to the social workers and employers but it asks every individual on a national level to analyse his or her capabilities and work with honesty and dignity, so as to reduce the unnecessary pressure upon social workers. This would not only give confidence to every individual in our society, but would also reduce workload upon social workers so as to manage their field more effectively. References Bowles Wendy, Collingridge Michael, Curry Steven & Valentine Bruce, (2006) Ethical Practice in Social Work: An Applied Approach: Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, N.S.W. Carnwell Ros & Buchanan Julian, (2005) Effective Practice in Health and Social Care: A Partnership Approach: Open University Press: Maidenhead, England. Cass Bettina, (2007) Exploring Social Care: Applying a New Construct to Young Carers and Grandparent Carers, Australian Journal of Social Issues. Volume: 42. Issue: 2, p. 241. Clark, C. (2000) Social Work Ethics: Politics, principles and practice. London: Macmillan. Community Care, Feb 2008, accessed from GSCC, 2008, accessed from GSCC 2009, accessed from GSCC 2002, accessed from Leathard Audrey, (2003) Interprofessional Collaboration: From Policy to Practice in Health and Social Care: Brunner-Routledge: London. Parrott Lester, (2002) Social Work and Social Care: Routledge: London. Reamer G. Frederic, (1999) Social Work Values and Ethics: Columbia University Press: London. Stanley Nicky & Manthorpe Jill, (2004) The Age of Inquiry: Learning and Blaming in Health and Social Care: Routledge: London. Watson Florence, Burrows Helen & Player Chris, (2002) Integrating Theory and Practice in Social Work Education: Jessica Kingsley: London. Weinstein Jenny, Whittington Colin & Leiba Tony, (2003) Collaboration in Social Work Practice: Jessica Kingsley: London. Read More