AN INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

INTRODUCTION

Health and social care (HSC) is regarded as the summation of both public and private health care

infrastructure (Fung et al., 2022). The phrase is a combination of two terms “healthcare” and

“social care”. Healthcare is concerned with the delivery of medical care to individuals and the

society at large. It deals with the diagnosis and treatment of both mental and physical disabilities

(Snyder, 2018). According to Bailey, Feldman, and Bassett (2021), healthcare strives to

minimize social inequalities in accessing quality healthcare. On the other hand, social care is

concerned with the daily survival activities not limited to food and basic hygiene maintenance,

but also the maintenance of individual autonomy, promotion of social interaction, protection

from susceptible situations, and coping with difficult relationships (Aveyard, 2018).

Within the health and social care system are health and social care workers (HSCW) who are

professionals operating in a variety of settings and roles in order to provide quality healthcare

and support to individuals in need of medical and social assistance (McGregor, Mercer, and

Harris, 2018). HSCW consist of healthcare professionals such as therapists, nurses, doctors, as

well as social workers and caregivers working in different capacities and health care settings like

community health centers, clinics, and hospitals among others.

However, the aim of this report is to identify and discuss the role of HSCW in health and social

care as well as the role of regulatory and professional bodies in health and social care. The

reported also provides a discussion of the differences between interprofessional and

multidisciplinary healthcare teams as well as the barriers and advantages of interprofessional

healthcare team.
ROLE OF PROFESSIONALS IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Health and social Care Professionals (HSCPs) play a significant role in the delivery of social

and health care services (Moudatsou et al., 2020). Their role may involve the promotion,

maintenance, and improvement of the medical wellbeing of individuals and the society at large.

However, the role of HSCPs may differ depending on their area of specialization and differences

in healthcare settings. For instance, the role of midwives can be narrowed down to the maternal

health which is their area of specialization. In the maternal health setting, the role of midwives is

to support healthy living, and promote a positive care experience around pregnancy, birth, and

early weeks of life; consider both long and short term implications of care; to provide the best

start to life and family integrity; and to minimize morbidity and mortality of baby and mother

during pregnancy among others (Mattison et al., 2020). This role is summarized by the

International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) who stated that midwives are identified as

accountable and responsible professionals that work in partnership with women in order to

provide necessary assistance, advice and care during pregnancy, labour, as well as the

postpartum period; to conduct childbirth; and to provide care for infants and newborn by

detecting complications in child and mother, adopting appropriate preventive measures, and

promoting normal birth. In addition, midwives have an important role to play in educating and

health counseling to not only women but also within the family and society (Coates and Foureur,

2019). Biro (2011) stressed that this role should include antenatal education and readiness for

parenthood and may extend to the reproductive and sexual health of women as well as childcare.

Generally, midwives play a vital role in fostering the wellbeing and health of infants and women

as well as work in several healthcare setting such as hospitals, community health centers, and

homes.
In a general senses, nurses are regarded as team players in the healthcare setting because they

work in collaboration with several other HSCPs in order to deliver the best possible care for

patients (Salmond and Echevarria, 2017). However, in a more specific sense, the role of nurses is

to promote healthy lifestyles, advocate for patients, provide health education, and directly care

for many patients (McSherry et al., 2012). Furthermore, caregivers also play a distinct role in

healthcare delivery. Their role can take varying shapes and forms depending on the medical

condition and need of the patient they are taking care of. Nevertheless, in a more generic sense,

the role of caregivers is to meet the physical, medical and health, emotional, psycho-social, as

well as spiritual and financial needs of patient under their care (Zhong, Wang, and Nicholas,

2020). However, the general responsibility of HSCPs is to provide quality healthcare that

satisfies the demands of individuals and the society at large, and to promote, maintain, and

improve the medical wellbeing of individuals and the society.

In addition to the core duties and responsibilities of HSCPs within their specific area of

specialization, HSCPs also have a fundamental role to play in addressing and protecting the

rights of individuals in the healthcare setting by promoting anti-discriminatory practices,

encouraging of independence, and empowering individuals by protecting their rights. In the

context of anti-discriminatory practices, HSCPs can do this by encouraging anti-discriminatory

behaviors, which entail giving non-judgmental, person-centered care and acknowledging and

respecting each person's particular needs and preferences. According to Ion, Jones, and Craven

(2016) HSCPs must first of all identify and challenge discrimination in order to stop it. In

identifying discrimination, HSCPs may need to determine the bases in which discrimination is

based on which could be sexual or racial or otherwise and ensuring that individuals are aware of

the negative implications of discrimination as well as reporting it to appropriate authority.

Consequently, challenging discrimination imply putting in place systems to stop discrimination.

Such system may include regulations like sex discrimination act or race discrimination act in

order to protect victims and prevent the occurrence of discrimination as individuals are more

aware of their rights, actions as well as their consequences (Richardson and Asthana, 2006).

HSCPs can encourage independence by allowing people to choose their lifestyle and the support

they get (Chen and Huang, 2020). This can help people keep their independence and control over

their lives. Giving people the knowledge, they need to make knowledgeable decisions about their

care is another aspect of empowerment that can result in better health outcomes and higher

patient satisfaction (Schwartz, 2002). HSCPs may assist people in taking charge of their life and

achieving better health outcomes by fostering a secure and inclusive atmosphere, empowering

people to make decisions about their treatment, and fostering their independence.

Furthermore, HSCPs have a crucial role in the identification and report of poor healthcare

practices. Behaviors and activities that are detrimental toward patients or service users can be

categorized as poor practices in healthcare (Fallowfield and Jenkins, 2004). According to

Zwarenstein, Goldman, and Reeves (2009), failure to give proper care or treatment to a patient

can be referred to as “negligence” which is a common malpractice in the health and social care

setting. In addition, poor hygiene in form of poor cleaning and sanitation procedures is among

the common poor healthcare practices prevalent in healthcare settings like hospitals and nursing

homes (Bouzid, Cumming, and Hunter, 2018). Consequently, HSCPs have a role to play in

reporting any unethical behavior they observe in order to make sure the problem is addressed.

However, reporting observed poor healthcare practices often put HSCPs in a dilemma as such

report can be seen as a betraying or reporting colleagues (Neo et al., 2016). Nevertheless, not

reporting poor practices can be more detrimental. Thus, doing so is very critical to the
improvement of healthcare services. However, there are some steps a HSCP can take in reporting

a poor healthcare like negligence. These steps are adapted from Royal College of Nursing 2015,

Nursing and Midwifery Council 2015b, and Care Quality Commission 2014.

Table 1: Guidance for Reporting Poor Healthcare

THE ROLE OF REGULATORY BODIES IN ENSURING THE QUALITY OF HEALTH

AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES

Regulatory bodies are autonomous governmental organizations established by law in order to

establish and enforce standards in a particular area of specialization (Speed and Gabe, 2013). In

the SHC context, regulatory bodies are charged with the responsibility of guaranteeing the

quality delivery of social and health care services. These bodies function within a particular

guideline and regulations that state the expected standards of HSCPs and also enforce adherence
through a variety of mechanism. Thus, regulatory bodies are essential in ensuring that health and

social care services are safe and of high quality. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the

Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are two crucial regulatory

bodies in this regard. The CQC for instance is an autonomous health and adult social care

regulator in England. CQC ensures that social and health care services are delivered in

compassionate, effective, and safe manner as well as in high quality. They monitor, inspect, and

regulate services as well as publish their findings and also take actions when poor practices are

identified. The CQC conducts inspections of a variety of services, such as general practitioner

offices, nursing homes, hospitals, and home care organizations, and then publishes reports on its

findings. To make sure that service providers adhere to the relevant requirements, it also

conducts enforcement action as warranted (The Care Quality Commission, n.d).

On the other hand, the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is in

charge of overseeing the regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and blood components

for transfusion. It guarantees the high caliber, efficacy, and safety of pharmaceuticals and

medical equipment. The MHRA accomplishes this by performing thorough evaluations of items

before approving their use and by monitoring their safety after going on sale (Evans and Day,

2005). Additionally, it analyzes any claims of negative product reactions or issues and takes

measures to remove harmful or ineffective items from the market (Evans and Day, 2005).

There are also professional bodies that are responsible for the management of the affairs of social

and health care profession. This includes Health Education England (HEE), Royal College of

Physician of Edinburgh (RCPE), and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) among

others. HEE is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and

Social Care. The role of the body is to support the delivery of quality healthcare and health
enhancement to the patients and public of England by guaranteeing that the current and future

workforce possess the behaviour, values, skills, and in the right number as well as at the right

place and time (Health and Education England, n.d). In addition, the function of HEE is to

provide national leadership and coordination for health training and education of health

workforce within England. The RCPE on the other hand is a medical royal college in Scotland.

The RCPE is among the organizations that sets specialty training standards for physicians in the

United Kingdom. The HCPC is an organization whose fundamental goal is to protect the public

by establishing and maintaining standards of expertise and conduct for the professionals under its

regulation (Health and Care Professions Council, n.d). The primary function of the HCPC

includes the provision of training and education programmes which HSCPs must complete

before they can register with the organization; and maintenance and publishing of the register of

health care providers that satisfy the pre-requisite for professional requirements and standard

procedures (Health and Care Professions Council, n.d). Conclusively, the major role of

regulatory bodies is to ensure that social and health care services are delivered in good quality

and within known standards of operations, while professional bodies within the social and health

care context such as the HEE, the RCPE, and the HCPC play fundamental in the training and

development of HSCPs.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTER-PROFESSIONAL AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY

HEALTHCARE TEAMS AND BARRIERS TO INTER-PROFESSIONAL WORKING

A team consists of a group of the coming together to people in order to achieve a common goal

(Mertens et al., 2021). Working in teams is one the core recipe for ensuring the delivery of

quality health and social care services. However, there interprofessional and multidisciplinary

healthcare teams. Interprofessional teams are collections of healthcare experts from various
specialties who collaborate to offer patients complete treatment (Samuelson et al., 2012).

Similarly, the WHO (2010) defined interprofessional teams as the grouping of people with

various professional backgrounds who collaborate to offer complete healthcare services to

patients, families, and communities. Thus, interprofessional team consists of a group of

healthcare professionals with dedicated responsibilities and significant expertise.

Multidisciplinary teams, on the other hand, are groupings of healthcare specialists from many

disciplines who work independently of one another to give care to a patient (Engum and Jeffries,

2012). According to Ion, Jones, and Craven (2016), multidisciplinary teams are made up of

personnel from different professions that collaborate without consulting one another to offer a

patient a variety of services. Multidisciplinary teams, in contrast to interprofessional teams,

might not place as much emphasis on teamwork and communication, which can result in

inconsistent treatment (Ion, Jones, and Craven, 2016).

However, the difference in the functionality of multidisciplinary and interprofessional teams is

reflected by the in the skills, knowledge and attitudes required of from team members (Ion,

Jones, and Craven, 2016). According to Körner (2010), members of multidisciplinary healthcare

teams are responsible for and focus on patient outcomes, with inadequate focus on the

effectiveness of the functioning of the team. Multidisciplinary healthcare teams are also

structured in a hierarchical manner, with the person with the highest status often regarded as the

team leader (Giusti, Castelnuovo, and Molinari, 2017). An examination of these dissimilarities

can help one in identifying if they are members of an interprofessional team or multidisciplinary

team. The differences between the two teams is shown in table 2 below.
Table 2: Differences between Interprofessional and Multidisciplinary Healthcare Team

Source: Ion, Jones, and Craven (2016)

As indicated in table 2 above, interprofessional team when compared to multidisciplinary team

advocates for flexibility in attitudes towards the unique responsibilities and roles of disciplines.

Opinions regarding the value of attending to team functioning, processes, and shared leadership

are vital in interprofessional teams (Youngblood, 2007). Interprofessional team work demands
an in-depth understanding of the skill sets and training of other members of the team as well as

understanding regarding the developmental process of team in addition to the professional

knowledge base for work in multidisciplinary teams (Collin, 2009). These differences in

knowledge and attitudes thus provides the base for effect interprofessional skills in

communication skills for the navigation of areas of conflict, group processing, design of team

role maps, and treatment planning, as well as joint assessment (Giusti, Castelnuovo, and

Molinari, 2017).

However, there are organizational, inter team, and personal barriers to interprofessional

healthcare team. The organizational barriers to interprofessional teams include inadequate

communication tools and mechanisms (Van den Besselaar and Heimeriks, 2001); insufficient

time and space for collaboration and communication; difficulties in designing sufficient team

size and skill mix (Solomon, Carley, and Porter, 2016); and absence of strong governance

structure and leadership for the management of complex operations (Hein et al., 2018). On the

other hand, inter team barrier to interprofessional team stems from the organizational barriers

which results in absence of interpersonal relationship among team members, conflict of roles, as

well as interpersonal conflict among team members (Al Sayah et al., 2014). Furthermore,

personal barriers to interprofessional team include gender, personality, and lack of interpersonal

skills among others (Ion, Jones, and Craven, 2016).

However, despite these barriers, interprofessional healthcare teams have some advantages

including the inclusion development of better awareness of the care issues of patients, creation of

a learning and development opportunity, and improved interprofessional communication

(Samuelson et al., 2012). In addition, Mertens et al. (2021) identified improved patient outcomes,

reduction in medical errors, reduce inefficiencies and healthcare costs, and improve relationships
and job satisfaction among HSCPs to be among the potential benefits of interprofessional

healthcare teams.

Conclusion

This report was structured into three major parts. The first part provided a discussion of the roles

of social and health care professional (HSCPs) in the delivery of health care services, protection

of the rights of individuals, identification and reporting of poor social and health care practices.

The report specifically discussed the role of midwives, caregivers, and nurses in the delivery of

health and so care services. In general, the report shows HSCPs plays a fundamental role in

addressing and safeguarding the rights of individuals by encouraging anti-discriminatory

practices, encouragement of autonomy, and empowering individuals through the protection of

their rights. The report also highlighted and explained the steps HSCPs can follow in reporting

identified poor health care practices like poor hygiene and negligence.

The second part identified and discussed the role of professional and regulatory bodies in social

and health care services. The discussions with regards to the role of regulatory bodies in social

and health care services shows that regulatory bodies such as Medicine and Healthcare Products

Regulatory Agency (MHPRA) and the Care Quality Commission(CQC) are concerned with the

establishment and enforcement of standards for social and health care operations and practices,

while professional bodies in the context of social and health care service are like the Health

Education England (HEE), Royal College of Physician of Edinburgh (RCPE), and the Health and

Care Professions Council (HCPC) play key role in the education and training of HSCPs.
The third part of this report highlighted and discussed the difference between interprofessional

and multidisciplinary healthcare teams as well as the barriers and advantages of interprofessional

healthcare team.
 REFERENCES

Al Sayah, F., Szafran, O., Robertson, S., Bell, N.R. and Williams, B., 2014. Nursing perspectives
on factors influencing interdisciplinary teamwork in the C anadian primary care setting.
Journal of clinical nursing, 23(19-20), pp.2968-2979.
Aveyard, H., 2018. Doing a literature review in health and social care: A practical guide.
Bailey, Z.D., Feldman, J.M. and Bassett, M.T., 2021. How structural racism works—racist
policies as a root cause of US racial health inequities. New England Journal of Medicine,
384(8), pp.768-773.
Biro, M.A., 2011. What has public health got to do with midwifery? Midwives’ role in securing
better health outcomes for mothers and babies. Women and Birth, 24(1), pp.17-23.
Bouzid, M., Cumming, O. and Hunter, P.R., 2018. What is the impact of water sanitation and
hygiene in healthcare facilities on care seeking behaviour and patient satisfaction? A
systematic review of the evidence from low-income and middle-income countries. BMJ
global health, 3(3), p.e000648.
Chen, W. and Huang, Y., 2020. To protect health care workers better, to save more lives with
COVID-19. Anesthesia and analgesia.
Coates, D. and Foureur, M., 2019. The role and competence of midwives in supporting women
with mental health concerns during the perinatal period: A scoping review. Health &
social care in the community, 27(4), pp.e389-e405.
Collin, A., 2009. Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary collaboration:
Implications for vocational psychology. International journal for educational and
vocational guidance, 9, pp.101-110.
Engum, S.A. and Jeffries, P.R., 2012. Interdisciplinary collisions: Bringing healthcare
professionals together. Collegian, 19(3), pp.145-151.
Evans, S.J. and Day, S.J., 2005. M edicines and H ealthcare P roducts R egulatory A gency
(MHRA)(Formerly MCA). Encyclopedia of Biostatistics, 5.
Fallowfield, L. and Jenkins, V., 2004. Communicating sad, bad, and difficult news in medicine.
The Lancet, 363(9405), pp.312-319.
Fung, V.L.H., Lai, A.H.Y., Yam, C.H.K., Wong, E.L.Y., Griffiths, S.M. and Yeoh, E.K., 2022.
Healthcare vouchers for better elderly services? Input from private healthcare service
providers in Hong Kong. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(2), pp.e357-e369.
Giusti, E.M., Castelnuovo, G. and Molinari, E., 2017. Differences in multidisciplinary and
interdisciplinary treatment programs for fibromyalgia: a mapping review. Pain research
and management, 2017.
Hein, C.J., Ten Hoeve, J.E., Gopalakrishnan, S., Livneh, B., Adams, H.D., Marino, E.K. and
Susan Weiler, C., 2018. Overcoming early career barriers to interdisciplinary climate
change research. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 9(5), p.e530.
Ion, R., Jones, A. and Craven, R., 2016. Raising concerns and reporting poor care in practice.
Nursing Standard, 31(15).
Körner, M., 2010. Interprofessional teamwork in medical rehabilitation: a comparison of
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary team approach. Clinical rehabilitation, 24(8),
pp.745-755.
Mattison, C.A., Lavis, J.N., Wilson, M.G., Hutton, E.K. and Dion, M.L., 2020. A critical
interpretive synthesis of the roles of midwives in health systems. Health Research Policy
and Systems, 18(1), pp.1-16.
McGregor, J., Mercer, S.W. and Harris, F.M., 2018. Health benefits of primary care social work
for adults with complex health and social needs: a systematic review. Health & social
care in the community, 26(1), pp.1-13.
McSherry, R., Pearce, P., Grimwood, K. and McSherry, W., 2012. The pivotal role of nurse
managers, leaders and educators in enabling excellence in nursing care. Journal of
Nursing Management, 20(1), pp.7-19.
Mertens, F., Debrulle, Z., Lindskog, E., Deliens, L., Deveugele, M. and Pype, P., 2021.
Healthcare professionals’ experiences of inter-professional collaboration during patient’s
transfers between care settings in palliative care: A focus group study. Palliative
medicine, 35(2), pp.355-366.
Moudatsou, M., Stavropoulou, A., Philalithis, A. and Koukouli, S., 2020, January. The role of
empathy in health and social care professionals. In Healthcare (Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 26).
MDPI.
Neo, J.R.J., Sagha-Zadeh, R., Vielemeyer, O. and Franklin, E., 2016. Evidence-based practices
to increase hand hygiene compliance in health care facilities: An integrated review.
American Journal of Infection Control, 44(6), pp.691-704.

Richardson, S. and Asthana, S., 2006. Inter-agency information sharing in health and social care
services: the role of professional culture. British Journal of Social Work, 36(4), pp.657-
669.
Salmond, S.W. and Echevarria, M., 2017. Healthcare transformation and changing roles for
nursing. Orthopedic nursing, 36(1), p.12.
Samuelson, M., Tedeschi, P., Aarendonk, D., De La Cuesta, C. and Groenewegen, P., 2012,
February. Improving inter-professional collaboration in Primary Care. In Position Paper
of the European Forum for Primary Care Quality, in «Primary Care (Vol. 20, pp. 303-
312).
Schwartz, L., 2002. Is there an advocate in the house? The role of health care professionals in
patient advocacy. Journal of medical ethics, 28(1), pp.37-40.
Snyder, M.E., Jaynes, H.A., Gernant, S.A., Lantaff, W.M., Hudmon, K.S. and Doucette, W.R.,
2018. Variation in medication therapy management delivery: implications for health care
policy. Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy, 24(9), pp.896-902.
Solomon, G.E., Carley, S. and Porter, A.L., 2016. How multidisciplinary are the
multidisciplinary journals Science and Nature?. PloS one, 11(4), p.e0152637.
Speed, E. and Gabe, J., 2013. The Health and Social Care Act for England 2012: the extension of
‘new professionalism’. Critical Social Policy, 33(3), pp.564-574.
Van den Besselaar, P. and Heimeriks, G., 2001. Disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary:
Concepts and indicators. In ISSI (pp. 705-716).
Youngblood, D., 2007. Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and bridging disciplines: A matter
of process. Journal of Research Practice, 3(2), pp.M18-M18.
Zhong, Y., Wang, J. and Nicholas, S., 2020. Social support and depressive symptoms among
family caregivers of older people with disabilities in four provinces of urban China: the
mediating role of caregiver burden. BMC geriatrics, 20(1), pp.1-10.
Zwarenstein, M., Goldman, J. and Reeves, S., 2009. Interprofessional collaboration: effects of
practice‐based interventions on professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane
database of systematic reviews, (3).