Health and Science Sector Overview

Organisational Policies and Procedures in Health and Science

  • Maintaining high standards in professional lives is crucial out of respect for oneself, colleagues, and those requiring services.

  • Good intentions are insufficient; policies and procedures are necessary to ensure consistently high standards.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy

  • Policies are essential to clarify expected behavior in the workplace.

  • The Equality Act 2010 is the primary legislation in the UK that gives legal protection against discrimination in the workplace and wider society.

  • It replaced previous laws such as:

    • Sex Discrimination Act 1975

    • Race Relations Act 1976

    • Disability Discrimination Act 1995

  • The Equality Act 2010 is administered by the Government Equalities Office.

  • The Act places responsibility on various entities to avoid discrimination based on protected characteristics:

    • Age

    • Disability

    • Gender reassignment

    • Pregnancy and maternity

    • Race (including ethnic or national origins, colour, and nationality)

    • Religion or belief

    • Sex

    • Sexual orientation

  • Indirect discrimination involves a practice, policy, or rule that applies to everyone but has a worse effect on some people.

    • Example 1: Refusing a woman's flexible working request after maternity leave could be indirect sex discrimination.

    • Example 2: Requiring a Jewish woman to work on Saturdays could be indirect religious discrimination.

  • Social inclusion means making all groups of people in society feel valued and important, the opposite of social exclusion.

  • Effective equality, diversity, and inclusion policies help break the cycle of disadvantage.

  • These policies are essential in healthcare for obtaining the best from healthcare providers and ensuring the best outcomes for those receiving healthcare.

Safeguarding Policies

  • Safeguarding protects individuals from harm.

  • NHS England defines safeguarding as protecting a citizen’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect.

  • Safeguarding policies should provide guidelines on what an organisation needs to do in order to protect individuals’ health, wellbeing and human rights.

  • It is a collective responsibility.

  • Safeguarding policies apply to everyone, including children, young people, and vulnerable adults (e.g., people with learning difficulties or disabilities).

  • Safeguarding policies should ensure individuals are protected from harm, including those working within the organisation, service users, and visitors.

  • Agencies involved in safeguarding:

    • Local authority social care services

    • GPs (Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) focused on embedding safeguarding into routine practice)

    • Hospitals (secondary healthcare)

    • Education settings (schools and colleges)

    • Ofsted

    • Care Quality Commission (CQC)

    • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

  • The multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) model facilitates the gathering and processing of information quickly and efficiently.

Employment Contracts

  • An employment contract exists as soon as someone accepts a job offer.

  • The employment contract sets out:

    • employment conditions

    • rights

    • responsibilities

    • duties

  • Terms of the contract can be changed by agreement between both sides.

  • Legal parts of a contract are known as the terms and are legally binding.

  • Contract terms can take different forms:

    • a written contract or statement of employment

    • a verbal agreement

    • in an offer letter from the employer

    • in an employee handbook, on a company noticeboard or intranet.

  • Some terms are required by law, such as the National Minimum Wage (for employees over 18) and the National Living Wage (for people aged 23 and over), or the right to a minimum of paid holiday.

    • Minimum wage information can be found on the Gov.uk website: www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

  • Some contracts are based on collective agreements, negotiated with trade unions or staff associations.

  • Implied terms examples:

    • Employees should not steal from their employer.

    • The employer must provide a safe and secure working environment.

    • If a job provides a company car, the employee needs a valid driving license.

    • Something that has been done regularly over a long period of time, such as paying an annual bonus or certain days off.

  • Employers must provide a written statement of employment particulars.

  • The principal statement must be provided on the first day of work and covers:

    • the employer’s name, the employee’s name, job title (or description of work) and start date

    • how much and how often you will be paid

    • your hours and days of work and how they might change – as well as if you are expected to work Sundays, nights or overtime

    • how long the job is expected to last (or, if permanent, that it is indefinite), and the end date if it is a fixed-term contract

    • if there is a probation period, how long it will last and what its conditions are, e.g. to achieve satisfactory performance

    • other benefits, such as childcare vouchers or free lunches

    • any obligatory training.

  • On day one, employers must provide information about:

    • sick pay and procedures

    • other paid leave, such as maternity and paternity leave

    • notice periods, both from the employer and the employee (they may be different).

  • Within two months of starting work, the employer must give a wider written statement that covers:

    • pensions and pension schemes

    • any collective agreements (see above) that might be in place

    • any right to other (non-compulsory) training provided by (or on behalf of) the employer

    • disciplinary and grievance procedures (see below).

Performance Reviews

  • Performance reviews evaluate work performance, give feedback and identify training needs.

  • Objectives of performance reviews:

    • Evaluating work performance against standards and expectations

    • Giving feedback

    • Providing opportunities to raise concerns or issues

    • Contributing to continuing professional development (CPD)

Disciplinary Policy

  • Employers should initially raise concerns about work, conduct, or absence informally.

  • A disciplinary procedure is a formal way for an employer to deal with an employee’s unacceptable or improper behavior (misconduct) or their performance (lack of capability).

  • The disciplinary policy should ensure consistent and fair treatment of all employees.

  • The employer should set and maintain expected standards of work and conduct.

  • Disciplinary procedure steps:

    • A letter setting out the disciplinary issue

    • A meeting to discuss the issue; the employee has the right to be accompanied

    • A decision about the disciplinary issue

    • A chance to appeal the decision.

Grievance Policy

  • Open communication and consultation between managers and staff are essential.

  • A grievance is any concern, problem, or complaint an employee may have at work.

  • Grievances need to be addressed and resolved.

  • Issues that may cause grievances include:

    • terms and conditions of employment

    • health and safety issues and concerns

    • relationships with colleagues and management

    • bullying and harassment

    • working practices, particularly when new practices are introduced

    • the working environment

    • changes in the organisation

    • discrimination – or perceived discrimination.

  • The written grievance procedure should explain:

    • what to do if you have a grievance

    • what happens at each stage in the process.

  • Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) codes of practice set out minimum standards of fairness.

  • Employment tribunals hear claims from people who think an employer has treated them unlawfully.

Quality Standards, Quality Management, and Audit Processes

  • Adhering to quality standards should be central to any organisation’s way of working.

  • Quality standards help to improve the quality of care or service provided.

  • One reason for adhering to quality standards is to ensure consistency.

  • Adhering to proper procedures can help avoid accidents and harm.

  • Monitoring processes and procedures is essential.

  • Continuous improvement means making many improvements over time.

  • Audit processes involve objectively and independently asking, ‘Did we achieve what we set out to achieve?’

  • Quality control (QC) means the testing of a product to ensure that it meets required standards.

  • Quality assurance (QA) means having procedures in place that ensure that the product will always meet the required standards.

Ethical Practice in Health and Science

  • Medical ethics provides a framework for analysing a situation and deciding on the best course of action to take.

  • Beneficence means ‘doing good’.

    • Healthcare professionals need to follow the course of action that they believe to be in the best interest of their patient.

    • Beneficence is about ranking options, from best to worst.

  • Nonmaleficence means ‘not doing harm’.

    • In the science and healthcare sector, we all have a duty of both beneficence and nonmaleficence to those we are responsible for.

  • Autonomy means that everyone has the right to make the final decision about their care or treatment.

  • Informed consent means that before making that final decision, a person receiving care or treatment has the right to be given all the relevant information about the care or treatment.

  • To have capacity, the person must be able to:

    • understand the information they are given

    • retain that information long enough to make a decision

    • weigh up or assess the information to make a decision

    • communicate their decision.

  • Truthfulness and confidentiality are important.

    • Confidentiality is central to the relationship between patients, care-receivers or the general public on the one hand and science and healthcare staff on the other.

    • Lack of confidentiality may lead to loss of trust.

  • Justice can mean fairness, equality and respect for all.

    • Therefore, when we decide whether something is ethical or not, we must think about:

      • Is it legal or compatible with the law?

      • Is it fair?

      • Does it respect the person’s right and equality?

      • Does it show respect for all concerned?

Professional Codes of Conduct

  • Codes of conduct help ensure good outcomes.

  • Professional codes of conduct may be written by professional societies or organisations such as:

    • The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

    • The Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

    • The Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)

    • The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

    • The Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST)

    • The Science Council

    • The Royal Society of Biology (RSB)

    • The Society of Radiographers (SoR)

    • The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

    • The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES)

    • The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS).

  • Professional codes of conduct typically:

    • Clarify the missions (aims) of the organisation and its values and principles.

    • Clarify the standards that everyone must adhere to.

    • Outline expected professional behaviours and attitudes.

    • Outline rules and responsibilities within organisations.

    • Promote confidence in the organisation and profession.

Technical, Higher Technical, and Professional Occupations

  • The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) supports employer groups in developing apprenticeships.

  • The Institute maintains the occupational maps that underpin technical education.
    *Levels:

  • Levels are a way of grading a qualification or set of skills and the corresponding occupations.

  • Level 1 qualifications:

    • GCSE grades 3 to 1 or D to G

    • Level 1 NVQ.

  • Level 2 qualifications:

    • GCSE grades 9 to 4 or A* to C

    • Intermediate apprenticeship

    • Level 2 award, certificate or diploma.

  • Level 3 qualifications:

    • AS/A Level

    • T Level

    • Advanced apprenticeship.

  • Level 4 qualifications:

    • Higher apprenticeship

    • Higher national certificate (HNC).

  • Level 5 qualifications:

    • Foundation degree

    • Diploma of higher education (DipHE)

    • Higher national diploma (HND).

  • Level 6 qualifications:

    • Ordinary or honours degree, e.g. BA, BSc.

  • Level 7 qualifications:

    • Master’s degree, e.g. MA, MSc, MChem, Meng.

  • Level 8 qualifications:

    • Doctorate, e.g. PhD or DPhil.

  • Technical occupations typically require qualifications at levels 2/3. Examples include:

    • adult care worker/lead care worker

    • healthcare support worker

    • dental nurse

    • food technologist

    • laboratory technician.

  • Higher technical occupations typically require qualifications at levels 4/5. Examples include:

    • lead practitioner in adult care

    • healthcare assistant practitioner

    • nursing associate

    • dental technician

    • food testing/laboratory manager

    • technician scientist.

  • Professional occupations typically require a degree apprenticeship (level 6). Examples include:

    • social worker

    • healthcare science practitioner

    • registered nurse or midwife

    • biochemist/biologist/chemist/physicist

    • research scientist.

Opportunities to Support Progression

  • It helps to have a plan on how to progress in your career.

  • Undertaking further/higher education programmes involves moving on to a level 4 or level 5 qualification.

  • Undertaking apprenticeship/degree apprenticeship involves entry into a recognised occupation.

  • Undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) involves using different learning activities to maintain, develop and enhance abilities, skills and knowledge.

  • Joining professional bodies.

  • Undertaking an internship.

  • Undertaking a scholarship.