Anti-Discriminatory Practice in Health Care Services
The main objective of this essay is going to discuss the personal contributions a nurse or midwife can make in promoting anti-discriminatory practice including the roles and responsibilities as a nurse or midwife in terms of accountability for equality and diversity in the hospital or community setting. It will also point out a summary of legislation relating to confidentiality in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (2018) and the methods of giving, receiving, and storing information.
The Free Dictionary (2012) defines the anti-discriminatory practice as the practice that is meant to counter discrimination in the UK based on different factors such as race, class, and gender.
In addition, it promotes equality by introducing anti-discrimination policies in the workplace and in the care setting. Discrimination is usually the main cause behind the lack of inclusion (RCN 2019). This means treating a person or a group unfairly because of a specific characteristic, such as disability, gender, religious belief, skin color, and nationality. This usually results in negative consequences for the person or the group, reducing their self-esteem and opportunities, excluding them from society, and restricting their ability to contribute to their community and live their preferred life.
Discrimination isn’t just offensive, its also illegal. The law protects individuals from discrimination from health and care providers, schools, transport services, employers, and so on, by setting out different legislations which can prove handy in restricting and regulating. For example, the Mental Health Act 1983 promotes anti-discriminatory practice as people may have a stigmatized idea about someone with a mental health difficulty.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 is also an act especially made for people with disabilities and protects them from any sort of discrimination. It encourages organizations/health authorities to overcome barriers and make an adjustment for full accessibility. On the other hand, some forms of discrimination are only allowed if they’re needed for the way the organization works. For example, employing only women in a health center for Muslim women.
The benefits of promoting anti-discriminatory practice are to promote the fairness of any service and the fact that everyone needs to be treated equally (Answers, 2019). It also forms an inclusive and diverse environment that lets individuals celebrate diversity together in order to promote a happy, safe, and healthy environment with a community spirit. Promoting equality and diversity in the workplace is primarily considered with preventing discrimination. Your setting may be discriminating against a patient accidentally, and if the patient is vulnerable because of his/her health, age or disability, therefore having an awareness of the potential barriers and how to remove them is essential (Petty, L 2016) in line with the Equality Act 2010.
According to Louise petty (2016), in order to promote equality and diversity in a health or social care setting, the care providers need to fully understand the relevant legislation, principles, and practices. Because, without the basic knowledge of equality and diversity, it can be difficult to get people to promote and support it. For example, according to the NMC code of conduct (2018), a patient should be treated with respect and dignity and the nurse/ doctor should work as a part of a diverse team in order to gain the trust of the patient.
