Case Study [2]: Unit 10 Care Practice and Provision

Sabrina is 75 years old. Her husband recently died and she is finding it very difficult to cope with her loss. Following the death of her husband, Sabrina had counselling sessions with the counsellor from the local hospice. She also has osteoporosis and arthritis. The joints in her shoulders and hips are very painful and she has regular pain relieving injections from her GP. She also takes medication to maintain the strength in her bones and her diabetes.

Cleaning the house and preparation of meals are becoming a chore and she cannot manage to maintain the garden. Her son is concerned because she is becoming very forgetful. She spends long periods of time at home alone and is not interested in socialising.

Sabrina has seen a consultant at the local NHS Trust hospital who offered her the choice of having a hip replacement operation. She is now on the waiting list and is determined to continue living in the home she shared with her husband for 52 years.

AO1

Generic – requires candidates to select two local demographic characteristics/trends and show how these influence service provision (1.3.1). The 2 required could relate to your case study, for example, the number of older people in the population and health needs. The stages in local planning of services need to be explained (1.3.2), including how the two demographic characteristics chosen are used to assess the needs of service users (1.3.3). What are the local and national targets? (1.1.2). Why is it important to involve local stakeholders in local planning? (1.3.3). How are services organized? (1.3.4). How is the plan monitored and reviewed? (1.3.5).

AO2

Sabrina will need to have her needs identified (PIES), e.g. physical – osteoporosis and arthritis – medication/operation, intellectual – getting her involved in activities, emotional – helping her to come to terms the death of her husband, social – developing new friendships.

Identify the two different services she will be using, i.e. hospice counselling service and hospital trust. How do the approaches used by practitioners working in each service meet Sabrina’s needs? For example, the holistic approach used by the counsellor and the empowerment approach used by the NHS Trust hospital (2.3.1). An analysis will be made of how the practitioners meet Sabrina’s needs (2.3.2).

How do the practitioners work in multi-disciplinary teams, e.g. GP, counsellor, home care, consultants? (2.3.3). How do multi-disciplinary teams benefit service users? (2.3.4).

AO3

Candidates need to select and justify appropriate research techniques. (3.3.1 and 3.3.2) They must use a range of both primary and secondary sources to analyse the quality assurance mechanisms each of the services uses. For example, look on the NHS website for star rating of the NHS Trust Hospital, or do hospice counselling services have feedback mechanisms for service users and their families? Does either service have the Charter Mark, or how does ‘Your Guide to the NHS’ improve information and consultation with service users? Internet, organisational publications and documents as secondary sources and questionnaires, surveys or observation as primary sources (3.3.3).

AO4

Candidates need to pick one national policy or piece of legislation which relates to Sabrina and the services chosen. They need to say how it has affected the service user and service provider/practitioner (for mark band 3), providing an evaluation which draws valid conclusions of the overall effect of the legislation. For example, the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, the Health Act 1999 or the Care Standards Act 2000. If you want to look at a policy, the NICE guidelines or NHS Plan would be appropriate.