Unit 2: Working in Health and Social Care

Level: 3

Unit type: External

Guided learning hours: 120

Unit in brief

Learners explore what it is like to work in the health and social care sector, including the roles and responsibilities of workers and organisations.

Unit introduction

This unit will help you to understand what it is like to work in the health and social care sector. When working for an organisation in this sector, you will have important responsibilities that you need to understand and carry out. These include maintaining the safety of and safeguarding individuals with health and social care needs, making sure that you properly handle their personal information and preventing discrimination towards them. You will need to understand how you will be accountable both to these individuals and the regulatory bodies that represent people who work in the health and social care sector. It is necessary for you to understand how your work will be monitored when you carry out a specific role such as nurse or social worker.

You will begin by looking at the range of roles and general responsibilities of people who work in health and social care settings. You will learn about the organisations that provide services in this sector, and the different settings in which these services are delivered according to the needs of the service user. You will learn about the ways these services are provided and about the barriers that can prevent people from getting the services they need.

As an employee of an organisation that provides services in the health and social care sector, you will have responsibilities towards people who seek information and advice, those who are being assessed and people who use services provided by or on behalf of your employer. You will also have responsibilities towards your employers, both as an employee and when you are undertaking specific duties on behalf of your employer. These organisations are regulated and inspected so you will also need to understand how inspectors and regulators monitor the work that you do. You will learn about working with people with specific needs, including ill health, learning disabilities, physical and sensory disabilities, and the needs of people who occupy different age categories.

This unit will cover the skills you need to work in these areas of health and social care.

Summary of assessment

This unit will be assessed through one examination of 80 marks lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes. Learners will be assessed through a number of short- and long-answer questions.

The paper consists of four sections, and each section is based on a different short scenario briefly explaining the situation of a person with health and social care needs. Each scenario is relevant to a different service user group. Each section of the paper is structured with questions of 2, 4, 6 and 8 marks.