Morally active care companies

In this day and age, care companies are vital to promote values, to enhance the value of others, and to value both the employees who work in the service and also the service users.

The ethical issues pertaining to a social care company are diverse and multifaceted

Values is commonly used term in modern society. Every person has his or her values. Values pertain to a team, a career, an organisation and to society at large. Values are often used in vision and mission statements and in ethical requests. A set of values can be a huge asset when it comes to thinking and acting ethically. Health and social care is multifaceted involving many ethical issues.

A morally active company has to have a smooth and logical system to react to the various ethical issues that are encountered in everyday jobs. There is more to ethical management than simply applying ethical principles or a code of practice.

Although a course of action may help provide some kind of framework for decisions to be taken, this does not necessarily throw light on all matters. Companies are accountable for their own decision-making and for the aftermath of decisions taken.

A company has to follow ethical principles in everyday practice. It also has to always be attentive to uphold such principles and thus be able to react quickly but rationally to resolve ethical problems of daily work. When a company has a foundation of internal values or principles, this enables its staff to make judgements, take action and be accountable for acting in an ethical or moral way to other people.

The morally active care company is a practice-led company, which draws on individual and professional knowledge and wisdom.

Several different professions work together in health and social care management and at times this is the first time they share practices and work together. Each group or profession has its own values, its unique ways of working in a team and its own ethical practices.

Health and social care settings are influenced by many factors, such as welfare, increased promotion of social and health services, a more informed and updated consumer, the endorsement of evidence-based practice and the plan of quality management. These have affected the professional status as no profession today are necessarily guaranteed the esteem, status, or the same moral ability it might have enjoyed before. Due to this, health and social care professionals are subject to concern and lack of confidence.

An ethical issue that is being considered at the moment is the conflict between those who are qualified in the field of social care and those who need training in this field. This will evidently cause problems as it can result in a conflict between professionals and non-professionals working in the same field of work.

The ethical issues pertaining to a social care company are diverse and multifaceted. Codes of practice are helpful and necessary since they can provide guidelines to every individual.

The practice of social care is in itself a moral activity since it can intrude within the confines of the person and the state, working day to day with issues of autonomy and coercion; it necessitates practitioners and managers to be ethically sensitive and conscious.

Companies make moral judgements about the requirements and state of affairs of other people, and very often, these can be multifaceted and contradictory.

Olivia Cuschieri is a care operations manager.

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