Case Study

Josh works as a care assistant at the Larks Residential Care Home for older people. Josh was playing football last Sunday and was involved in a nasty tackle that resulted in a few cuts and grazes to his hands. One day, while on duty, Josh was asked to assist Mrs. King to prepare for bed. She has poor mobility but manages with a walking frame. While Josh was assisting Mrs. King into bed, she let go of her walking frame and misjudged the distance to the bed. She stumbled and fell to the floor, hitting her head as she did so. Josh went to her assistance and noticed blood coming from her head; he put his hands into his pockets for his gloves and discovered that he had used them all. He decided Mrs. King was of low risk, so he grabbed a clean cloth and held it to her head. As he did this, a small amount of blood entered one of the cuts in his hands. He summoned help and Mrs. King was assisted back to bed. The incident was written in the incident book. A few weeks later, Josh became unwell, developed a fever, had diarrhoea and vomiting, and generally felt he had flu-like symptoms. These lasted for a few days so he went to see his GP. Blood tests revealed that he had contracted Hepatitis from Mrs. King. He received a verbal warning for failing to comply with company policy.

1. How should Josh have dealt with this situation?
2. Was it right to punish Josh for being a ‘good Samaritan’?
3. Has Josh broken any laws?
4. Should Josh have known Mrs. King was high risk and would this have made a difference?

Credit:‘Level 2 Health and Social Care’ by Yvonne Noland, Colette Burgess, and Coling Shaw, published by Heinemann, 3rd Edition. It is rare that there is just one way to respond to a scenario or situation, so do not consider that the response you have chosen to this scenario will be judged as right or wrong. Share your scenario with a work colleague and ask them to tell you if they think you have responded appropriately. Ask them to challenge your response if necessary. You do not need to submit this task for assessment unless asked to do so by your tutor.