What is a Care Plan in Health and Social Care?

Contents

An exercise in person-centred care

When a patient needs treatment, it’s important that the way forward is determined by the patient and medical staff alike.

Deciding what is needed to ensure the patient’s recovery and comfort is vital to the healing process. That said, what precisely is a care plan? How is one formulated? What does it consider?

tend is here to take a deep dive and shed some light on this topic.

So, what is a care plan in health and social care?

A care plan is a structured, written document that outlines:

• The patient’s needs
• How those needs will be met
• What support they need
• The person’s wishes, recovery goals, and preferences
• The people responsible for delivering each part of their care

It’s a legal, professional, practical tool used across all of adult social care, healthcare, supported living, and community services.

Putting a comprehensive care plan together helps to ensure that care is safe, consistent, and takes the patient’s wants and needs into account from the beginning. It’s all part of providing person-centred care, which, in short, is:

• Created with the person, not for the person
• Made to reflect what matters most to the patient
• Intended to support dignity, independence, and wellbeing
• Adapted as the person’s needs change

A person-centred approach to making a care plan makes sure that the patient has a say in their treatment, and that their needs are attended to with respect and compassion.

What does a care plan include?

Because care plans are personal and tailored, each one is unique and different. However, here are the elements they usually cover:

• Personal details and background – name, age, contact details, cultural/religious preferences, important life/medical history.
• The person’s needs – mobility and moving/handling needs, personal care requests, nutrition/hydration requirements, cognitive/mental health needs essentials.
• Risks and how they are managed – planning for any possible falls, choking incidents, pressure sores, behavioural triggers, emotional distress, medication errors.
• Goals and outcomes – looking at ways to manage long-term conditions, engaging is social activities, building confidence, staying physically and mentally active.
• Care delivery methods – preferred routines, food and drink preferences, emotional reassurance strategies, anxiety and stress reduction, step-by-step task instructions.
• Monitoring and reviewing – making sure to keep the plan updated, review it after any incidents, adapt it if needs change, adjust it based on feedback.

Care plans can be made for a variety of timescales. Anything from 1 to 12 months is usually the case, and entirely dependent on the patient’s needs.

Why do care plans matter?

A care plan ensures personalised and dignified care. It also helps care workers to understand how to:

• Respect each individual’s preferences
• Communicate effectively
• Deliver the right care, in the best way possible

Care plans increase safety, consistency, and efficiency. The reduce the risk of mistakes, unsafe moving and handling, medication errors, miscommunications, and any risks from escalating.

They also enable other medical staff to know everything they need to when interacting with the patient in different stages of their care. This means care workers can collaborate with confidence, working together to bring about the best outcomes.

Care plans also help with regulatory compliance. Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors specifically check care plans for signs of:

• Person-centred care
• Safety
• Responsiveness
• Good record keeping
• Evidence of involvement and choice

They’ll also check that the care plan enables the patient to be seen, heard, and respected. The more they feel in control, the better it is for their general wellbeing.

Care plan best practices

No care plan should ever be written about a person. It should be written with them. Here are some top tips that care workers can take into account when making a plan with a patient:

• Involve the person fully
• Use clear, simple, and respectful language
• Be specific rather than vague
• Update the plan regularly
• Include clear risk management measures
• Reflect person-centred values
• Make it holistic (emotional as well as physical

Care workers who take all these elements into account will build and maintain the most effective care plans.

Can apprenticeships help workers understand care plans?

Absolutely! Apprenticeships teach everything needed to produce, follow, and improve care plans. Apprenticeships from tend in particular, who is a care sector-specific training provider, understand care plans at a deeper level that more generalised offerings.

In fact, apprenticeships:

• Build foundational skills for care planning – person-centred care, active listening, safeguarding, understanding of risk assessment, legal frameworks
• Teach the theory and the practice – making care plans in real-world settings, learning how to follow them, report changes, and adapt them in the face of changes
• Support level-based progression – learners can build a career plan, with apprenticeships at various levels of experience, from Level 2 Adult Care Worker, to Level 5 Leader in Adult Care

That means that, no matter where professionals are in their career, tend meets them there, and helps them make a plan to get to where they aspire to be.

tend also offers an Understanding Care Planning CPD Skills Builder course, which specifically helps care staff create effective and impactful care plans.

Final thoughts

Care plans are an essential component of caring for patients. Knowing how to make the most effective one possible means involving the patient in the making of the plan, ensuing that they have a say in their treatment, their needs are met, their preferences respected, and all aspects are communicated clearly.

The care plan is a written representation of what has been agreed between patient and care giver. It is also a tool in the practice of person-centred care – something you make with the patient’s input, rather than on their behalf. The more in control the patient feels, the better it is for their wellbeing.

Apprenticeships, especially those from tend, have every skill needed to make a strong, supportive care plan embedded into every aspect of the programme standards.

When you’re tend-trained, you guarantee care quality. Inclusive care plans promote emotional and physical wellness. They may make the difference in a person’s recovery, impacting families and their loved ones for the better.

Ready to learn how to create care plans that change outcomes? Reach out to our team today, Call 01753 596 004 or hit the button below.