Introduction

The Directorate has a duty of care towards all people who are in receipt of commissioned services or a personal budget to purchase their own care, who by the nature of their needs will often be vulnerable, whether physically or emotionally. Adult care workers must recognise this vulnerability and protect people from exploitation and abuse; they must never take advantage of it for their own purposes. The Directorate also has a duty towards its staff and those of contracted providers, who may sometimes be manipulated or abused by the people they are working with in a professional capacity. This guidance is intended to help all staff maintain a professional relationship with the people they work with, to ensure they are aware of potential difficulties and to help deal with them.

The relationship between a social care worker and a person or carer they work with must be based on the eligible assessed needs of the person or their carer and the skills and knowledge of the worker engaged to help meet those needs. They should be aware from their own experience that it is harder to use skills effectively with a friend or relative, where there is an emotional involvement. It is therefore essential that while care staff may develop a close working relationship with a person they must never allow that to cloud their professional judgement.

Click here to download a copy of the policy: Relationships between staff and people they support.pdf