OTHM LEVEL-6 HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

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 Table of Contents

Task 1- Development Plan 3

1.1 Assessing current skills ability and learning style 3
1.2 Producing Personal Development plan 3
1.3 Effectiveness of development plan 5
Task 2: Reflective Essay 6
Cyclic process of reflection and importance of reflective practice 6
Nature of Various professional relationships within HSC 7
Self-contribution in working with others 8
Response to effective teamwork barriers 8
Ways to resolve professional conflicts 9
Promoting and supporting individual’s rights 9
Self-improvement to the effectiveness of teamwork 10
References 11

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Task 1- Development Plan
1.1 Assessing current skills ability and learning style
Working in health and social care requires a lot of skills. Being a manager at an HSC setting,
I am responsible for various activities like management of skilled staff, procuring and then
offering equipment, services and buildings often required for delivering effective healthcare
and controlling finances. At present, I am skilled in some areas. I am strong at solving
problems and numerical often needed for managing budgets. I have in-depth knowledge of
accountability that helps me a lot in adhering to the policies and regulatory requirements of
the company ([Link], 2021). Furthermore, I am also skilled at working under
pressure and taking an approach of problem-solving to work. Along with that, I have also
developed that being a professional in an HSC setting, working in a team is important. So, I
can say that this direction is strong as I am quite passionate about working with diverse
people. This hence allows me to provide person-centred care.
Coming to learning style, I mainly prefer the visual learning style. As I am engaged with
health and social care, visualising things and then learning something new is helpful. The
visual style of learning has always supported me in managing the entire context efficiently.
1.2 Producing Personal Development plan
As already mentioned about my current skills, there are some skills that I still require to
improve. So, in order to improve it, I am going to develop a personal development plan.

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 Figure 1: Personal Development plan Stages
(Source: Rimmer, 2018)

Target Approaches Resources/Support Date of Completion

To develop In order to do so, I To develop such a 29-04-2021

leadership skill would like to skill, it is important
develop a sense of to conduct some
critical thinking and meeting or group-
listening to others activity session. This
effectively. can help me to figure
out my leadership
skills.

Improve time Prioritising the tasks Taking the help of 10-05-2021

management skill and then setting digital devices, were,
limits can help me setting up the
out. reminders can be

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 helpful.

To develop Reading articles of Articles, journals- 15-05-2021

communication and high quality and then for knowing a range
interpersonal skills expressing my of vocabularies.
thoughts can be Youtube videos- for
worth it in this expressing body
direction. Moreover, languages and
focusing on speech gestures.
also matters.

Table 1: Personal Development Plan

(Source: Self-created)
1.3 Effectiveness of development plan
Hence, in my case, developing such a plan can be supportive. This development plan can
support me to strengthen my weaknesses outlined in the table. With the help of a personal
development plan, it usually becomes easier for an individual to work on the improvement
areas. In order to make it more effective, setting SMART goals and then breaking them into
smaller ones can be beneficial. As observed from the above table, the estimated time of
completion for each target can help me to develop myself completely (Surr et al. 2017,
p.996). Setting the deadlines hence is assisting me to develop my time-management skill.
Apart from that, the PDP also highlighted the key resources that can be helpful for me, so, in
this direction, I can say that this is effective for me as this can protect me from identifying the
appropriate resource which is a time-consuming process.

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Task 2: Reflective Essay
Cyclic process of reflection and importance of reflective practice
Cyclic process of reflection involves do, analyse, adapt and repeat. From this process, it is
clearly identified that until the best outcome is delivered, the process is repeated. So, in my
context, I have applied Kolb’s model. With the help of this model, it is now easier for me to
strengthen my weakness. Four stages involved in this model allowed me to learn many things
in this area. The first stage Concrete experience stated that in order to learn, it is important to
experience the entire thing. For example, an elderly couple completely neglected the
assistance from a new caregiver. The next stage reflective observation states that after the
event occurs, try to understand it from various perspectives (Subekti, 2020, p.448). For
example, were the couple interested in the arrival of the new caregiver? Will the caregiver
interact with the couple? Abstract conceptualization helps in analysing the experience and
thinking about the event in depth. For example, the caregiver tried to contact the couple
before visiting but unable to reach them out. Lastly, active experimentation states that many
ways to approach the situation have been evaluated. For instance, before visiting the couple
again, the caregiver must have spoken to a family member maintaining a daily contact
(Morris, 2020, p.1064). So, from the entire thing, I can say that being a manager, Kolb’s
model has allowed me to promote continual improvement. This is also acting as an essential
skill for making an impact on health and social care.
So, I can now say that reflective practice has helped me a lot in reviewing the process of
learning to ensure that all the professionals are making maximum progress. Through this, it is
easier for each professional working in my environment to identify the key strengths and
weaknesses. The skill in self-directed learning is hence developed by this form.

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 Figure 2: Kolb’s learning Model
(Source: Subekti, 2020, p.448)
Nature of Various professional relationships within HSC
In an HSC, different professionals are involved and working together for increasing the
health and well-being of the service users. Depending on the illness, different professionals
are working with a service user in health and social care. Professionals working alongside
HSC services consist of GP, Nurse, Health visitor, Psychiatrist, Occupational therapists, CPN
and so on. As I am engaged at an organization that continuously supports service users and
their carers for building a better future, the professionals I observe working together would be
family or social workers. So, it can be said that the development and maintenance of good
relationships are central to improving the outcomes of patients and their families. The main
role of a carer is generating an atmosphere in which patients often feel that their needs are
properly understood and heard. Thus, in order to do so, there is a need for truthfulness, ability
and sincerity. The relationships should be hence based on transparency, empathy and
openness whether it be with the patients, their families, carers, colleagues or fellow
professionals (Franklin et al. 2019, p.49). Furthermore, each professional in healthcare is
working in partnership with others as there is a need to support and help people with whom
collaboration is required. In our setting, we are working closely with the GP and also with
pharmacists, psychologists and therapeutics because service users arriving at our place need
more professional support in order to lead a better life. Meanwhile, carers like us constantly
work with the organization and with the family members of the patients in order to provide
the best services.

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So, to provide quality service and also improve the quality of service, implementation of
reflective practice is supportive. In our setting, reflective practice has helped a lot in assuring
that the professionals are continuously learning and seeking to make improvements.
Self-contribution in working with others
Being a manager in health and social care, I have always focused on working in a team.
Working collaboratively is crucial in HSC. With this, all professionals working in a specific
workplace put their skills together and hence can turn out to be an opportunity for the
workers to acquire new things and skills. As a manager, it is my sole responsibility to develop
an efficient team that will successfully deliver services to the users. So, I have contributed a
lot in this direction. From my side, I have always asked my team to work for a single vision
of HSC and that is providing the best service to the users. Tuckman’s group development
theory has helped me a lot to identify the key stages of developing an efficient team. From
this, I developed that my team successfully interacted with one another and also showed a
common goal to deliver health services to the service users.
Self-contribution in working with others was just the result of implementing reflective
practice. I have also made contributions in this area by empowering the team. Through this, it
was possible for me to delegate the individual with responsibilities and assist them to make
decisions about the service. In the initial phase, it was difficult for me to identify what
contributions can be made but soon, with the help of Kolb’s learning cycle, I was able to
develop my understanding by analyzing the past experiences. Past experiences helped me to
check out the weakness of other professionals and hence, I successfully contributed in this
area. Kolb’s learning cycle assisted me significantly. Four stages in this model allowed me to
provide the best service to the users.
Response to effective teamwork barriers
In my context, I have observed that teamwork is not always effective. There are a few
challenges that often make an ineffective team. I have developed that changing roles in health
and social care is common due to which, ineffective team develops. Changing roles often
present challenges to a team in terms of allocating the role and acknowledgement. Moreover,
some changes in health care nature like enhancement in care delivery for chronic conditions
requiring new team development and modifying the existing teams. Along with that, I also
developed that instability of the team is common to various health care settings and this may
be the reason for ineffective communication. I came to know that failing teamwork results in
accidents. Reviews of incidents of high-profile have identified three teamwork failing types

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such as lack of explicit coordination, miscommunication and unclear role definition (Arends,
2017).
To develop a successful teamwork, it is important for me to have an ability to resolve
conflicts or team disagreement. So, dealing with teamwork barriers is not a very complex
thing for me. In the initial phase, it is important for me to identify the role of each team
member and the values provided by them. Apart from that establishing an open, interpersonal
communication with the individuals leading some other functions is helpful. Developing
respectful and trustful relationships with peers can also help me in preventing the team from
barriers.
Ways to resolve professional conflicts
In any workplace, conflicts mainly arise from differences. This mainly takes place when an
individual is disagreeing over the motivations, values, ideas, perceptions or needs. Over time,
these differences hence are not important but when there is a situation of conflict, strong
feelings are often triggered and a deep personal need is often the root problem. These needs
can be feeling for a safe and secure environment, respected and valued or intimacy or
closeness. Thus, in an organization, it is important for every individual to work in a team and
our organization deploy such methods in which staff work together and provide better service
quality to the users (Lipworth and Montgomery, 2018).
Being a manager, it is my duty to maintain the environment. Thus, to resolve conflicts, I have
always worked efficiently. In this context, I often try to find out the actual reason behind the
conflict. Then, finding out the appropriate action is important. I also established a
professional code of conduct. Moreover, it is also important for me to become comfortable
with the approaches of forcing, accommodating, ignoring, compromising and collaborating.
So, in order to do so, I have used reflective practices. With the help of reflective practice, it
was easier for me to think out the best strategy to resolve the conflicts. Deployment of
reflective practices resulted in generating positive outcomes that means reduction of conflicts
among the teammates. It can be further said that this allowed in building positive
relationships with the professionals.
Promoting and supporting individual’s rights
Rights are considered to be legal, social or sometimes ethical principles of freedom.
According to the World Health Organization (2017), rights are the fundamental normative
rules stating the permissible things as per the theory of ethics, social convention or legal
systems. In the setting of health and social care, various support principles are used like the
right choice, independence, partnership, respect, dignity, privacy, different values and

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cultures and equal opportunities. All these principles are hence helpful for ensuring
employee’s work with the service users for promoting and respecting the rights of
individuals. In health and social care, it is quite essential to train each individual. Developing
professionalism is also crucial in this direction. Thus, it is another crucial thing that the carers
and professionals must learn about their roles and responsibilities. In an HSC, staff are
mainly responsible for supporting the rights of service users and the only way to do so is by
following the procedures and legislations of the organization.
Human rights are considered to be essential rights and freedoms belonging to every
individual. In a country like the UK, these rights are included in the Human Rights Act of
1998. Apart from that, the Equality Act is also important as here none of the service users is
discriminated against and must be treated fairly irrespective of age, caste or religion. So, as a
manager in Health and Social Care, it is important for me to check whether all the rights of
individuals are supported efficiently. It is my responsibility to train each staff and educate
themselves about the rights and what can happen if the service users are not getting enough
freedom to express their opinions (Kyle et al. 2017). I have also implemented the concept of
person-centred care and work in a non-judgemental way. Furthermore, I also try to encourage
to value respect and dignity the characteristics that make an individual unique from another.
Another important thing for me is to ensure that none of the service users are harmed at the
time of getting treatment. Additionally, I always ask my team to support the emotional needs
of service users and keep their information confidential.
Self-improvement to the effectiveness of teamwork
In order to provide more efficiency in teamwork, it is important to focus on self-
improvement. Being a manager, it is important for me to manage the entire context playfully
and skilfully. Improving efficiency within the team is only possible by setting a few goal sets.
My effectiveness in the team can be improved by ensuring alignment, clarifying the goals,
responsibilities and roles, engaging with proper planning and rapid execution, development
of people and team and creating the loop of feedback to learn and be accountable. I have
always tried to develop a productive team and in this context, it is important for me to divide
the work among my team members evenly. As the team is more active in developing the
work process and goals, the individuals are more dedicated towards success of the team. In
order to do so, I have always focused on setting the deadline so that the works would be up to
date on all progress related to the tasks. I am also concerned about sharing all relevant pieces
of information with my team. So, these improvements can work efficiently in developing a
productive team.

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References
Arends, N.E., 2017. Exploring the perceptions of interprofessional teamwork and the barriers
and facilitators there of in, in-patient management at a tertiary hospital.
Franklin, P., Arber, A., Reed, L. and Ream, E., 2019. Health and social care professionals’
experiences of supporting parents and their dependent children during, and following, the
death of a parent: a qualitative review and thematic synthesis. Palliative medicine, 33(1),
pp.49-65.
Kyle, R.G., Wills, J., Mahoney, C., Hoyle, L., Kelly, M. and Atherton, I.M., 2017. Obesity
prevalence among healthcare professionals in England: a cross-sectional study using the
Health Survey for England. BMJ open, 7(12).
Lipworth, W. and Montgomery, K., 2018. Making sense of professional conflicts and
quandaries. Routledge.
Morris, T.H., 2020. Experiential learning–a systematic review and revision of Kolb’s model.
Interactive Learning Environments, 28(8), pp.1064-1077.
[Link], 2021 Job Role. Available at: [Link]
manager [Accessed on 12th April 2021]
Rimmer, A., 2018. How do I prepare a personal development plan?. Bmj, 363.
Subekti, A.S., 2020. Undergraduate Novice Researchers’ Experiences in Conducting Mini-
Research in Education: Kolb Learning Cycle. | IRJE| Indonesian Research Journal in
Education|, pp.448-465.
Surr, C.A., Gates, C., Irving, D., Oyebode, J., Smith, S.J., Parveen, S., Drury, M. and
Dennison, A., 2017. Effective dementia education and training for the health and social care
workforce: a systematic review of the literature. Review of educational research, 87(5),
pp.966-1002.
World Health Organization, 2017. Global action plan on the public health response to
dementia 2017–2025.

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