Risks in residential care homes - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2409 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Building Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? PART A. Risks may vary in every business depending on several factors. One of which is the nature or type of the business itself. In healthcare organizations, the priority is always patient safety and wellness and the risks involved may affect such priority. Since life is precious, it is important that such institutions take this into great consideration and to prevent loss of life from happening, a risk management plan is being coined and implemented. Just like any other rest homes, Kindly Residential Care Rest Home can experience different risks along the way. For its business operations, there can be both internal and external fraud, employment and workplace problems, damage to physical assets and machineries and system failures. These issues can be crucial to the care home because health is a very sensitive matter and unnecessary delays in for example an intervention that requires the use of power-generated equipment can cause the life of its customers. Strategic risks include business development failure, overreliance, emerging business rivals and business overcapacity which can help the senior management rethink and reinvent the business to stay on and survive. Strategies must careful be thought of to ensure that they are effective and reliable. They should be able to address the demands of the changing time and keep up with the demands of its customers as well. Hazards which can be man-made or natural also pose a great risk not only to the employees but also to the physical structure of the business and its day to day operations. Examples include fire, earthquakes and hurricanes while man-made could be wars or terrorisms. These emergency situations are never new to every business because of its susceptibility to its environment and other external factors that is why there should be preparedness and awareness among each employee when these certain situations arise. They can prepare well if they know what they are dealing with and what not. Drills and safety measures as well as counter-equipment must be constantly practiced and within reach respectively. Information risks which involve incorrect information recorded, confidential information access by unauthorized person, cybercrime and malicious attacks can also damage the reputation and integrity of KRCRH. Since personal information and information pertaining to health is a private thing, they should be properly handled and well protected. The management needs to implement ways on how these things can be safeguarded without compromising the welfare of its customers. The issue of money and finance can be tackled in a way that usually is convenient to all its stakeholders. While patient safety and wellness is still the priority of Kindly Residential Care Rest Home, the services they offer should still focus on that aspect. The senior management most especially needs to make sure that they are meeting the institutional goals and objectives. Generation o f profits is equally important however profits are often considered as the by-product of good services and reciprocal customer satisfaction. Measures must be imposed at all levels of the rest home through internal audits. There should also be wise consumption and usage of its assets and resources. In terms of health and safety on the other hand, there should be a conducive and suitable environment where the employees and patients alike feel safe and secured. There technically is a correlation between an environment that employees find harmless and increased productivity. So it is important to organize the setup so that accidents, injuries and other forms of mishaps can be prevented. The clients also need to be assured that during their stay in the facility, nothing wrong will happen to them by always emphasizing the importance of safe and proper delivery of services. Support equipment should also be there to aid them especially those who are immobile and bed-ridden to prevent furthe r harm and disability. Choosing an effective and relevant enterprise risk management model is one of the greatest investments an organization can have. It does not only protect the business itself, it also protects the people from uncertainty and the fear of unknown. By utilizing such model, measures can be done and business survival can be ensured. Risks can be identified in different levels and properly responded to without much of an impact or stress to the whole thing. PART B. The maturity of a business can be measured in a lot of different ways. Longevity defines how established and independent an organization is and risk mitigation management plan and strategies play a very important role in the realization of the objective to keep the business afloat and generate profits. Moreover, the senior management makes mandates so that these specific protocols are followed throughout the organization. There are a lot of considerations in making suggestions in the different aspects of the organization. Some of which include the environment and its location, the nature or type of services being provided, the goals and objectives involved, the composition of the manpower and the interest of its stakeholders among others. These factors affect the whole business and so careful examination and assessment must be done so as not to miss out on any of these important things. Certain risks demand certain actions. In the case for example of employment practices, discrimination can happen right before an employee is hired or accepted. Same is the case of harassment which is rampant these days. These two unfortunate scenarios can be prevented if there is respect and disciplinary actions are seriously being implemented to those guilty of such accusation. The management of Kindly Residential Care Rest Home should ensure that employees and customers alike are protected from these acts. Issues on wages, benefits, demands, customer-employee ratio are consistent with th e contract and working conditions signed and agreed upon. Aside from employment practices, fraud prevention measures must also be prioritized all throughout the different departments of the rest home. To prevent such thing from materializing, there should be identity checks, proper gathering of information and adequate investigation for security lapses. Not anyone should be given access to valuable information in the rest home and passwords should be in place and activated at all times. In acquiring information from stakeholders, it should be systematic and comprehensive to prevent any wrong interpretation and information entry. Health information must be handled with extreme care and caution to prevent leak that would be detrimental to the business reputation and customer integrity. Any misfortune that can arise related to fraud will definitely affect the whole institution. Investigation should take place when these situations arise to ensure that proper actions are taken and em phasize that wrong actions warrant disciplinary measures. In terms of health and safety, there should be policies that would determine if the rest home is following what is expected of it. Safety for both customers and employees must be upheld. Injuries, accidents, falls, slips and other forms of mishaps can be prevented if there is proper identification of these risks and careful planning of what activities to follow once these scenarios arise exists. Consideration of proper ventilation to keep the rooms aerated, anti-slip mats and mechanisms, cooling and heating devices, general cleaning, use of protective, assistive and lifting equipment, proper handling of toxic substances and chemicals, inspection and assessment of electrical outlet and wirings, employee-patient ratio, violence and abuse should always be there. Health and safety is a very broad aspect and it covers so much from the working environment down to employee relationships. The senior management of Kindly Residentia l Care Rest Home should also see to it that the physical assets are protective from danger like fire, earthquake and other events that may cause damage to its property like the building itself, the valuable machineries and technology being used and data processing equipment for its daily operations. For this reason, it is important that the physical structure of the rest home is stable enough and quake-proof and that sprinklers and anti-fire mechanisms are properly installed and designated on right places. Since they are offering extra services, features and amenities that include a hairdressing salon, physiotherapy, podiatry, aromatherapy and reflexology, the rest home should also make sure that they are in good working condition because repair is much more expensive that their maintenance. Kindly Residential Care Rest Home also needs to have its own disaster management plan that would give them the edge not over their competitors but over different risks that they may face in t he long run. Staff should be prepared, ready and aware of various emergency situations because in times like these, they are the first responders to the crisis. There should be proper assessment of the risks that need to be prioritized because they have the greatest impact to the organization and on top of that, there should also be proper channeling of information or communication among the different departments at all levels. Information dissemination serves as the link that connects people and these measures in unison. PART C. All kinds of businesses have their own continuity plans that in principle follow the same steps in risk management and designed to counter the different business risks along the way. These are called Business continuity plan which is technically a process that is adopted by different business organizations to address different threats and emergency situations when an initial becomes ineffective. It is the back-up plan that offers the same level of res olution with slight deviation from the original. There are different factors to be considered under formulating a business continuity plan which falls under the umbrella of risk management. For Kindly Residential Care Rest Home, it is important that they have partnership with another rest home or facility in case the number of customers has exceeded the number of rooms available. The employees also need to know emergency contact numbers in case of unforeseen events. Only after identifying the different risks involved can there be prioritization of risk reduction activities. Impact and crises assessment is vital because it is sort of like the first step in the whole process of business continuity planning and without it, the plan can never be effective and efficient enough in providing resolution to the problem at hand. Vulnerabilities can be encountered if patient safety is not prioritized and the staff members do not comply with safe measures in rendering care to customers. If t he management also does not see the importance of having looking at the problems or risks from afar, then the whole institution would definitely crumble. They also need to determine the gravity and severity of the risks involved so that those greatest impact can be prioritized. Same thing applies for threat assessment scenario definition wherein the risks are identified and assessed ahead of time in order for the institution to prepare and equip itself for what may come. Opportunities for failure can arise if the process of risk management is not followed well and careful assessment is not properly done. Proper assessment is important because it serves as the foundation as to how measures will be determined and if it is not right to begin with, then the whole plan will not be as effective. Kindly Care Residential Care Rest Home also needs to foster a recovery solution design that would help their clients return back to their normal lives. Recovery can happen if the needs of the p atients are attended to and customers are given the chance to participate in their care and needs. Recovery solution design needs to be flexible, relevant and individualized since not all clients are the same. If the RMP fails to see these characteristics of a good recovery plan, then it would not serve its purpose. Going back to normal or achieving full recovery definitely takes time and so the nurses or care assistants from KRCRH need to be patient and committed enough in that aspect. If not, then vulnerability can arise. In terms of implementation and communication, there should be the perfect timing for it. The plan that is never implemented can never be evaluated or considered to be effective. Implementation is the actual doing of the planned measures and if by any chance, the employees do not execute what is expected of them then the whole response would be altered and the efforts would be rendered futile. Communication on the other hand happens all throughout the process. It is the link of one step to another, one employee to another, one staff to customer, management to staff and vice versa. If an information is not properly communicated, then misunderstanding and conflict can happen and lead to another problem. In order to make sure that a plan is effective, it first must be tested. Plans must have certain characteristics. First, it should be available. A good plan is one that is put into paper and then executed after. Moreover, it also needs to be cost-effective, consistent and done in a timely manner. BCMs are done to counter risks that can lead to potential losses. Lastly, the plan must have a clear starting point. The employees must know when it is in effect. Vulnerabilities happen in the aspect of testing if for example the people behind the plan are being selfish and are just doing the plan for their own personal gains. If Kindly Residential Care Rest Home management fails to see that the earthquake plan is in effect the moment the initial sh ock happens, delay in action can mean death or injuries. Financial consequences can also be high especially if no expert advice was sought and the people behind its formulation were not really good at it. Maintenance of a plan should be initiated so that trends can be looked into and newer ways can be adapted to address emergency situations. Maintenance does not require so much cost but innovation does. Usually, healthcare institutions keep track of their business plans so that they can easily be instituted once the need for them arises. By updating the plan, risks which are constantly changing and evolving can be addressed and the plan can be managed in a cost-effective and timely manner. Vulnerabilities in the aspect of maintenance and update happens if Kindly Residential Care Rest Home fails to keep track of their previous contingency plans and the senior management fails to understand the principle behind BCM which is an ever-changing process of giving solutions to emergency situations. Trainings and continuous education should be given to employees to that they are aware of new updates on things in line with their work especially in the care of elderlies. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Risks in residential care homes" essay for you Create order