Manual Handling in Health and Social Care, Second Edition

Book excerpt: Manual Handling in Health and Social Care is written for all those involved in the manual handling of adults or children - including those carrying it out, assessors, managers and commissioners. It lays out the current legal requirements in a non-technical way and includes case studies illustrating the law applied in practice, across health, social care and sometimes educational settings. The book applies to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. An extended introduction sets out challenges, past, present and future, including safety, balancing risk with duties to meet people's needs, human rights, avoidance of blanket policies, mental capacity, safeguarding, the limited resources of statutory services and single-handed care. It also considers some of the legal implications of increased use of technology (including remote assessment), as well as the "mechanisation" of care and its application to manual handling. The main part of the book is in the form of an A-Z guide, providing quick access to relevant legislation and common law (negligence) rules applying to personal injury cases. It covers also, extensively, judicial review legal challenges to decisions, when people and their families disagree with manual handing decisions that have been made. In addition, relevant ombudsman cases are included. The book will be essential reference for staff and managers in health and social care settings, students, legal professionals and all those working to ensure good practice and compliance with the law.