health care assistant

horse7

Can anyone tell me if a male HCA /attendant is allowed or not to perform personal hygiene on a female patient,on his own. Is there a HIQA standard on this.

horse7

Any health care assistants out there.

amen

Not a health care assistant but why would he not be allowed ?

If he needs some else with him does the other person have to be male or female?

Would the same rule apply to females performing personal hygiene on a male patient ?

What about a gay health care assistant ? would the same rules apply ?

What about Drs/Nurses ?

PC gone mad!

frankythefish

previously worked as male hca, i always requested a female member of staff assisted if dealing with rather personal matters regards female patients. you gotta look out for yourself. the girl could make any sort of claim.

horse7

Thats the problem. If the boss says wash mary ,at least if HIQA says no,there is no problem., the hca can quote hiqa rules. Otherwise the male hca is vulnerable to claims.

amen

If the boss says wash mary ,at least if HIQA says no,there is no problem., the hca can quote hiqa rules.

but is this true then the same rules should also apply to any person who is washing the opp sex or is attracted to the opp sex.

horse7

This is the real world,so if you have hca/attendant experience please reply.

panda100

Of course male carers can attend to female clients on their own, just as female carers can attend to male clients. The only time you must have two carers present, in accordance with manual handling regulations, is when you are using a hoist, but this very rarely happens.

Neadine

horse7 wrote: »

This is the real world,so if you have hca/attendant experience please reply.

I work in the Social Care services, in my experience the policy tends to vary depending on the service, one service I am familiar with, only female staff support females with personal care, but this has been a specific request from family.
Also, where possible we would ensure there is a second member of staff around, popping in and out, and within ears shot while helping with personal care.
Sorry, I can't help with HIQA standards, but to my knowledge all staff, in general, can work with all clients/patients, unless otherwise specified.

orchidsrpretty

Don't think there is a HIQA standard for this. However I think it comes down to what you and the client is comfortable with. Some female clients will not like a male carer attending to them. Likewise some male carers may not feel comfortable and that seems to be ok too. In that situation the male carer would be assigned to aid male clients only. With the increase in male carers these days it seems quite flexible in what is and isn't accepted.

horse7

I am afraid that in todays hospitals there is no choice,because the are not enough staff.