ABSTRACT
Nurses must be guided by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards of care as well as the requirements to comply with health safety legislation.
It is possible, however, to have an informal caring relationship where family and friends are carers involved either exclusively or in partnership with ‘employed’ health and social care workers. In both types of settings, the users’ safety should never be compromised and everything should be done to promote professionals working in corroboration with informal carers to ensure patient safety. Factors which may aect the patient’s ‘best interests’ will be considered in the context of duty of care in ethics as well as health and safety employment law.
