Sometimes there may be conflicts between the various frameworks and guidelines that have been established by law or policy. If this occurs, you should bring attention to it in national forums as well as local ones so we can resolve these issues together seamlessly for everyone’s benefit.

You must remember that if policy conflicts occur between the various care providers, it is not always possible to follow every rule or policy that relates to adult care provision. You should always try to resolve any conflicts on an individual basis before trying to contact national groups for help.

Transparency about conflicts and dilemmas is crucial for many reasons. It helps others understand our challenges, it can spark public awareness of the issues at hand which may lead to support from other community members that have faced these same problems before (and maybe even some creative solutions!), but most importantly honesty with oneself leads us down a healthier path towards living well.

For example, Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires that care providers have sufficient levels of staffing, however, you may be finding the recruitment of suitable staff members to be challenging. By raising the issue with your local authority they may be able to support you in your recruitment process and refer you to agencies that could backfill whilst new staff is being recruited and trained. Because recruitment of care staff is also a big issue on a national scale, you may also decide to draw attention to it in national forums.