Accountability and delegation explained

The focus of this paper is to provide an understanding of accountability and delegation in the context of the roles of healthcare assistants (HCAs) and assistant practitioners (APs). The RCN has produced a number of useful documents on accountability and delegation (2006, 2008, and 2011) for support workers, which are referred to in this article. The aim of the article is to provide the HCAs and the APs with: • An overview of the legal aspects of accountability and delegation • An understanding of what accountability means to all practitioners (both registered and unregistered) in everyday working practices • An understanding of the concept of ‘safe delegation’, the key principles of good practice for both the delegator and the person being delegated to • An overview of accountability and delegation responsibilities in relation to HCAs and APs.