Welsh law holds care home providers accountable for failings

A new law will make care providers face tougher regulation and inspection in Wales and hold them to account for failings.

The new Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill, passed by Welsh Assembly Members this week, will also give Ministers the power to remove not just bad services but also bad providers.

The Bill includes a 'fit and proper person' test for service providers and responsible individuals, as recommended by the Flynn Review, following Operation Jasmine, a police inquiry into alleged abuse at care homes in South Wales.

Wales' Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford said: “This new law means our regulation of social care will become a key driver of improvement in Wales.

"Ultimately, it will mean better social care in Wales. Where services don’t come up to scratch it will mean people will be able to see action being taken by regulators.

“This law will ensure that everyone will know how good services are and where improvements are needed.”

The Minister added: “I am grateful to Dr Margaret Flynn and her work on the issues arising from Operation Jasmine. The introduction of a fit and proper person test for both service providers and responsible individuals has placed appropriate accountability at the heart of future regulation.” Wales has 1,132 adult residential care homes and 417 domiciliary care agencies.

In addition, the new law will:

•Place new requirements on the social care sector to plan for the future

•Ensure citizens have new and accurate information about care in Wales

•Require regulators to work together for the wellbeing those in Wales

The Minister said: “This Bill allows us to respond effectively to new emerging challenges.

"For example, I have recently commissioned research from Manchester Metropolitan University about zero hours contracts and other conditions for domiciliary care workers. “If concerns about the impact of zero hour contracts on quality of care are borne out in this research, I will consider using the regulation-making power in this new law to impose requirements on service providers about how such contracts should be used in the social care sector."

As previously reported onhomecare.co.uk the new law sees home care workers in Wales having to register to work in the social care sector from 2020 and care home staff doing the same from 2022.

Front line staff in Wales will have to register with the incoming regulatory body Social Care Wales to work in the social care sector. Prior to the new law, registration was only mandatory for adult care home managers and home care managers in Wales.

Now that Wales has passed a law to ensure all care home and home care staff are registered, England is the only country in the UK without plans to make registration compulsory for front line adult care workers.

In England registration is only compulsory for the owners and managers of care homes and home care services.

A spokeswoman for England's regulatory body, the Care Quality Commission which registers only the owners and managers of care homes and home care services, said: "The Care Certificate for health and social care workers acts as a good example of training."

But she added: "Our State Of Care Report highlights leadership and staff as a big issue. We see a lot of variation in the quality of care because of leadership and staff."

The Minister added: “Similarly, it will allow the government to deliver on its commitment to require registration of workers in social care in due course, improving public confidence in our system and extending the skills of social care staff on who so many depend."

Northern Ireland announced its registration plans for front line staff earlier this year. Scotland made it compulsory for care home workers to register by October and home care workers must register from 2017.

The bill is expected to receive its Royal Assent in January, with the law being implemented in stages from April 2017.