GSCC: Action Must Be Taken Against Employers Who Fail To Support Staff

The General Social Care Council (GSCC) is calling for an assurance from government that action will be taken against employers who fail to protect and support their staff when the new inspection regime for social care comes into force.

In their response to a consultation ahead of the formation of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the GSCC called on the government to require providers registering with the CQC to sign up to the GSCC Code of Practice for employers. The code sets out clearly the responsibilities of employers on a range of issues including staff safety and professional development and is used currently by the CSCI in inspections but has no legal status.

The GSCC also said that social care employers should be required to employ only registered workers for the delivery of personal care in order to reassure people who use services that workers are accountable for their actions.

Sir Rodney Brooke, Chair of the GSCC, said:
“In the light of ongoing concerns about the violence and abuse suffered by some care workers, we need to take the opportunity presented to us by the formation of the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) to put a greater emphasis on the responsibility of employers to ensure the safety of staff. Requiring employers to agree to abide by our code of practice when registering with the CQC would be a means by which to achieve this and also ensure employers are providing training and development opportunities to staff.

We support the government’s goal to create a level playing field across health and adult social care through this new regulatory regime. That is why the General Social Care Council wants to see that employers only employ regulated workers for the delivery of personal care. People who use health care services know that doctors and nurses are individually accountable – people who use social care should be given the same reassurance.”