New licencing model proposed for care workers in Wales

A new licencing model for specific groups of care workers in Wales, including those going into people’s homes, is being proposed by the Care Council for Wales (CCW) in its response to the Government’s Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill.

Such a model, directed at groups which currently do not have to register with the CCW, could improve protection for some of society’s most vulnerable people, as well as raise standards across the workforce.

This was one of the main areas covered when two of the CCW’s senior management provided evidence on the Bill to the Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee.

Chief Executive, Rhian Huws Williams (pictured), and Gerry Evans, Director of Regulation and Professional Standards, answered questions based on the CCW’s response to the consultation about the Bill.

In its response, the Care Council has welcomed the Bill: “The Care Council welcomes the Bill and the important opportunity it brings to support the development of the social care sector and the social care workforce. It offers the possibility for Wales to do something new and different that will raise understanding and awareness of the social care sector. It will ensure Wales is well placed to respond to the significant changes and challenges that the social care sector will face in the forthcoming decade.”

It has also welcomed the proposal to reconstitute the Care Council for Wales as Social Care Wales with an extended remit.

“The Care Council has operated from the outset on the basis that regulation of the workforce and development of the social care workforce are firmly linked with the one activity supporting the other. The additional elements of service improvement, research and public information will bring further key levers into a cross-sectoral, coordinated approach to raising the quality of provision. Much of the detail of the proposal remains to be determined and it will be vital that there is proper alignment of resources to the ambitions.”
Further information..

The CCW’s full response to the consultation about the Bill is available here: http://www.ccwales.org.uk/news/2015/04/22/proposed-licencing-model-for-care-workers-forms-part-of-response-to-bill/#sthash.PqKLYtid.dpuf