A NORTH Yorkshire care home is under investigation this week following allegations against two members of staff.

The chair of the newly created Care Quality Commission (CQC) has spoken of her fear that the recession could undermine service standards.

A campaign has been launched to recruit thousands of professionals to work in child social care. Introduced by the Local Government Association (LGA), the campaign highlights the concerns of council leaders following the case of Baby P and the likelihood of child abuse cases being missed as a result of people leaving the care profession.

Council bosses in Doncaster were warned four years ago that their actions were putting children’s lives at risk. The council, which last year had double the national average number of children on its protection register, is currently under investigation following the deaths of seven children in the area.

Services for vulnerable children in England deteriorated last year and remain the weakest area of councils’ work, the Audit Commission has said.

The politician in charge of Norfolk’s social care services issued a double apology yesterday in the wake of the Careforce home care fiasco.

A four-point plan to make social care fairer and more transparent ahead of wider reforms has been unveiled by one of the nation’s most respected social policy research organisations.

More than half of social care professionals believe a social insurance scheme is needed to fund the reform of care and support services. A further 27% say perhaps it is needed to raise adequate funds, but they fear it would prove too unpopular with the public.

A group of care homes in Sussex have installed iris recognition technology – similar to that used in airport security control – in a bid to monitor and record the movement of its staff.

A Government scheme aimed at boosting the number of social care workers is looking to fill 250 jobs across the Bradford district.