Deputy Minister Announces Mandatory Registration Of Adult Care Home Managers In Wales

Main Category: Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 03 Jul 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas announced her plans to implement the next phase of the mandatory registration of the Social Care Workforce in Wales in the interest of public protection.

Registration will become compulsory for managers of adult residential care homes by 1 July 2010 and for managers of the domiciliary care sector by 1 July 2012. The Care Council for Wales will be responsible for executing this mandatory registration.

Social workers, social work students and managers and staff of residential children's homes were included in the earlier phases of mandatory registration.

Deputy Minister also signalled her intention to move on to the next phase of registration to consider the remainder of the social care workforce in both care homes and domiciliary care settings.

Gwenda Thomas said: "I am very pleased to announce this extension of compulsory registration for managers of adult residential and domiciliary care social care sectors. This is an important step in our policy to promote the development of a high quality and well qualified workforce for social care in Wales.

"We recognise the changes in service patterns and the need for closer working between health and social care services. Further evidence is needed to determine the timescales for educational attainment and to assess the impact of mandatory registration on all social care workers in Wales to determine the most appropriate approach in the interest of protecting the most vulnerable in our society."

Mutale Merrill, Chair of the Care Council for Wales, welcomed the announcement by the Deputy Minister and said: "This is a very positive development which will reinforce our efforts to ensure that the social care workforce in Wales is safe to practice and is working to the highest standards of professionalism. We look forward to working with the social care sector and the Assembly Government to deliver this next step in strengthening public confidence in the workforce.

"We have already found from the mandatory registration of residential child care managers and workers that this is the kind of move that will bring many benefits. Not only does it help raise standards, but it also means we can gather vital information about the workforce that helps with future planning and ensures that the best-possible services are being provided to those people who most need them," she added.

Welsh Assembly Government officials have been asked by the Deputy Minister to gather further evidence to inform future decisions for regulation of all frontline social care workers.

Further detailed notices and next steps will be issued by the Care Council for Wales.

Source
Welsh Assembly Government