We are writing to let you know that Welsh Government has published a consultation about proposed changes to primary legislation on social care and Continuing NHS Healthcare.
These changes are intended to lead to improvements in the quality of people’s experiences of care, as well as making adjustments to the way Care Inspectorate Wales and Social Care Wales operate.
What is being proposed?
The consultation:
- outlines legislation to end for-profit provision of care for children looked after, focussing on those young people in private residential care and independent foster care;
- proposes enabling access to Direct Payments for adults who are eligible for Continuing NHS Healthcare, to allow them to decide how, when and by whom their care needs are met;
- considers whether the duties to report children and adults at risk of harm, abuse or neglect should be expanded, to apply directly to individuals within relevant bodies;
- sets out a number of proposed changes to the regulation of service providers, responsible individuals and the social care workforce; and
- proposes to extend the definition of ‘social care worker’ to include all childcare and play workers.
The detail and how to respond
Proposed amendments to service regulation under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 include changes which aim: to ensure CIW has the statutory powers it needs to identify unregistered services; to remove unnecessary steps in the enforcement process; and to place the requirement to publish annual returns on service providers.
The consultation document sets out the detail of the proposals and asks related questions. For more information and to find out how you can respond, visit:
https://gov.wales/proposed-changes-legislation-social-care-and-continuing-health-care
Please note the consultation will close at midnight on Monday 7 November 2022.
For further information contact: SocialCareConsultation@gov.wales
