The General Social Care Council, the new watchdog for the social care workforce, has closed its three-month consultation on draft codes of practice for social care workers and employers.
The consultation was run simultaneously in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales by the four social care or social services councils in the UK. The four councils are now considering the results of the consultations and will be meeting during April and May to ensure the codes are aligned throughout the UK.
The codes when they are finalised will set down for the first time guiding principles for social care workers and employers. Consulting on the codes was the first major project for the General Social Care Council, which came into being in October 2001. Starting in Spring 2003, GSCC will over time register 1.2 million social care workers, who will be required to sign up to the code of practice currently under consideration.
Over 1,700 people in England responded to the consultation. A total of 365 written submissions were received – many from organisations representing larger groups – and six consultation events in Exeter, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds and London were attended by 1,300 people whose feedback was recorded. People attending the events came from across the social care spectrum – representing the public, private and voluntary sectors and including service users and carers. The special website for the consultation was visited by 15,000 people and a total of 3,000 consultation packs were sent out.
Ten special focus groups with service users throughout the country were also held, including with children and young people, people with learning disabilities and one-to-one sessions with people in their own homes. The extra focus groups were held in an effort to overcome the barriers preventing service users from attending events and have been very successful, says the General Social Care Council’s Chair, Rodney Brooke.
“We were very keen to ensure that service users’ voices were heard in this, our first major piece of work. We found that many could not get to the regional events, and so we went to them. It’s been very useful in terms of the feedback we’ve had and a wonderful addition to the responses we’ve had from the events, the website, and the advertising we’ve done. It’s been incredibly valuable and I would like to extend a thank you to everyone who took part. By working together we can improve public protection, raise standards and raise the status of social care.”
General Social Care Council Chief Executive, Lynne Berry, added: “We have all been struck by how people with a real interest in social care, social welfare and childcare have been eager to engage with us. We had a real sense of being in tune with a desire to raise standards in these vital services and improve the support for the people who undertake this vital work.”
Once the Council has analysed the consultation responses, it will consider changes to the codes along with its equivalent bodies in the UK. The final text will be sent to the Minister for Social Care before being published this summer. The Council will publish the analysis of the consultation response alongside the revised codes.