Nearly two million people using social care services will benefit from higher standards of care and better public protection, as a result of the Social Care Registers opening across the UK this week.
A major part of the drive for higher standards of care, registration will help to give social care workers the recognition they deserve, and will allow service users to be confident that they can depend on a trained and trusted workforce. This is the first time that the estimated 1.5 million people working in the social care sector across the UK have been regulated.
Survey evidence indicates overwhelming public support for regulation of the social care workforce, with over 90 per cent of people questioned in a recent NOP poll confident it will deliver higher standards of care and improved protection. Those working in social care have long supported registration, to boost public confidence in their work, with 87 per cent support from those questioned in a MORI poll last year.
The Social Care Registers will increase the protection of service users, helping employers to ensure that only suitable people are employed and retained in the social care workforce. Action will be taken against the small minority of the workforce whose behaviour is not up to the standard expected in social care. The register will put social care on a similar footing to other public service professions, such as medicine and teaching.
Each country in the UK has its own regulatory body. They are the Care Council for Wales; the General Social Care Council (for England); the Northern Ireland Social Care Council and the Scottish Social Services Council. The Councils are each responsible for the registration and regulation of social care workers in their country. They work in co-operation and with other regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Speaking on behalf of the four care councils, Morag Alexander, Convener of the Scottish Social Services Council said: “Social care is undergoing its biggest transformation for 30 years. Registration represents a milestone in improving the protection of the nearly two million people who depend on vital social care services every day. Social care workers do crucial work such as helping disabled people live independent lives, supporting the needs of individuals and families, and protecting the interests of children and some of the most vulnerable people in society.
“Registration is also a landmark for anyone employed in the sector, whether they’re a qualified social worker, a care assistant in a home for older people or a care worker helping young children. Registration provides public recognition that workers are committed to - and will be held to meeting – high standards of practice, something that doctors and nurses have enjoyed for years.”
Registration of the social care workforce, across the UK, has been welcomed by many employers and service providers. John Tebbet, UK Director of Children’s Services at Barnardos, commented:
“Barnardo’s fully supports both the introduction of the Social Care Register and the employer’s code of practice, which we are committed to adopting. The new register will undoubtedly increase our ability to safeguard the vulnerable children with whom we work – and it should increase the confidence of both service users and the public in general in the professional abilities of social workers.”
David Behan, President of the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) has also welcomed registration:
“We welcome the opening of the Social Care Register, as a significant step forward in ensuring a high quality workforce. Employers constantly seek to ensure their staff meet high standards of conduct and practise, and are well trained. Registration will support this objective, and build public confidence in the vital work those in social care undertake. We will be urging all our members to encourage and support registration of their workforce when invited to do so.”
All workers will need to apply to be on the register. Within the next few years, only qualified social workers on the appropriate country’s register will be able to call themselves social workers, and employers will need to check that all their employees and applicants hold up-to-date registration.
In view of the size of the social care workforce in the UK, registration will begin incrementally and will take some years to complete. Those holding a recognised social work qualification will be the first group to be registered. Northern Ireland will also be registering all care staff working in residential child care, and heads of homes and day centres. Registrants will need to satisfy a number of criteria covering qualification and training, adherence to the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers and a declaration of good character. Every application will also need to be independently endorsed and validated by an employer.