DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 97/315 , SAYS FRANK DOBSON
Social services will be given clearer objectives and tougher rules, Health Secretary Frank Dobson said today during a conference speech to directors of social services.
Speaking to the annual social services conference in Blackpool, Frank Dobson said the Government had a duty to stamp out bad practice and eliminate the corrosive effect it has on public confidence. He promised there would be a General Social Care Council armed with responsibility for the regulation of social care staff.
The Secretary of State said there will always be a need for social care delivered by professionals, promised a new approach with partnership and consultation, and confirmed that there will be a White Paper to open the way to legislation to stronger inspection and regulation.
Mr Dobson told delegates:
"Let me leave you in no doubt about the future of social care. So long as there are frail old people, vulnerable children, people with physical or learning disabilities, mentally ill people and other vulnerable groups there will be a need for social care provided by professionals to augment what families provide, itself augmented by help from both professionals and volunteers organised by voluntary bodies.
"Effective social care will be a crucial aspect of our policies to tackle social exclusion.
"We also recognise our responsibility to stamp out bad practice as much as possible and reduce or eliminate the corrosive effect such behaviour has on public confidence in the staff. That is why we have said we will establish a General Social Care Council. There are still decisions to be made on the exact nature of the functions and the kind of body it will be.
"We will be publishing a consultation document shortly. How to register the staff and to what extent is a wide open question. There are some hard choices to be made. But who could argue, for instance, with the objective that we must be able to keep out of child care people who present a risk to children."
He said the new Government is determined to set clear and uniform objectives and to demand consistent information about social services activities and costs.
Speaking about new rules for social care regulation, Frank Dobson said:
"We came into Government with a manifesto promise to introduce an independent regulation service, not only for residential care as at the moment, but also for domiciliary services. We will make good that promise, and we will be publishing a White Paper early next year to set out our plans. I am not prepared to leave the domiciliary sector unregulated - we will be consulting key interests in advance of the White Paper."
Promising a fresh approach with consultation with vulnerable people, charities and social care staff, he said:
"What we want to do is thrash out with all concerned just what social services can be expected to do, for the Government to do those things that only Governments can do, to spell out what others should do and the standards that should be met."
Calling for co-operation between health and social care, he said the Government wants to see the development of integrated care and treatment. It intends to legislate to make it easier for the NHS and social services to work together - with access to common budgets and pooled resources. And he cited more immediate measures designed to foster partnerships with extra resources, for this winter and future years, targeted on joint schemes with greatest impact.
Ministers want to see rigorous standards set and monitored. The joint Audit Commission and Social Services Inspectorate reviews of social services departments were professional scrutinies and have been a great success. He said:
"All authorities need to take very seriously the findings of joint review reports, not just those few where serious failures in performance are identified. In those small minority of cases, sterner measures are required both within the authority and by Ministers. It won't be a pleasant business but there really should be no complaints if the same sort of scrutiny and professional standards have been applied as were applied in earlier reports on other departments. We can't wait until some vulnerable person has suffered before something is done.
"Whatever view my predecessors may have taken I believe that social care is a very important part of the services for which I am responsible. I want to see your role more clearly defined and the effectiveness of your services costed and tested. I, together with Paul Boateng will be taking a much closer interest than our predecessors. As I said you may find that a mixed blessing but I think we can work together for the benefit of all concerned."
[ENDS]
