‘Our aim is to raise the quality of care’
A new organisation has been created called Social Care Wales. Here, its chief executive Sue Evans explains the vital role it will play
IT’S an exciting time for social care in Wales – Social Care Wales, a new organisation for the sector has come into being.
Our aim is to raise the quality of care and support in Wales so that people’s lives can be improved.
We combine the functions of the Care Council for Wales and the Social Services Improvement Agency: regulating, supporting and developing the workforce, and using data and research to improve practice and service delivery.
We are governed by a board, chaired by Arwel Ellis Owen, which oversees our work by setting our strategy, reviewing our performance and determining our priorities.
The 14 board members have all been appointed by Rebecca Evans, Minister for Social Services and Public Health.
They bring with them a wealth of experience, skills and knowledge and we look forward to working with them.
Our regulatory role will expand over the next few years to include domiciliary and care home workers, which will allow us to specify the values, skills and knowledge needed by anyone wanting to provide effective care and support to vulnerable children and adults.
Our Code of Professional Practice will assure the public that anyone who is registered with us is deemed fit to practise and we will take action to de-register those whose practice is not acceptable.
During 2016 we worked with the social care sector and the minister to decide the priorities for service improvement, which need to be addressed immediately. They are: Looked-after children These are children who are no longer able to live with their families, where there are concerns about neglect or abuse.
Following a range of assessments by social workers, the family courts decide if a child’s welfare would improve if the local authority became the corporate parent.
This determines “looked after” status. The main improvement question is: “What can we do to prevent children coming into care and how can we improve the life chances of those children who are currently being cared for – either by foster parents or within a specialist residential setting?” People with dementia Most people are aware of the need to support those with dementia and the expected growth in the number of people diagnosed with the condition over the next 10 years.
We want to use our knowledge about what works well to improve this support and prevent deterioration, by looking at local and international evidence, and rolling out best practice across Wales. Care and support at home People have told us that, no matter how complex their needs, they want to stay in their own home for as long as possible.
This will need a range of agencies to work well together, focusing on the needs of the person and their family by “breaking down” professional or organisational barriers where they exist.
Together with different groups, we have launched a Care and Support at Home Strategy for Wales and we will be developing a plan to put this into practice.
If you are interested in supporting our work, get in touch at info@ socialcare.wales to join our stakeholder reference group.