For those care providers based in Wales, The Registration and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 is now upon us and re-registration of care services is imminent. Care providers should now be thinking about and planning how they will be ready to hit the ground running when the new legislation is fully implemented. The first step should be to bookmark the CSSIW website and to make a diary note to check the website for new information regularly. Providers can also sign up for CSSIW email alerts and news from this link: https://cssiw.gov.wales/news/newsletters/?lang=en.
Who Needs to Re-register?
The next step should be to read the advice and guidance on the CSSIW website about the new Act. The timescale for the implementation of the Act depends on the service type, the following types of providers will need to re-register with CSSIW in order to continue to provide a service:
- Care homes
- Children’s homes
- Domiciliary care
- Residential family centres, and
- Secure accommodation services
The CSSIW will carry out the re-registration in a phased process throughout 2018-19. Each type of service will be given a specific date to submit their application by during this period. During 2018-19 as part of the transition, CSSIW will tell providers when they must submit an application to re-register. As long as providers submit an application to CSSIW by the given date, they will continue to be registered and inspected under the Care Standards Act 2000 until CSSIW have processed and determined their application.
Preparing for Re-registration
Care providers should consider preparing their service for the new Act and re-registration. Key tasks include making sure that relevant people are aware of the changes and how it will affect them and the service. Relevant people include; Responsible Individuals – who will be registered by CSSIW, Registered Managers – who will cease to be registered by CSSIW but who will be registered personally by Social Care Wales (formerly the Care Council for Wales).
Another vital task is to ensure that the service is fit for re-registration, this includes conducting regular audits of the service against BOTH the Care Standards Act 2000 (and associated regulations) and the Registration and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 and the inspection frameworks. Inspection frameworks for care homes for younger adults and older persons can be accessed via the CSSIW website and the CSSIW have been inspecting services against these frameworks (although any breaches of regulation will be against the Care Standards Act 2000 and associated regulations) for some time.
Policies and procedures is another key area, providers must ensure that these are consistent with the new legislation and frameworks and at QCS we are currently working to update all of the policies and procedures to ensure that they are ready for the new legislation in April 2018.
