Fourth Assembly Health and Social Care Committee Legacy

Annex A: Consultation questions

Name:	Gerry Evans
Are you responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?	I am responding on behalf of an organisation.
Organisation (and role if applicable):	Care Council for Wales, Director of Regulation and Professional Standards

Question 1

Thinking about the past five years, in your view:

-     to what extent has the Health and Social Care Committee had an impact on health and social care in Wales?

The Care Council for Wales has worked closely with the Committee over the last two to three years on the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act, 2014 and the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill.  In this context, we have seen the important role the committee has played in making sure social care legislation is properly scrutinised and amended to ensure that it appropriate and effective. 

-     what has been the Committee’s biggest achievement?

The Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act, 2014 was a large and complicated piece of legislation.  If its aims are successful it will have a significant positive impact on the lives of thousands of people who receive care.  The Committee’s work in scrutinising and improving this legislation would count as its biggest achievement, from our perspective. 

 -     if the Committee could have done one thing differently, what would it be, and why?

We are happy with the Committee’s approach.

 -     has the Committee’s work struck the right balance between scrutiny of policy, finances and legislation?

It is clear that the Committee has had a very high workload over the past couple of years, especially when one compares it with other legislative bodies where separate committees would be established for Bills.  From our perspective, the Committee has responded well to this challenge and provided a valuable service throughout the passage of recent social care legislation. 

Question 2

Looking ahead to the next five years, in your view what will be the three biggest challenges for health and social care in Wales?

Integrating social care and health will be one of the biggest challenges in the next five years.  As we state in our Strategic Plan for 2015-18, there is a consensus developing that social care has a key role to play in the well-being of the citizens of Wales, working with partners across public services. This requires transforming services, cultures and practice. It will particularly important to train both the care and health workforces to adapt to the increasing need for co-operation between the services. 

Managing a sustainable care workforce which is capable of meeting future demands is a major challenge.  The Care Council is responsible for regulating and developing the social care workforce.  There are over 70,000 working in social care in Wales. Key issues include recruitment to meet future demand and the retention of existing staff.  Terms and conditions of employment is becoming an increasingly significant issue. At the same time, staff are adapting to roles which are increasingly complex, especially on the interface with health.

Adapting care services to become focussed on the needs of the individual is an important challenge for the next three years. They will be supported in this endeavour by the Social Services & Well-Being (Wales) Act, 2014.  But, to succeed will require a change of culture throughout services, with a lead taken by directors of social services.  As stated in our Strategic Plan for 2015-18, the key to the successful delivery of the ambition for the future and improving quality is through a workforce which is sustainable, competent, confident, valued and capable of delivering personalised and flexible services which meet changing demands and delivering improved outcomes for people and communities.