In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
Social Care
During the final week of the National Assembly last plenary sessions of the summer, I took part in key debates on social care as Plaid Cymru’s Social Services spokesperson.
One was on the principles of the proposed Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill – very wordy but very important.
I fully support the ambitions and principles of the bill in helping to avoid vulnerable people being let down by the very services that should be protecting and supporting them. Stronger regulation and inspection of social care services, with an emphasis on a high-quality workforce to deliver high-quality care, is crucial.
On the issue of a high-quality workforce, the bill does make specific reference to proper training and professional development for social workers and social care workers. Perhaps, it could also include a duty on employers to ensure that trained staff are employed on secure contracts and not, for example, offered posts on the basis of zero-hour contracts.
Among the key recommendations needed is a requirement for service providers to have appropriate whistleblowing policies and procedures in place. It’s absolutely essential that social care workers, for example, are given not just permission but encouragement to bring to the attention of a provider – whether it be a local authority, the private or third sector – what they consider to be unprofessional and harmful practices. Some of the scandals in care homes brought to the light recently might then have been avoided.
I highlighted the need for advocacy services to register with the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales. The importance of advocacy services was an issue that we in Plaid Cymru strongly argued for to be included in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill.
There are, of course, a number of other important issues that will need to be resolved such as what form a rating system will take, the charging of registration fees, sanctions to be applied for breaches of regulation and, above all, for health and social care organisations to work much more closely together – in our view, through perhaps a truly integrated health and social care organisation.
I have a different idea about avoiding terrible treatment of people in care homes and hospitals:
The family of people in the care homes should be inspectors.
Care homes should have open CCTV in allowing inspectors to remotely monitor what is happening at any time.
Targets should be removed as they always lead to staff rushing their jobs, often detrimental to patients, to reach the target.
Dean: Remarkable, I find myslf agreeing with ALMOST your every word.
Whilst it is good to see Lindsay “on the case” of dodgy Health and
Social Care in Wales, and regulation to improve it, it reminds me of the
dodgy Welsh Assembly “guidelines” it has issued in respect to Cancer
Care and Cancer Diagnostic provisions for WELSH CITIZENS
To get to the point,
various Health Authorities in Wales manipulate the Hospital Cancer
Diagnostic waiting lists process to deny patients, (who are referred by their GP as
URGENT cases of suspected Cancer) being seen in accordance with the
Welsh Assembly Guidelines of being seen within 62 days. This manipulation
appears to take the form of, none clinicians, employed in administrative
roles at the Health Boards, “re-classifying” URGENT Cancer patients, to ROUTINE waiting
lists, the difference? is being seen in 62 days as an URGENT referral, to
being seen in 8, Eight Months as a ROUTINE referral. and everyone knows
that the sooner Cancer is Diagnosed and treatment commences the better the
chance of reduced invasive treatment and survival.
This
manipulation of Cancer Diagnosis waiting lists, and the reduction of the
URGENT cases waiting lists by this re-classification process, enables
the Welsh Assembly to announce month after month, time after time, that
Welsh Health Authorities ARE MEETING URGENT CASE CANCER DIAGNOSIS within
the 62 day guideline period, they are of course, because they have
reclassified many hundreds of GP considered URGENT cases every two
months to a ROUTINE CANCER WAITING LIST.
When the First Minister proudly
announces this successful statistic in the Welsh Assembly Chamber he is
either, telling lies, because he knows this practice is extensively used, or, he is being misled by his officials and
Ministers into thinking that his policy is actually being fulfilled..
Those
Welsh Cancer patients who are being
Re-classified after their own Doctor has informed them their case is
urgent, are being denied proper cancer care at the first hurdle, in most
cases they do not know they have been reclassified because this is
never passed on to the patient who sits waiting for their appointment
details to arrive in the post. it is
dishonest to manipulate patient expectations when they are already
worried, anxious, and stressed by the GP either telling them he or she
suspects Cancer, or equally serious, telling a patient that the GP does
not know, but having to refer them to a specialist to find out. Whilst
at the same time not accepting that this perverse manipulation is taking
place at all.
Assembly Members are ALL aware of this process,
but, only three of them have expressed any concern for their
constituents who are effected by it. and that is disgraceful.
None
of the above criticism should be seen in any way whatsoever to reflect
on clinicians and Cancer carers, they do a remarkable duty to everyone
they deal with, this is a political and Health Authority Administrative
maneuver to show success for something which is a failure to those Welsh
Citizens effected.