Care England, the largest representative body for independent
providers of adult social care, has submitted its response to the
Department of Health and Social Care’s [DHSC] consultation on
restricting staff movement.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care
England, says:
“Although the proposed regulation is aimed at minimising the
risk of infection of Covid-19, many care providers already have
clear procedures and processes to manage safe staffing levels and
staff movement which are regularly reviewed. This is simply
another bureaucratic hoop for adult social care providers to jump
through. The real answer to managing infection prevention and
control in adult social care settings is testing. If staff were
able to access a greater frequency and efficacy of test prior to
a shift, there would be less need to limit staff
movement”.
The consultation, found at
GOV.UK, was launched to seek
the views of the adult social care sector in relation to the
introduction of regulations that create a requirement on
residential and nursing care home providers in England to
restrict the movement of staff providing personal care or nursing
care in their services.
Care England’s response details why this proposed policy will
struggle to work in practice across all residential or nursing
care settings, focusing on the following areas:
- The implementation of the regulation is likely to create
specific risks in specialised services, for example those
supporting individuals with learning disabilities and/or
autism.
- There will be a significant impact on low-paid staff.
- There will likely be a consequence on staff mental health
and levels of fatigue.
- A greater degree of clarity is required around what role
CQC will play in this policy. A consistent and proportionate
approach is necessary.
- It is worrying that these regulations will converge with
the UK’s departure from the European Union. The failure of the
Immigration Act to appropriately support the adult social care
sector will adversely affect the sector.
- The Infection Control Fund [ICF] is simply not enough to
cover compensating both staff and other employers when a member
of staff is asked only to work for one employer.
Martin Green continues:
“We are at a loss to understand why if these measures are to
be introduced across adult social care settings, the movement of
NHS staff between NHS settings is not being subjected to the same
regulation. The difference in the treatment of the adult social
care sector and the NHS seems to be disproportionate and
unjustified.”
