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The chief executive of the General Social Care Council told delegates at the first annual TOPSS conference, that the organisation will be responsible for handling information received from whistleblowing, writes Sally Gillen.

Speaking at the event held in Sheffield, Lynne Berry said the GSCC plans to strike a protocol with the National Care Standards Commission to deal with complaints about practice.

She said: "We will now be one of the relevant bodies which deals with whistleblowing, pending acceptance by the department of trade and industry. We will deal with complaints seamlessly."

Earlier, the heads of the GSCC, the Social Care Institute for Excellence and the National Care Standards Commission, answered delegates questions about the implementation of the care standards.

Delegates complained that resources were not available to fund the training of their staff to NVQ level two, which is a requirement that must be met by 2005.

Acknowledging the problem, chief executive of the National Care Standards Commission Anne Parker said that the body planned to gather information through its inspections and identify shortfalls in cash.