Care workers suspected of misconduct
will be entitled to a fair hearing before they are suspended from
work and placed on the protection of vulnerable adults (Pova)
provisional list, an appeal court has ruled.
Previously, under the
Care Standards Act 2000, carers were suspended
from work for up to nine months before the case was heard by the
Care Standards Tribunal. Those on the list could challenge the
decision but the health secretary habitually took several months to
reach a decision, the court was told.
The judges ruled by a majority that the Pova process violated
the human rights of care workers, who are employed in care homes
and domiciliary care services, as individual's livelihoods and
reputations were damaged before a fair hearing.
Lord Justice Dyson said the process, which denies 900,000 care
workers in England a voice, was "an unfair and disproportionate
means of addressing the problem of provisional action".
The Act will now be rewritten to include a requirement that care
workers will be placed on the provisional list only after they have
been given the chance to make representations to the health
secretary.
This new requirement will apply to all cases except when the
health secretary judges that the vulnerable adult is at risk if the
care worker continues to practise.
Helga Pile, Unison national officer for
social care, said: "There needs to be strong protections for
vulnerable people in care and these currently exist, but care
workers shouldn't be banned from working and lose their livelihoods
without the right to a fair disciplinary hearing based on examining
evidence."
Carol Herrity, campaigns manager of Mencap said: "In situations
like this, Mencap believes that the priority should be the
prevention of abuse or neglect of vulnerable people and it is
imperative that accusations should be taken seriously. However,
there is a need for a more streamlined and timely appeals process
to deal with such cases."
The test case, backed by the Royal College of Nursing, was
brought by four nurses from Oxfordshire and Kent who were
provisionally placed on the list for up to eight months.
Currently, three out of the four nurses have been taken off the
list and one is appealing to the Care Standards Tribunal. The
nurses' law firm, Leigh Day & Co, welcomed the appeal court's
decision.
In November 2006, Mr Justice Stanley Burnton ruled in favour of
the nurses but the government appealed against the High Court's
decision on the grounds that a "precautionary approach" was needed
to protect vulnerable adults.
| On and off
the list |
|---|
There were 5,224 referrals to the health secretary between July
2004 and September 2006. Of the 1,552 people placed on the
provisional list: ● 623 had their names removed.
● 498 were confirmed.
● 421 cases were pending on the secretary of state's
decision. |
Contact the
author
Caroline Lovell