Commission warns providers against legal battles

The National Care Standards Commission is concerned that care
providers are being encouraged to start legal battles against the
care standards system, and that this could have a detrimental
effect on service users.

The NCSC said that a handful of people have been advising care
providers to legally question the regulatory system, challenging
the legislative basis of inspections and suggesting that parts of
the regulatory regime may breach the Human Rights Act.

Heather Wing, the NCSC’s director of adult services, said
that the NCSC needed to be talking to care providers, “not
arguing with them across a court room”.

A spokesperson for the NCSC was unable to be more specific about
which care providers had been advised to take legal action.