Rules force carers to shun registration

Less than a third of the 5,000 adult placement carers in England
are registered with regulators, a new report reveals.

Research by training body Topss England and the National
Association of Adult Placement Services has found that only 1,597
adult placement carers were registered with the National Care
Standards Commission before it was subsumed into the Commission for
Social Care Inspection in April.

The figures, to be released next week, suggest most carers for
adults with a learning or physical disability, mental health
problem or age-related condition are limiting their support to
non-personal care in order to stay outside the remit of national
minimum standards.

The report supports earlier anecdotal evidence connecting the
burden of regulation for carers who are registered with declining
numbers. It reveals that 441 carers cancelled their NCSC
registration in the previous 12 months. One-third of these left
local authority and independently run schemes altogether.

In an attempt to address this, new government regulations, due for
release this summer, will shift the focus of registration and
inspection from individual carers to the 115 adult placement
schemes, of which 86 per cent are run by local councils.

– Adult Placement Counts available from 17 June at www.topssengland.net