Care commission plans overhaul of social care rules and inspection

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will overhaul
social care regulation and inspection, according to plans published
this week, writes Haroon Ashraf.

The proposals for care services in England, used by 1.6 million
people, include doing more unannounced visits and using mystery
shoppers to check the quality of a service (see story on page
16-17).

The best care providers will get lighter-touch inspections,
which will allow inspectors to focus on the worst performing
services, said a CSCI consultation document entitled,
Inspecting for Better Lives.

The agency said it wanted a raft of measures in a new legal
framework by 2006. The proposals include:

-Regulations based on what users say they want
-A new system of registration categories
-Providers legally required to carry out self assessment as a
condition of continued registration
-A new system of registration that licenses someone to provide a
range of services to adults without having to be re-registered for
every new service

On 27 October, the government announced a review of the national
minimum standards on which the current regulation and inspection
framework is based.