The General Social Care Council has only ever referred one social worker – a care manager – to the Commission for Social Care Inspection, according to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
This information came to light after Sir Rodney Brooke, GSCC chairman, wrote to Community Care, in response to a letter by Phillip J Measures published on the 15 November, to clarify that the GSCC only had statutory powers to regulate the social care workforce not social care services.
Brooke’s letter, published on the 29 November, stated: “We have the same powers in relation to social workers as the General Medical Council has in relation to doctors. The GMC does not try to undertake the role of the Healthcare Commission. Neither should the GSCC duplicate the functions of the CSCI.”
Brooke described Measures’ suggestion that the GSCC may be powerless to investigate the conduct of social work managers as “completely unfounded”.
“Where the GSCC in the course of its investigation into the conduct of a registered worker finds evidence of poor service quality, it will pass that evidence to the CSCI,” said Brooke.
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