Wilt predicted precisely this 12 months ago: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/07/26/114986/sector-leaders-shocked-and-surprised-by-abolition-of-gscc.htm
According to Community Care sector leaders are shocked – well they should have been reading Regulator Watch. So, no surprise to Wilt and he will not be on his own in feeling pleased. The GSCC, with its stupid logo, has been a nightmare from day one. No doubt staff will be leaving to find new, proper, jobs with far less perks and salary – good.
The GSCC was after all one of the primary reasons for Regulator Watch being set up – to publicise those aspects of their work which they preferred not to have published. You know like the major cock ups they frequently made and continue to make. What will Regulator Watch do without them and after the demise of Plaskitt (ex) MP and his demonic constituent?
Of course there is no word about the sister agencies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – and the functions of the GSCC will be transferred and subsumed by the Health Professions Council. Let’s see how well they do. For sure they cannot do any worse.
I like the title of the Government Report found here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_117832.pdf
“Liberating the NHS” has a certain, very satisfying ring to it! The title of Chapter 5 will be particularly poignant to some people in Oxfordshire and Salop.
Pages 21 – 23 deal with the proposed abolition of the GSCC and transfer of its functions. Interestingly, there is a hint that social work students will not be required to register and, unlike at present, the new registration will require no government subsidy i.e. total self funding.
Legislation will be introduced in November 2010 to make all the various changes and implementing the transfer of functions by the GSCC will be effective from April 2012 – these are indicative as distinct from absolute. If all goes to plan, by the end of March 2012 the GSCC will no longer exist – the end of an era error!
So who next? The ISA is already under notice and has delayed starting registration - they are as good as toast and Wilt predicts they will be gone before the end of the year.
Ofsted, Cafcass and Scie? The latter, to my surprise is not a public body although one suspects it gets some funding – it is widely predicted it will not survive. Wilt predicts Ofsted will get broken up and demolished and Cafcass will simply disappear.
The General Teaching Council is already toast. You never know, it might yet come about that regulation of social care might just go the same way. If not, expect to pay more for your registration or start calling yourself something other the protected title of "social worker."
When the term ‘bonfire of the quangos’ was termed – they really meant it!
Good.
Wilt
The GSCC Press Release can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gscc.org.uk/News+and+events/Media+releases/Press_release_26-07-10.htm
It says:
GSCC response to ALB review
26/07/2010
Commenting on the DH’s announcement that the GSCC’s functions will be transferred to the Health Professions Council (HPC), Chair Rosie Varley said:
“We were surprised by this decision. We recognise the economic imperative behind the proposal. However discussions have yet to take place about how this will work, including the costs, benefits and wider consequences. We are seeking an early meeting with the Health Professions Council and the government.
“Effective and mature regulation is vital in building social work as a profession. The needs of those who use social work services and the professional integrity of social workers must be paramount in the new regulatory arrangements.
“I’m very proud of GSCC staff who have worked tirelessly over the past year to strengthen public protection and contribute to the reforms coming out of the Social Work Task Force. We will go on building on our recent progress in strengthening both the regulation of social workers and of social work education. We will continue to work with the government, employers, universities, social workers and service users to strengthen the profession and ensure public confidence in it.”
Sounds to Wilt like Game, Set, Match
Now what new name will the Health Professions Council (HPC) be given – perhaps the Health & Social Care Professions Council (HSCPC)? Or perhaps the Social Care & Health Professions Council (SCHPC)? Both are a bit of a mouthful.
How about the Medical and Social Care Professionals Council (MSPC)? Not any better really. Besides it sounds too much like NSPCC – such confusion could damage the professional competence and standing of social workers.
Any other ideas – the winner of the best suggestion (according to Wilt) will get a pint of his favourite cider, with Salty Dog. You will however have to come and collect it – travel expenses not included in the winnings.
Wilt
There were many ways to gauge the success or otherwise of the GSCC; through its submitted reports, the comments on CommunityCare...even the assessments from other leaders in social care regulation.
ReplyDeleteBut one big clue as to how its was perceived can be found by simply searching with the text string;
'Norma Howes GSCC' in Google.
It takes a very special kind of regulator to let that sort of rumor persist without dealing with it adequately...and the GSCC were certainly that kind of regulator.
Dear Wilt
ReplyDeleteAsk File Doctor to whisper these words into Rosie Varleys ear:
"Your dumped"
Big Boy Behan
Dear Wilt
ReplyDeleteDuring the 1950, under the Truman Administration, America was a sad place. Senator Joe McCarthy embarked upon his campaign to rid America of ‘communist subversion’. People where dragged before ‘hearings’ on little more than innuendo and hearsay. The American Administration kept forking out the funding.
In 1954, the activity of McCarty was eventually censured by the American Administration. His activity fell into oblivion and it was later considered a blight on an otherwise democratic nation.
The General Social Care Council was blight on a British nation that lays claim to democratic credentials.
It was established under the Blair administration and spent its time in a witch hunt against decent social workers. These social workers where dragged before ‘Tribunals’ that were little more than kangaroo courts. The social workers where always guilty until proven innocent. Careers were destroyed by innuendo and rumour.
The General Social Care Council kept taking the money that the British taxpayer was forced to pay.
Good riddance to the GSCC. Forget the fancy talk. They were useless.
On a somewhat finer point.
The Brown Administration thought it could rescue the GSCC by appointing Paul Snell to head the organisation. Alistair Campbell had been reading the Bible and visions of Larasus descending from the tomb had inspired him to appoint Paul Snell.
Paul Snell came with a history. He was a big wig in The National Care Standards Commission.
It was abolished.
He was the head of The Commission for Social Care Inspection.
It was abolished.
He then tried to rescue The General Social Care Council.
It has now been abolished.
In 1954, the American Administration censured Senator Joe McCarty. The nation was better because of that. In 2011, the British Administration censured The General Social Care Council.
The British nation will be better because of that.
Big Boy Behan
Indeed it is now time to get rid of the NISCC too. Health and Social care are already integrated in NI, most social care staff work for the NHS and have to tolerate being managed by NHS general managers who often haven't a clue about social care. Occasionally if they are lucky (well perhaps lucky is an exaggeration) staff may actually end up with some social care management but mainly in child care where the penny appeared to drop with the powers that be that almighty fuck ups in this area were a particular no no.
ReplyDeleteI digress - with the interated nature of NI health and social care there is even more reason why the functions of the NISCC can be readily transferred to the Health Professions Council. This would save shedloads of cash, not least from the almost half million pounds annual rental for the NISCC palace in central Belfast.