The regulation of social care

Regulation of social care workers
Find out more about:

• The Social Care Register
• Codes of practice
• Education and training of social workers

The Social Care Register is a register of people who work in social care, and have been assessed as trained and fit to be in the workforce.

Currently the register is only open to social workers and social work students. Over time, the register will be open to other groups of social care workers, starting with homecare workers in the near future

Registration ensures that those working in social care meet rigorous registration requirements and holds them to account for their conduct by the codes of practice for social care workers and their employers. Qualifications, health and good character are checked as part of the registration process. Registered social workers are also required to complete post-registration training and learning (PRTL) activities before renewing their registration every three years.

All qualified social workers have to be registered in order to practice in England. The title "social worker" has been protected by law in England since 1 April 2005 (from the Care Standards Act 2000) to ensure that only those who are properly qualified, registered and accountable for their work describe themselves as social workers.

Service users and carers can check the registration of a social worker with the GSCC and establish whether they meet our standards. They can also raise concerns about the conduct of a Registered Social Worker and ask us to investigate. Click here to access the register.

Every Registered Social Worker has to complete 90 hours or 15 days of post-registration training and learning (PRTL) during every three-year registration period in order to renew their registration.

Codes of practice

Social care workers on the Social Care Register must adhere to the codes of practice for social care workers and their employers. The codes provide a clear guide for all those who work in social care, setting out the standards of conduct workers and their employers should meet.  

The summary below sets out responsibilities of social care workers and their employers as described in the codes of practice.

Code for Social Care Workers	Code for Employers of Social Care Workers
1. Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers.	To meet their responsibilities in relation to regulating the social care workforce, social care employers must:
2. Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers.	1. Make sure people are suitable to enter the workforce and understand their roles and responsibilities.
3. Promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm.	2. Have written policies and procedures in place to enable social care workers to meet the GSCC's Code of Practice for social care workers.
4. Respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people.	3. Provide training and development opportunities to enable social care workers to strengthen and develop their skills and knowledge.
5. Uphold public trust and confidence in social care services.	4. Put into place and implement written policies and procedures to deal with dangerous, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and practice.
6. Be accountable for their practice and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills.	5. Promote the GSCC's codes of practice to social care workers, service users and carers and co-operate with the GSCC's proceedings.

Enforcing the codes of practice

Registered social care workers who breach the codes can be removed from the Social Care Register. Currently, the CSCI take the codes of practice into account when inspecting care providers against the National Minimum Standards.

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 the CSCI will merge with other health service regulators, the Healthcare Commission and the Mental Health Act Commission to form a joint health and social care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The GSCC believes that the CQC should place a statutory requirement on all registered social care providers to comply with the GSCC code of practice for employers.

To date, the GSCC has distributed over three million copies of the codes.  They are available in 29 different languages as well as in large print, Braille, pictorial, Easy Read and other formats and on sign language DVD.  Click here if you would like to order a free copy.

Education and training

The GSCC approves social work education and training courses for social workers by regulating the education and training being offered by universities and colleges in England. This includes both qualifying and post-qualifying training.

In 2003, professional qualifying training for social workers in the United Kingdom changed to a degree in social work. The GSCC approves the social work degree courses.

Currently, more than eighty universities in England provide GSCC-approved social work courses, with new courses and providers regularly added to the list.
Please click here to see the list of all higher education providers in England which offer approved courses in social work.

In 2005 the GSCC introduced a new post-qualifying (PQ) framework for social work education and training. Under this framework, social workers can study for a further university or college degree which has been approved by the GSCC and which will allow social workers to specialise in a chosen area of practice, to gain a teaching or management qualification. The majority of our new PQ courses began in autumn 2007, and more are being approved all the time.

Further information about PQs is available here.

Complaints against individual social care workers

If the problem is very serious and you or someone you know may be in danger as result of it, it may be necessary to refer the case to the police immediately.

If you are concerned about the conduct of an individual care worker, the case can often be settled with their manager or employer. If the manager fails to address the issue despite your complaint, you can report the manager to the CSCI.

If your complaint is about conduct of an individual social worker, you can complain to the General Social Care Council. The GSCC will investigate a complaint about an individual social worker, and, if allegations are proven to be true, can admonish them, suspend their registration or remove them from the register - which means that they will not be able to continue to practice as a Registered Social Worker.

In 2008 the Government announced that the GSCC will start registering other parts of the social care workforce, starting with domiciliary (home) care workers in the near future. This means the GSCC will be able to investigate complaints about conduct of care workers as well as social workers.

How to contact GSCC conduct team:

Call 01788 532 405
Email conduct@gscc.org.uk
Regulation of social care has evolved significantly over the last eight years. Independent regulators have been set up for adult services, children's services and the social care workforce, thus making sure that people who use services are protected and that providers and practitioners are held responsible for the quality of service they provide.

Services for adults, such as care homes, homecare agencies and local authority social services department are regulated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). In April 2009 all healthcare services and social care services for adults will be regulated by the Care Quality Commission. In summer 2008 the Government consulted on which services should be registered with the CQC and what requirements for registration should be.

Complaints against providers of social care for adults
Complaints against social care providers, if they cannot be resolved internally, should be referred to the CSCI. It will investigate the matter and if necessary, tell the provider to put things right and impose restrictions if they don't.

How to contact the CSCI social care complaints team:
Call 0191 233 3323 or 0845 015 0120
Email: enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk

Complaints against providers of social care for children
Services for children, such as children's homes, are regulated by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted). All regulators are independent of each other and government departments that sponsor them, but they work closely together to set up and maintain high standards of care and to share and disseminate best practice.

How to contact Ofsted
Call 08456 404045
Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk