GSCC: Professionalism Protection Pride

1
GSCC Professionalism Protection Pride

• What does the new Disability Equality Duty mean
  for social care?
• Andrew Skidmore, Head of Quality and Business
  Efficiency
• Helen Tyers, Regional Inspector for Yorkshire and
  Humberside
• Krysia Hayes, Manager Suitability Assessment
  Service
• CHAIR Terry Butler

2
Agenda

• The legislative background and defining
  disability.
• The Disability Equality Duty and what this means.
• How the GSCC takes decisions about whether or not
  to register applicants who may have a health
  condition or disability.
• Consideration of scenarios what would you do?
• Feedback and questions.

3
Types of discrimination

• Direct discrimination.
• Failure to make reasonable adjustments.
• Disability related discrimination.
• Victimisation.

4
Qualifications Bodies

• In October 2004 it became unlawful for a
  Qualifications Body to discriminate against a
  disabled person when it is awarding, renewing,
  extending or withdrawing a professional or trade
  qualification.
• Qualifications Bodies include organisations that
  award professional or vocational qualifications,
  for example City and Guilds, and professional or
  regulatory bodies which hold registers of those
  qualified to practise, such as the General
  Medical Council or the GSCC.

5
Definition of disability

• The Act says that you are disabled if you have
• a mental or physical impairment
• this has an adverse effect on your ability to
  carry out normal day to day activities
• the adverse effect is substantial and
• the adverse effect is long term (meaning that it
  has lasted for 12 months, or is likely to last
  for more than 12 months or for the rest of your
  life).

6
Guidance and website

• Guidance on matters to be taken into account in
  determining questions relating to the definition
  of disability.
• Frequently Asked Questions what counts as a
  disability according to the law?
• www.drc-gb.org

7
Disability Equality Duty the duties

• The basic requirement for a public authority when
  carrying out its functions is to have due regard
  to do the following
• Promote equality of opportunity between disabled
  people and other people.
• Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under
  the Disability Discrimination Act.
• Eliminate harassment of disabled people that is
  related to their disability.

8
Disability Equality Duty the duties continued

• Promote positive attitudes towards disabled
  people.
• Encourage participation by disabled people in
  public life.
• Take steps to meet disabled peoples needs, even
  if this requires more favourable treatment.
• Due regard means that authorities should give
  due weight to the need to promote disability
  equality in proportion to its relevance.

9
Internal focus
Staff Ensure that all staff understand disability
equality issues and embed the values into their
practice. Recruitment Reflect on the number of
disabled people employed and ensure positive
recruitment process to increase
numbers. Policies Review all existing policies
to ensure that disability equality issues are
addressed. Accessibility Review all activities
to ensure equality of access for disabled people.
10
External contexts

• Registration
• Students
• Social workers
• Regulation
• Conduct
• Education and training
• Admissions/selection processes
• Progression
• Course content
• Approvals
• Annual monitoring

11
How the GSCC deals with health and disability
issues in relation to applicants for
registration.

• Care Standards Act 2000
• Part IV of the Act establishes the GSCC and sets
  out its functions.
• The Act states that it is the duty of the Council
  is to promote high standards of conduct and
  practice among social care workers and high
  standards in their training.
• It further states that it does this through
  maintenance of a register of social workers,
  through publication of the codes of practice and
  through training.

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• Joining the Social Care Register
• Section 58 of the Act states that the Council
  shall grant an application for registration
  either unconditionally or subject to such
  conditions as it thinks fit if it is satisfied if
  certain requirements are fulfilled, and in any
  other case it shall refuse it.
• Health Requirements
• Section 58 (1) (b) refers to the applicant being
  physically and mentally fit to perform the whole
  or part of the work of persons registered in any
  part of the register to which their application
  relates.

13
The Registration Rules

• Part II of the Rules sets out the registration
  procedure via a standard application form.
• Part III sets out the constitution and
  responsibilities of the Registration Committee
  when applications are referred to it.

14
Application Form

• An applicant must tell us about any physical or
  mental health condition that affects their
  ability to carry out any role in social care
  safely.
• By safely we mean that the applicants physical
  or mental health condition should not affect
  their judgement or performance in a way that
  poses a risk to others.
• Seek applicants consent to the GSCC obtaining a
  health report from their GP or other health
  professional.

15

Relevancy framework
16
Obtaining information

• The Council seeks and uses contextual information
  in order to
• try and find out more about the health condition
  and the potential impact that it may have on
  service users
• give the applicant the opportunity to demonstrate
  how they will manage the condition
• give the applicant an opportunity to demonstrate
  that they understand the potential implications
  for service users
• find out more about the applicants commitment to
  working safely in social care and upholding the
  trust and confidence of service users and
• ensure that the Council has sufficient
  information to be able to consider the
  application properly.

17
Assessment framework

• Factors considered
• The seriousness of the condition.
• The relevance of the condition to social care
  work.
• Whether the applicant manages their condition
  appropriately?
• What insight does the applicant have into how the
  condition might affect the safety of service
  users?
• The applicants commitment to working safely in
  social care and upholding the trust and
  confidence of service users.
• Sufficient information to be able to consider the
  application properly.

18
Part III of the Registration Rules

• Part III states that the Council refers to the
  Registration Committee
• Any application for registration or renewal of
  registration, which it is not minded to grant.
• Any application for registration or renewal of
  registration, which it is minded to grant subject
  to conditions.

19
Registration committee

• The Committee meets in private and is comprised
  of
• 3 or 5 members, including the Chair
• majority of members (including the Chair) must be
  lay people and
• includes a member with knowledge of the
  applicants area of practice.
• Additionally
• When the health of an applicant is being
  considered a Medical Adviser will also be present.

20
Committee decisions

• The decisions available to the Registration
  Committee are
• grant the application for registration or
  renewal
• refuse the application or
• grant the application but impose conditions for a
  specified period.

21
Committee decisions on applications referred on
health grounds

• Cumulative figures to the end of January 2007
• 7 registered unconditionally
• 16 registered with conditions
• 16 refused registration
• Approximately 2 per cent of applications have
  some sort of health declaration
• www.drc-gb.org
• www.gscc.org.uk

22
The Disability Equality Duty

• What does the new Disability Equality Duty mean
  for social care?
• Andrew Skidmore, Head of Quality and Business
  Efficiency
• Helen Tyers, Regional Inspector for Yorkshire and
  Humberside
• Krysia Hayes, Manager Suitability Assessment
  Service