Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers and Employers

This is a time of change for everyone working in social care. As a Care Practitioner you must agree to abide by the Care Council's Codes of Practice and you have a responsibility for keeping yourself updated in issues of best practice, skills and knowledge

You need to read the National Minimum Standards relating to the area in which you work so that you understand the benchmarks your service is measured against http://www.csiw.wales.gov.uk/index.asp

You will find a lot of relevant information to help you keep updated on the Social Care Institute for Excellence web site http://www.scie.org.uk/

The Care Council for Wales (CCW)

CCW was given the responsibility of developing a Social Care Register to begin the process of registering all social care workers. To be able to register, workers will have to hold an appropriate qualification, commit to uphold the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers and be physically fit to do their jobs. The Care Council for Wales is your regulatory body; this is the first step towards a genuine recognition of the importance of the social care workforce and you being valued as a professional worker.

The Care Councils for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales worked together to develop Codes of Practice, which describe standards of conduct and practice, you must agree to follow; they were developed to provide a common model of behaviour for everyone working in social care.

The criteria in the standards are there to guide your practice by defining the standards of conduct you are expected to meet. You are encouraged to use the codes to examine your own practice and the practice of the organisation, to look at areas in which you can improve. The codes will also help the individuals understand the ways in which their service should be delivered.

Code of Practice for Social Care Workers

Social care workers must:

1. Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers
   
2. Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers
   
3. Promote the independence of service users whilst protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm
   
4. Respect the rights of service users whilst seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people
   
5. Uphold public trust and confidence in social care services; and be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills

Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers

The Employers of Social Care Workers must:

1. Make sure people are suitable to enter the workforce and understand their roles and responsibilities
2. Have written policies and procedures in place to enable social care workers to meet the Care Council Code of Practice for Social Care Workers
3. Provide training and development opportunities to enable social care workers to strengthen and develop their skills and knowledge
4. Put in place and implement written policies and procedures to deal with dangerous, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and practice.
5. Promote the Care Council Codes of Practice to social care workers, service users and carers and co-operate with the Care Council’s proceedings

The Code for Social Care Workers and The Code for Employers of Social Care Workers should be available to read in your establishment. If not, you can find out more about them by telephoning, or looking at the web site of, the Care Council for Wales

Care Council for Wales
6th Floor
West Wing
South Gate House
Wood Street
Cardiff CF10 1EW
Tel: 029 2022 6257
www.ccwales.org.uk