Current News

Click on the titles below to check out recent news stories and press releases relating to NISCC. Please note that some of the links lead to downloadable documents. Material for previous years can be accessed by clicking on the links on the left hand side. Notices about concluded Conduct Hearings are located in the Conduct section.

NEWS INDEX

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Notice - NI Social Care Conduct Hearing -14/05/12 - Fiona Todd - Registered Social Care Worker - Registration Number NI/2002410

A public hearing into the conduct of Ms Fiona Todd, a Registered Social Care Worker (Registration Number NI/2002410) will be held by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council Conduct Committee on Monday 14 May 2012 at 10.00am. The hearing is expected to last for three days and will be held at the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, Millennium House, 19-25 Great Victoria Street, Belfast.

Ms Todd is alleged to have committed misconduct and breached the NISCC’s Code of Practice for Social Care Workers, whilst employed as a Senior Carer, on 13 December 2010 when she:

• Left her place of work without proper authority;
• Took a junior member of staff out of the work place with her, without proper authority;
• Left the keys to the medicine cabinet with an unauthorized member of staff; and
• Left a member of staff in sole charge of her work area when the minimum number of staff for the area was three.

Registration with the Council recognises each worker’s professional commitment to high standards in their conduct, training and practice. The NISCC investigates allegations of misconduct by Registrants and where someone is found to have breached the standards set out in the NISCC Code, they can have an admonishment placed on their Registration record, they can be suspended from the Register, or in serious cases where it is considered they are no longer suitable to work in social care, they can be removed from the Register.

Notes:

1.Hearings are normally open to members of the public. Anyone wishing to attend the hearing should contact Caroline Cumberland (Committee Clerk) on 028 9041 7644.

2.NISCC investigates fully all allegations of misconduct against Registrants. Conduct hearings are held where a NISCC Registrant is suspected of misconduct after evidence has been gathered. The Conduct Committee is made up of five members who have an interest or background in the social care sector but take decisions in the public interest. Three of the Committee members are lay members. Options open to the Committee are admonishment, suspension or removal of the Registrant from the Register.

3.Witnesses for Conduct cases may not be identified. In order to protect the confidentiality of these witnesses, including children, limited information is available from the NISCC before the hearing.

4.The NISCC is unable to confirm how long a hearing will last, or whether there will be adjournments or requests for them to be held in private. In accordance with the NISCC’s Conduct Rules, hearings may be held in private if the particular circumstances of the case outweigh the public interest in holding a public hearing. A full copy of the Conduct Rules is available from the NISCC’s website.

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DHSSPS Minister Launches New Social Work Strategy for Northern Ireland

Health Minister Edwin Poots today launched Northern Ireland’s first ever strategy for social work. The strategy confirms the role of social work in protecting children and vulnerable adults as well as putting a focus on early intervention and family support. It also sets out a strategy for change to strengthen the support for social workers in the frontline and to improve social work services.

Launching the NI Social Work Strategy 2012-2022, the Minister spoke of the challenges facing all health and social care workers and the need for reform and modernisation of the system to offer high quality services and to support staff to deliver better outcomes for service users.

He said: “Social work in Northern Ireland leads the way in the UK in many areas. This strategy is a further sign of our commitment to the profession and our absolute determination to continue to improve social work services and make sure social workers are equipped and supported to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”

Key recommendations of the Strategy include:

• Development of a regional social work out-of-hours service;
• Introduction of extended/flexible hours;
• Strengthening integrated and partnership approaches in practice; and
• Improving employer supports for front line staff.

The strategy also sets out a framework for practice to support the delivery of the vision for social work which has a focus on prevention and early intervention as well as on protection and safeguarding. Click on the links below to download the Strategy, summary document and the DHSSPS news release.

DHSSPS Social Work Strategy 2012-2022 (67 pages pdf)

DHSSPS Information Leaflet - Social Work Strategy 2012-2022 (2 pages pdf) 

DHSSPS News Release - Social Work Strategy 2012-2022 (2 pages pdf)

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Reconvened - NI Social Care Conduct Hearing -24/04/12 - Raymond Neill - Registered Social Care Worker - Registration Number NI/2022756

A public hearing into the conduct of Mr Raymond Neill, a Registered Social Care Worker (Registration Number NI/2022756) was part-heard by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council Conduct Committee on 2 and 3rd April 2012. The hearing will reconvene on Tuesday 24 April 2012 for one day and will be held at the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, Millennium House, 19-25 Great Victoria Street, Belfast.

Mr Neill is alleged to have committed misconduct and breached the NISCC’s Code of Practice for Social Care Workers on:

• 25 December 2010, when he was physically rough with a service user; and on
• 01 January 2011, when he threw objects, namely two pillows and a remote control, at a service user.

Registration with the Council recognises each worker’s professional commitment to high standards in their conduct, training and practice. The NISCC investigates allegations of misconduct by Registrants and where someone is found to have breached the standards set out in the NISCC Code, they can have an admonishment placed on their Registration record, they can be suspended from the Register, or in serious cases where it is considered they are no longer suitable to work in social care, they can be removed from the Register.

Notes:

1.Hearings are normally open to members of the public. Anyone wishing to attend the hearing should contact Caroline Cumberland (Committee Clerk) on 028 9041 7644.

2.NISCC investigates fully all allegations of misconduct against Registrants. Conduct hearings are held where a NISCC Registrant is suspected of misconduct after evidence has been gathered. The Conduct Committee is made up of five members who have an interest or background in the social care sector but take decisions in the public interest. Three of the Committee members are lay members. Options open to the Committee are admonishment, suspension or removal of the Registrant from the Register.

3.Witnesses for Conduct cases may not be identified. In order to protect the confidentiality of these witnesses, including children, limited information is available from the NISCC before the hearing.

4.The NISCC is unable to confirm how long a hearing will last, or whether there will be adjournments or requests for them to be held in private. In accordance with the NISCC’s Conduct Rules, hearings may be held in private if the particular circumstances of the case outweigh the public interest in holding a public hearing. A full copy of the Conduct Rules is available from the NISCC’s website.

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Social Care Winners in the Northern Ireland Quality Awards

Congratulations to social care organisations recognised in the Northern Ireland Quality Awards - Triangle Housing Association, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health.

The Northern Ireland Quality Awards measure Northern Ireland's private, public and voluntary organisations against the globally recognised European and world class performance framework the EFQM Excellence Model. Centre for Competitiveness Chief Executive, Bob Barbour congratulated the successful organisations, and encouraged others to follow suit, said: "The winners of awards here today have passionate employees, low absenteeism, higher productivity, satisfied customers and superior financial performance."

NISCC Chair, Lily Kerr said: “There are many social care organisations across Northern Ireland, committed to providing high quality services. I am delighted that these organisations are being recognised for their creativity and innovation.”

Established by the private sector, the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) is an independent, not-for-profit, membership organisation, dedicated to improving the competitiveness of Northern Ireland at both the regional level and the level of the individual organisations in the Private, Public and Voluntary sectors and to build best in class performance through International Leadership & Innovation, Productivity Improvement, and Quality Excellence in all sectors. More information about the awards is available from www.cforc.org

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QUB Part-Time Degree in Social Work – Closing Date 29/02/12

Queen's University has extended the deadline for applications for the Part Time pathway for the Degree in Social Work September 2012 entry to 5:00pm on 29th February 2012.

The part-time pathway is offered to widen access to opportunities to study Social Work. It aims to offer the opportunity for Social Work training to persons who cannot, for various reasons, access full-time programmes. To target those deemed most suitable and committed to Social Work training, a minimum criteria of voluntary or paid work experience has been set. Details about the course and application forms are available from the QUB School of Social Work Web Page

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Important Changes to NISCC Registration Systems

NISCC was established in 2001 as part of a UK-wide drive to raise standards in social care education, training and practice. The Care Council for Wales (CCW), General Social Care Council (GSCC) in England and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) were established to carry out a similar role in the rest of the UK. The registers operated by the NISCC, CCW, GSCC and SSSC shared a common database. This enabled registrants to move and transfer their registration between Councils.

In July 2012, the GSCC will transfer their registration responsibilities to the Health Professions Council (HPC and the common registration database will be replaced with independent databases for each of the parts of the UK. The new Northern Ireland Social Care Council database will be launched on 5th March 2012. It will take approximately four weeks to install the new database and manage the transfer of registration data. Therefore there will be limited access to the NISCC database from 7th February 2012 to 5th March 2012. Detailed below are the timescales for the transfer to the new database and details the support NISCC will provide for registrants and their employers through this period. Contact the Enquiries Team on info@nisocialcarecouncil.org.uk  or call 028 9041 7600 (Option 2) if you require any information or advice.

Temporary Changes to NISCC Registration Services 7th February - 5th March 2012:

• All fees will be processed during this period. If your fee is due during this time you will have received, or will soon receive, a payment/renewal reminder letter. If possible, please pay your fee before 7th February. Annual Fees can be paid by telephone, cheque postal order or cash. Please note that cash should not be sent via post. (Renewals Fees and Fees for new applications cannot be paid by telephone.)

• Renewals applications will not be processed within these dates. If your renewal is due during this time you will have received or will soon receive a renewal reminder letter. Please pay your fee and submit your renewal form as soon as possible before 7th February 2012. If you have received a renewal form and return it to the NISCC between 7th February and 5th March 2012 the fee will be processed and credited against your registration number. The renewal form will be processed as soon as possible after 5th March 2012. Please note, providing your renewal form and fee has been submitted on time, your registration will not be affected. NISCC will acknowledge receipt of all forms received during this period.

• New applications for registration will not be completed during this period. Application fees will be processed upon receipt and the registration process will be completed as soon as possible after 5th March. NISCC will acknowledge receipt of applications received during this time.

• Change of details or voluntary removals will not be processed during this time either. These will be processed as soon as possible after 5th March.

• The ‘Check the Register’ facility will continue to be available on the NISCC website www.niscc.info but any changes to registrant’s status will not be updated during this period. Anyone wishing to confirm a registrant’s registration status is advised to contact the NISCC directly with any queries.

Temporary Changes to NISCC Registration Services 7th February to July 2012:

• The current registrant portal for Online Registration Services is being improved and extended. Access to the portal will be temporarily unavailable during this period. Registrants wishing to update their registration record are advised to contact the NISCC by email on info@nisocialcarecouncil.org.uk

• Information about the NISCC and resources to support registration will still be available to view on our website www.niscc.info throughout the transition period.

Permanent Changes to Registration Services From 1st February 2012 onwards:

it will no longer be possible for registrants to transfer their registration between the four UK Councils, but they can apply to register with NISCC, or any other Council, using the application process for the Council they wish to join. The NISCC will no longer offer additional council registration (ACR). Individuals can apply for registration with the NISCC, if they are not currently registered with us, and are working or intending to work in Northern Ireland.

From 1 April 2012 onwards: individuals who currently have registration with more than one Council will be required to maintain their registration with each of those Councils independently. All registrants in this category have been notified that they will be required to pay an annual fee to each Council with which they are registered and to notify each Council of changes to their details. All those who are currently registered with more than one Council, or who have recently requested registration with more than one Council, have been advised of this change and that registration should be with the Council where they work.

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HSCB Regional Social Work Awards 2012 - - Have you applied yet? - Closing date for entries is 20 January 2012 - Download your information pack and entry form now!

The closing date for applications to the 2012 Health and Social Care Board Regional Social Work Awards is nearing. Individuals or teams who want to recognise the best work in the profession must apply by Friday 20 January 2012.

The Awards are to promote and celebrate excellence in social work. There are six Awards – four Team Awards and two Individual Awards. An Overall Winner will be selected from each of the Award winners. The Awards will be presented at a celebratory lunch on Friday 8 June 2012 at Belfast City Hall (by kind permission of Belfast City Council).

Social workers working with children or adults; in education; or for a Trust, a charity, voluntary or private sector organisation, can be considered for an Award. Nominations can be made by social workers, managers, social care workers, HSC colleagues, education/training providers or members of the public. Closing date for entries is 20 January 2012.  Click on the link below to download the Awards Information Pack which contains details about the Awards categories, judging criteria and entry forms for the Awards. If you experience difficulty downloading the pack email susie.nelson@nisocialcarecouncil.org.uk for assistance.

Regional Social Work Awards 2012 Information Pack and Entry Form

The first Awards were held on 25 February 2011. 77 social work teams or indidivual practitioners were nominated for awards and the 16 shortlisted entries attended a prestigious award ceremony and celebratory lunch at Belfast City Hall. Click on the links below for more information about the shortlisted finalists for 2011, and pictures from the event.

Full report from Regional Social Work Awards 2011

Photographs from Regional Social Work Awards 2011

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