News Archive 2007
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.
12 December 2007
Social Care Worker Removed from the Northern Ireland Social Care Register
A Conduct Committee of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) on 12 December 2007 decided the case of a social care worker from Belfast who was alleged to have breached the NISCC's Code of Practice for Social Care Workers by sleeping on duty and having failed to check on a service user at the appropriate time.
Misconduct was found against the Registrant, Ms Margaret Ellen Rea (Registration Number NI/1135847) and she was removed from the Social Care Register.
In arriving at the decision to remove the Registrant from the Register, the Committee regarded that sleeping on duty and consequently failing to check service users in her care at the appropriate time was a most serious breach of the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers. Ms Rea had breached the requirements in the Code that Registrants must be honest, trustworthy, reliable and dependable; and that they must not abuse, neglect or harm service users, carers or colleagues. She was also found to have behaved in a way that called into question her suitability to work in social care services and she had not met relevant standards of practice. The Committee also took into account that the Registrant had not made any representation to the Committee or presented any evidence of mitigating factors relating to this case.
Dr Jeremy Harbison , NISCC Chair, said:
“Registration with the Council requires each worker to make a personal and professional commitment to high standards in their training and practice. Social care workers have a vital role in supporting and protecting the needs of older people, people with a disability, children and families; helping them to live as safely and independently as possible. Registrants must be honest, reliable and dependable. They have a duty to act appropriately at all times and to ensure that they do not place service users, colleagues or themselves under unnecessary risk.”
“The establishment of the NISCC Social Care Register is a major step towards improving and maintaining standards in social work and social care. There are over 200,000 people using social care services in Northern Ireland and they can now have confidence that the small number of workers registered with the NISCC who do not meet our minimum standards, will be held accountable and can be cautioned or removed from the Register where the Council deems it necessary to protect the public from poor standards of conduct or practice.”
Notes to editors:
1.For further information on this press release, please contact NISCC Communications Officer, André McKeown Tel: 028 9041 7610, Mobile: 07920787815.
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. In order to protect the confidentiality of witnesses for Conduct cases, including children, witnesses may not be identified. NISCC may be able to release only limited information on some cases to ensure that confidentiality of witnesses or those affected by the case is protected.
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 to download here.
8 November 2007
Social Worker Removed from the Northern Ireland Social Care Register
A Conduct Committee of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) on 8 November 2007 decided the case of a social worker from Belfast who was alleged to have breached the NISCC's Code of Practice for Social Care Workers by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a service user.
Misconduct was found against the Registrant Ms Anne Colhoun (Registration Number NI/1038550) and she was removed from the Social Care Register. Removal from the Register means that the person will not be able to work as a social worker in the UK.
In arriving at the decision to remove the Registrant from the Register, the Committee took into account evidence provided in writing by the Registrant, however, the Committee found that the Registrant's personal relationship with a service user in her care was inappropriate. Having considered Ms Colhoun's extensive experience as a qualified social worker, the Committee found that the Registrant, despite being fully aware of the service user's serious criminal convictions, was unprofessional and placed herself at risk.
The Committee also considered that the Registrant had failed to acknowledge that the personal nature of her relationship with a person for whom she was professionally responsible was inappropriate and she had continued with this relationship despite advice from other professionals.
Dr Jeremy Harbison, NISCC Chair, said:
“Registration with the Council requires each worker to make a personal and professional commitment to high standards in their training and practice. Social care workers have a vital role in supporting and protecting the needs of older people, people with a disability, children and families; helping them to live as safely and independently as possible. Registrants have a duty to act appropriately at all times and manage professional relationships to ensure that they do not place service users, colleagues or themselves under unnecessary risk.”
“The establishment of the NISCC Social Care Register is a major step towards improving and maintaining standards in social work and social care. There are over 200,000 people using social care services in Northern Ireland and they can now have confidence that the small number of workers registered with the NISCC who do not meet our minimum standards, will be held accountable and can be cautioned or removed from the Register where the Council deems it necessary to protect the public from poor standards of conduct or practice.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
1.For further information on this press release, please contact NISCC Communications Officer, André McKeown Tel: 028 9041 7610, Mobile: 07920787815.
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. In order to protect the confidentiality of witnesses for Conduct cases, including children, witnesses cannot be identified. NISCC may be able to release only limited information on some cases to ensure that confidentiality of witnesses or those affected by the case is protected.
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 to download here.
BASW Professional Social Work Awards 2008
Social work students and qualified social workers currently undertaking PQ training are invited to enter a 750 word account of how good social work has made a difference to the lives of service users. Successful candidates in each category will win £500 and their article will be published in Professional Social Work magazine.
Click here to find out more.
DHSSPS (NI) News Release
9 October 2007
Appointment of Members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council
The appointment of 12 non-executive members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) has been announced.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety today announced that the Minister, Michael McGimpsey, has appointed the following non-executive members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council with effect from 1 October 2007.
- Mr Joseph Blake
- Mrs Geraldine Campbell
- Mrs Julie Erskine
- Mr Glenn Houston
- Ms Miriam Karp
- Mrs Ruth Lavery
- Mrs Gillian McGaughey
- Mr Brendan McKeever
- Mrs Maire McMahon
- Mr James Perry
- Dr Trevor Spratt
- Mrs Eleanor Taggart
Membership of the council brings with it substantial responsibilities. The aim of the council is to protect the public through improving safeguards to vulnerable people, raising the standards of social care practice and strengthening the professionalism of the workforce. The composition of the council reflects the widest range of key interests which will enable the council to successfully discharge its functions.
Notes to Editors:
• The overall aim of the NISCC is to regulate the social work profession and other social care workers by promoting high standards of conduct and practice among social care workers and high standards in their training, and maintaining a register of those who can practice within a social care context. It is responsible for improving the quality of personal social services by raising standards in the workforce. The NISCC has a duty to secure the interests and welfare of service users and to strengthen public protection and confidence.
• The NISCC was established on 1 October 2001 under the Health & Personal Social Services Act ( Northern Ireland ) 2001 and following reconstitution from 1 October 2007 will be managed by a board consisting of a non-executive chair and 12 non-executive members.
• Non-executive members of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council will receive annual remuneration of £6,000.
• The usual term of office is four years, however, to avoid wholesale changeover at the end of September 2011, the terms of appointment have been staggered for periods of two, three and four years. All of the appointments are effective from 1 October 2007.
• Appointments to the NISCC are made with the approval of the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety. There are no specific qualifications for appointment. Each person is appointed to act in a personal capacity and not as a representative of any organisation, but because of the personal skills and experience they possess.
• The overall membership of NISCC has been appropriately balanced so that no one interest predominates. Membership reflects a wide range of interests in the field of social care and includes:-
• Lay Members – people who have direct experience as users of social care services or as carers or experience of voluntary work.
• Stakeholder Members – people who have direct involvement in commissioning or delivery of social care services or in the delivery of education or training in social care, or as a representative of a trade union, professional or other regulatory body concerned with health and social care, or someone from the legal profession.
• Registrant Members - people who must be social care workers.
• The appointments were made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland . A selection panel, which included an independent assessor, as required under the Commissioner's Code, considered the suitability of all candidates. The final decision on the appointments rested with the Minister.
• All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. Mr Blake, Mrs Campbell, Mrs Erskine, Mr Houston, Ms Karp, Mrs McGaughey, Mr McKeever, Mrs McMahon, Mr Perry, Dr Spratt and Mrs Taggart declared they had not engaged in any political activity in the last five years. Mrs Lavery declared she had engaged in some political activity in the last five years.
If you want to read more about the appointed members, please click here
Volunteer Development Agency POCVA Training Events Winter 2007
1 October 2007
From 30 July 2007, the commencement of Article 46 of POCVA has meant greater legal responsibilities for providers of care to vulnerable adults in residential care and nursing homes and in the vulnerable adult's own home. The Department of Health, Social Services & Public Safety has commissioned the Volunteer Development Agency to deliver awareness raising sessions, to provide information about the implications of these legislative changes for providers of care to vulnerable adults
According to the legislation, Care Providers includes:
- any person who carries on a residential care home or nursing home
- any person who carries on a domiciliary care agency or is a social worker, care manager, community or district nurse, chiropodist or a person who provides services to a vulnerable adult in that adult's own home and which may involve physical contact;
- any person who carries on a private hospital which provides prescribed services;
- a health services body which provides prescribed services.
Responsibilities include:
- pre-employment checks on a preferred candidate;
- referring an individual to the Disqualification from Working with Vulnerable Adults (NI) List when misconduct occurs.
The legislation has also introduced new offences for care providers who employ a disqualified person and for disqualified individuals who apply for posts.
Information sessions
VDA is providing a series of training sessions throughout Northern Ireland between September and December 2007. To find out more about sessions in your area and how to book, please visit our website at http://www.volunteering-ni.org/
International Federation Of Social Workers - Global Social Work Day – 27 March 2007
Social Work: Making A World Of Difference
The IFSW is raising awareness of the importance of social workers around the World by celebrating Global Social Work Day 2007 on March 27 . The purpose of the day is t o have social workers all over the world prepare and participate in different kinds of events which will put social work on the agenda at all levels and, thereby, to promote the importance of the social work profession and to raise the sense of community among social workers.
Since 1996, Europe has celebrated an annual Social Work Action Day (SWAD). This year, the European SWAD will be within the frame of the Global Social Work Day 2007 on March 27. Europe will specifically highlight activities in relation to fighting poverty.
Social workers deal with poverty in all kinds, shapes and forms in their daily work. The European SWAD 2007 is about all the different ways social workers are active in alleviating poverty around the world. Social workers see first-hand the debilitating effect of poverty on those struggling to patch together meagre resources to live. Social work's concern with poverty is linked to the profession's ethical norm of justice. As such, special attention is given to those who are not only poor, but are members of groups that often are excluded from pathways to self-sufficiency, such as women, children, and the mentally ill. Social workers also see the resilience and creativity of those who develop alternative economies and approaches to problem-solving in ways that other economic entrepreneurs might envy.
IFSW Europe has established a special section on their site www.ifsw.org which can be used by national and local associations for obtaining information on poverty, social inclusion and ideas for celebrating the European SWAD 2007.