The suspension of care home inspections
For an excellent paper by Alison Tarrant and Lydia Hayes concerning the suspension of routine inspections which they argue renders care homes invisible to scrutiny and costs lives – click…
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Category: Recent SWL
Welsh Government Guidance & Covid-19
Adult services On 30 April 2020 the Welsh Government issued formal guidance – see Adult social services during the Covid-19 pandemic. The guidance emphasises that the modifications permitted by the…
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Coronavirus: WG Guidance for children’s social services
The Welsh Government has issued guidance concerning the role of children’s social services during the emergency. It’s primary focus is on child protection and ‘looked after children’. Welcome is its…
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The Coronavirus Act 2020
Updated 15 April 2020 This briefing considers: 1. The main provisions of the Act – this section briefly describes these as they apply to social care in England and Wales;…
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The Coronavirus Bill: social care & SEN
The text of the Coronavirus Bill has been published. It is the most draconian legislation enacted since the Second World War and suspends a whole raft of legislative duties –…
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Direct Payments and NHS Continuing Health Care
The Deputy Minister’s update statement on the Welsh Independent Living Grant[1] (WILG) is particularly welcome because it acknowledges the risk to the independence,choice and control of disabled people in Wales…
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‘Waiting for her to die’
Perceptions of a terminally ill woman who was denied an integrated assessment and services . The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) has published a troubling report[1] concerning a systems…
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Unpaid carers in Wales
Carers Wales has published its annual ‘Track the Act’ report (for the year to April 2019) based on a survey of 562 carers (from every part of Wales) plus Freedom…
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New born babies in care proceeding in Wales
The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (FJO) has published its report on new born babies and infants in the family justice system in Wales. This report presents a picture of an…
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So what do you do?
You are a health / social care professional. You have read up on the lawfulness of funding panels – but you now find yourself required to attend a panel to…
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Direct Payments: ombudsman’s report and research findings
Coinciding with a major research report[1] concerning the direct payments system – the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has issued a hard hitting report[2] illustrating the problems with such payments…
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‘Omg … will it never end’
It is not every day that an ombudsman’s report refers to an investigator’s note saying the above. Not every day that the ombudsman: asks a council to reflect on its…
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Arrangements to move a care home resident at short notice
An important ombudsman report has outlined key considerations to be taken when it becomes necessary to move a care home resident (in this case one with dementia). The resident (aged…
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Revisions to the Continuing NHS Healthcare (adults) Framework
The Welsh Government has published for consultation changes it proposes to make to the Continuing NHS Healthcare Framework (for adults) and its accompanying Decision Support Tool. The consultation document and…
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NHS Continuing Care (NHS CHC) for children and young people – Welsh Government Consultation
The Welsh Government has published a consultation paper on proposed revisions to the NHS CHC guidance for children and young people – which can be accessed by clicking here.[1] This…
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Charging for social care changes
The Welsh Government has made uprating changes to the social care charging rules – which have now taken effect. The head-line changes are increases to: the maximum non-residential care charge…
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Welsh Independent Living Grant (WILG): Policy Reversal
Julie Morgan, Deputy Health and Social Services Minister, has announced a major change to the process of winding down the WILG. There will be (with immediate effect) a ‘pause of…
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Closure of the Welsh Independent Living Grant
A case of Wales following in the footsteps of England? While attention is focused on the countdown to leaving the European Union, one should not lose sight of the impending…
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Can you cope?
It’s a simple question – yes or no? If you are a parent of a disabled child – it is a question, when asked by a social worker, that you…
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Action on Disability: The Right to Independent Living
The Welsh Government has published a consultation paper setting out how it intends to fulfil its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: the paper…
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Continuing NHS Healthcare: legal challenge
A briefing note by Julie Burton Law concerning a successful legal challenge to a Local Health Board’s refusal to provide adequate replacement (respite) care for a disabled young adult. The…
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Elaine McDonald
It is reported that Elaine McDonald has died. She was by all accounts an extraordinary person and I hope she is remembered for this and her brilliance as a ballerina. …
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Continence supplies from NHS Wales
The Welsh Government is to be congratulated in terms of putting their hands up and amending key guidance concerning continence supplies. In its recently released circular WG Guidance for the…
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Well-being means more than merely ‘coping’
A recent important report by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales[1] concerned a complaint made by the mother of young man with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), mental health problems…
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Closure of the Welsh Independent Living Grant: In the cause of equality of provision for disabled people?
Local authorities in Wales are rushing to meet the new September deadline, set by the Minister for Health, for the re-assessment of the 1,300 or more recipients of the Welsh…
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Case note
Judicial Review proceedings (withdrawn as settled before final hearing) relating to the failure to assess and then meet the needs of a young person with additional needs and to take…
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Difficulties in getting parent carers needs assessments
Parent carers are reporting difficulties getting assessments of their own need for support as well as getting an assessment of the child’s needs. Reasons given by councils for refusing to…
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NHS Continuing Care Young People in Wales
A previous Rhydian posting flagged up profound deficiencies in the Welsh Government’s NHS Continuing Care (CHC) guidance for children and young people. This posting has now been developed into a…
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Disabled Facilities Grants and Young People in Wales
The enactment of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 has raised challenging questions about the procedure by which Welsh local authorities process ‘disabled facilities grants’ (DFGs). A paper…
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Opinion Piece
The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 came into force two years ago. To mark the anniversary Keith Bowen has written an Opinion Piece for The Rhydian: On-line Journal…
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52% of carers refused flexible working
A ‘What’s New’ post contributed by David Laurence of the Disability Law Service. Disabled people are entitled to have reasonable adjustments made in their workplace conditions in order to ensure…
Read moreChild protection criticism and concerns in Wales
For a case review on a key child protection judgment (in which it was stated ‘All is not well with child protection in North Wales’) and a link to a…
Read moreParliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in Wales
The final report of the Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in Wales has been published. Click here for further details.
Read moreNHS continuing care funding for children & young people in Wales.
In Wales (as in England) social services provide significant amounts of healthcare to disabled and ill young people, which legally should be funded by the NHS. Although (in my opinion)…
Read moreInadvertent revocation ~ Cafcass Cymru’s powers
The power of Cafcass Cymru to make applications to the court in response to a referral from a local authority independent reviewing officer in child protection cases was mistaken revoked…
Read moreAdditional Learning Needs Act gains Royal Assent
The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 gained Royal Assent on the 24 January 2018. The Act will, when it comes into force, reform Special Education Needs Law in Wales. …
Read moreAdoption Guide
Sarah Coldrick, legal consultant with AFA Cymru and Julie Doughty of Cardiff Law School have produced an accessible guide to the legal framework governing the Adoption process. It is aimed primarily at prospective adopters…
Read moreNational Population Assessment Report (2018)
The Welsh Government has published its first National Population Assessment. The report was commissioned by Government and delivered by Social Care Wales. Click here for a briefing on the report.
Read moreNational outcomes framework results
The Welsh Government has published the results of its report on the state of ‘well-being’ in Wales: Measuring national well-being: A report on the national outcomes framework for people who need care…
Read moreState of Caring 2017 (Wales)
Carers UK carries out an annual survey of carers to understand the state of caring and uses the findings to inform the Governments of the four nations on the experiences…
Read moreAutism (Wales) Bill
The Consultation on proposal for an Autism Act in Wales has now closed. Click here for the response submitted by Julie Burton Law, a firm of solicitors based in North Wales.
Read moreAusterity is no excuse for a service led response to need[1]
The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSO) upheld a complaint concerning Gwynedd Council. Although the case predates the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 the findings are wholly relevant to…
Read moreThe legal and administrative processes in adoption
Julie Doughty and her colleagues Sarah Meakings and Katherine Shelton at Cardiff University have published a new paper ‘The legal and administrative processes in adoption: views and experiences of newly…
Read moreA new care homes’ fees case
For an analysis of the Court of Appeal Torbay judgment (including its implications in Wales) click here.
Read moreTrack the Act
Carers Wales have published their second Track the Act briefing. For the English language version click here and for the Welsh language version click here This is a welcome publication as it relates to the experiences…
Read moreDeprivation of Liberty Safeguards in Wales
A briefing by Roger Laidlaw has been added to the Rhydian: ‘Court of Protection in Wales‘ pages.
Read moreAdoption on Sibling Relationships
A new paper concerning The Influence of Adoption on Sibling Relationships by Sarah Meakings Amanda Coffey Katherine H Shelton has been published in the British Journal of Social Work: to access and to download click…
Read moreRe A (A Child) [2016] EWFC B101 (25 August 2016)
This case has been brought to our attention by the Transparency Project whose primary aim is to make Family Law clearer. In the judgment His Honour Judge Gareth Jones rejects a local…
Read moreR (Luke Davey) v. Oxfordshire CC Court of Appeal 2017
People in Wales in receipt of the Independent Living Grant, the Welsh Government’s interim measure to soften the blow of the closure the Independent Living Fund (ILF) would have followed R (Luke Davey) v…
Read moreHumanising Services & Building Communities (i.e.co-production –how the hell do you do it)
Jenny O’Hara Jakeway CEO of Credu-Connecting Carers In this thought provoking and challenging paper, Jenny O’Hara Jakeway examines the opportunities afforded by the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and…
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