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News: recent SWL in Wales developments

A lack of rigour and candour

A damning report by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales[1] (PSOW) into ‘a serious service failure’ by the Wrexham Maelor Hospital compounded by the lack of both rigour and candour…

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A Newport Family Court judgment

An important (albeit partially redacted) judgment in the case of Re C (A Child) (Care Proceedings Withdrawal) [2024] EWFC 227 (B) has been published.  The Transparency Project has released an…

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Call to withdraw FII guidance

In an Open Letter to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, a number of researchers and NGOs called for the withdrawal of its guidance concerning FII (Fabricated or…

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Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill

The Health and Social Care Committee has launched a consultation to inform its scrutiny of the recently introduced  Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill.  The consultation closes on the 28th…

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Senedd Member’s concern about the prevalence and impact of allegations of Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in Wales

North Wales Member of the Senedd and Chair its Cross-Party Autism Group, Mark Isherwood, has raised concerns with the Minister for Health and Social Services that parents of neurodiverse children…

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Special Guardianship allowance ~ Ombudsman report

A recent report by the Public Services Ombudsman Wales (PSOW)[1] arose out of a complaint that a local authority had failed to implement the recommendations of a Stage 2 Independent…

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Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) research report

FII is a term adopted by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – in essence – to replace what was previously referred to as ‘Munchausen syndrome by proxy’.…

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Independent living when a care home might be ‘cheaper’

Can local authorities refuse to fund a home care package if it is cheaper for the person’s needs to be met in a care home? Where there is more than…

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The State of Social Care in Wales

A submission to The Senedd Health & Social Care Committee concerning the state of social care in Wales by Ann James and Luke Clements can be accessed by clicking here…

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The Problem with Fast Track in Wales

As previous posting on these pages have sought to highlight,[1] there are in our opinion profound problems with the Welsh Government’s Guidance concerning the process by which eligibility for Continuing…

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A Landmark UN carers decision

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has handed down an important decision concerning the rights of unpaid carers in the case of Maria Simona Bellini v.…

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Social care under-funding and the NHS

Senedd Research has published an interesting analysis of the problems that social care under-funding are causing the NHS.[1]  The analysis starts with the Senedd’s Health and Social Care Committee’s finding[2]…

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The duty to meet needs

What can be done when a disabled person’s or a carer’s assessed social care needs are not being met – either because no care and support is available or because…

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FII (Fabricated or Induced Illness) Survey

The disabled children’s charity Cerebra is concerned about reports from families with disabled children which suggest that a significant number have been accused by practitioners of creating or exaggerating their…

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The NHS in Wales and the social care workforce crisis

The current edition of ‘Senedd Research’ highlights two important social welfare issues – namely the serious problems with the Welsh NHS and the social care workforce crisis.   In relation…

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The end game: Continuing NHS Healthcare (CHC) in Wales

 The Welsh Government has finally published its revised Continuing NHS Healthcare Framework Guidance for Adults - giving just over a month for its implementation.  Although it published a draft of…

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What a mess – s117 ordinary residence (again)

In a nutshell – and congratulations if you understand this: The Court of Appeal has reversed a High Court decision that reversed a decision of the Department of Health and…

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Disabled Children and their Families – a damning ITV Wales news story

Earlier this year, the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving (LEaP) Project at the University of Leeds published a major report concerning English social care policies and practices that had the…

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Is there ‘Parent Carer Blame’ in Wales?

A recent report entitled ‘Institutionalising Parent Carer Blame’ has been published by the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving research team at the University of Leeds.  It considers the policies and…

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Carers in Wales: new reports.

Two new reports concerning carers in Wales have been published. The first is a Public Health Wales funded publication by researchers at Cardiff University entitled Voices of Carers during the…

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The enigma of section 16

Dr Alison Tarrant of the School of Law and Politics Cardiff University discusses a unique provision in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. . When the (then) National…

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NHS Ombudsman news and a Fast-track decision

The reports of the English Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman are now being published – click here to access the relevant page.  This is good news.  The Local Government and…

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NHS Continuing Health Care and Direct Payments in Wales

Disabled People in Wales of all ages who are eligible for NHS Continuing Health Care and who want to remain living in the community – have been left without a…

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Housing adaptations and disabled young people

Foundations – the National Body for Home Improvement Agencies in England has published an excellent Guide to Adaptations for Children and Young People with Behaviours that Challenge. The 45-page guide…

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The impact of the pandemic on disabled people: so much more than COVID-19

Between 30 March and 1 April 2021 Cardiff University Law School hosted the International Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Conference which, for the first time in its history, was delivered as…

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Welsh Government social care announcements

  The Welsh Government has published a White Paper ‘Rebalancing care and support’ which makes proposals to introduce new legislation to improve social care arrangements and strengthen partnership working in…

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High Court Social Care Charging judgment

Proceedings taken on behalf of a 24 year old disabled person with Down Syndrome, challenging the way an English council (Norfolk) calculated the charges she had to pay for her…

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NHS Continuing Health Care judgment

This is an interesting and novel case concerning a dispute between an English local authority and an English Health Body - a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).  Although the equivalent body…

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We only met two minutes ago but you already think you know everything about me.

The guest post you are about to read from a good colleague details an incredibly troubling account of the health system’s approach to the care of a very distressed and…

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Public Accounts Committee Report

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published its report Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak Although its focus on the NHS in England –…

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Unlawful ‘Autism Plus’ policies

More than a quarter of English children’s services councils are acting unlawfully by discriminating against children with autism.  Research undertaken by the School of Law at the University of Leeds,…

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NHS Continuing Healthcare & young people: R (JP) v NHS Croydon (2020)

Preliminary note This briefing concerns a recent English judgment.  The NHS (Wales) Act 2006 and the NHS Act 2006 (which focuses primarily on England) both create almost identical duties to…

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Ordinary Residence s117 ~ all change in England (and Wales?).

The English Department of Health and Social Care has changed its mind concerning the determination of a person’s ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117 Mental Health Act 1983…

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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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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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