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…
Read moreA 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…
Read moreCall 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…
Read moreHealth 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…
Read moreSenedd 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…
Read moreSpecial 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…
Read moreFabricated 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’.…
Read moreIndependent 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreA 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.…
Read moreSocial 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]…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreFII (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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreWhat 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…
Read moreDisabled 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…
Read moreIs 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…
Read moreCarers 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreNHS 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…
Read moreNHS 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…
Read moreHousing 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreWelsh 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…
Read moreHigh 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…
Read moreNHS 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…
Read moreWe 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…
Read morePublic 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 –…
Read moreUnlawful ‘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,…
Read moreNHS 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…
Read moreOrdinary 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…
Read moreThe 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…
Read moreWelsh 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…
Read moreCoronavirus: 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…
Read moreThe 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;…
Read moreThe 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 –…
Read moreDirect 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…
Read more‘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…
Read moreUnpaid 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…
Read moreNew 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…
Read moreSo 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…
Read moreDirect 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…
Read more‘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…
Read moreArrangements 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…
Read moreRevisions 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…
Read moreNHS 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…
Read moreCharging 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…
Read moreWelsh 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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