Hearings process
These pages give a general overview of the conduct Rules and process.
Conduct Rules
The Rules that govern this process are:
The Care Council for Wales Conduct Rules 2005 (PDF 500MB) and is applicable to cases being investigated and in the hearings process before 1 July 2011.
and
The Care Council for Wales Conduct Rules 2011 (PDF 2MB) and is applicable to complaints received from 1 July 2011.
Process
The main steps of the process under the 2005 Conduct Rules are set out in Conduct Rules 2005 process flow diagram (PDF 100KB).
The main steps of the process under the 2011 Conduct Rules are set out in Conduct Rules 2011 process flow diagram (PDF 100KB).
What is misconduct?
Misconduct is defined in the Care Council for Wales Conduct Rules as "...conduct which calls into question the suitability of a registrant to remain on the register."
Committees
The Care Council for Wales has three Committees to undertake the regulation of registration and conduct.
The Committees’ main role is to ensure that only those social care workers suitable to be on the Register will be registered which would enable the Care Council for Wales to fulfil its duties in maintaining the standards set in the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers.
Membership of Committees
The members of the Committees are not Care Council for Wales staff or Council members, they are appointed to ensure complete independence from the Care Council. The Care Council maintains a ‘pool’ of lay members and social care members, from which the members of the individual Committees are selected. The lay members are individuals from different backgrounds and who have little or no knowledge or experience of social care. The social care members are individuals who are either currently working in social care or have a background in or knowledge of social care. The members are appointed for a period of four years.
All four Committees have the same membership requirements; therefore you can expect to find the following people at each Committee:
Chair
The Chair is a lay member.
Members
A Committee may sit with either three or five members and the majority will be lay to ensure impartiality and independence.
Social Care Member
The Care Council would endeavour to appoint a Social Care Member to each Committee. This member would be registered in the same area of practice as the Applicant or Registrant whose case is being considered.
The Committee would call on the member’s social care knowledge to clarify any queries they may have on the Applicant’s/Registrant’s area of practice in relation to the case before them.