§ 35. Mr. DobbinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans to regulate and inspect domiciliary care agencies. [119089]
§ Mr. HuttonWe are committed to introducing a regulatory framework for home care services, and proposals for this are included in the Care Standards Bill, which was recently introduced in this House.
All domiciliary care agencies will be required to register, if they provide personal care services, and be inspected annually by the National Care Standards Commission. This will not apply to those supplying solely domestic services, which do not involve personal care, nor to those who provide personal care single-handed.
A core steering group and a wider reference group have developed draft national minimum standards and a user forum was held in January 2000. A consultation version of the proposed regulations and standards should be published later this year.