Press Release

Former CSCI chief joins GSCC as acting head: GSCC provides update on steps to strengthen conduct work

September 9 2009

Paul Snell, the former Chief Inspector of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), is to join the General Social Care Council (GSCC) as Acting Chief Executive from 1 October.

He will take up the role as the current acting Chief Executive, Paul Philip, returns to the General Medical Council (GMC) as its acting Chief Executive. Paul Philip will continue to provide consultancy support to the GSCC on an ongoing basis over the next few months. He was brought in following the suspension of the GSCC's Chief Executive Mike Wardle after it was identified that there were issues regarding the proper risk assessment of conduct cases.

In announcing the appointment, the GSCC also set out the recent measures it has put in place to take forward all outstanding conduct cases, and to strengthen the performance of the conduct function.

All cases have now been reviewed and Interim Suspension Orders (ISO) applied for where there are public protection concerns. Specialist support has been brought in to provide case direction and to assist in bringing all older cases to a conclusion by the end of the year. We will be expanding our investigative capacity shortly to assist with this task.

We now have in place better arrangements for the provision of management information regarding our conduct work which will enable us to performance manage the throughput of cases and allow greater management scrutiny of the function.

Welcoming Paul Snell to the GSCC and commenting on progress to date, Chair Rosie Varley said:

"We will benefit enormously from Paul's vast experience in social care, not least his background in regulating care services, at a time when we are seeking to promote understanding amongst employers of the need for their cooperation in regulating the social care workforce.

The weaknesses that have come to light in recent months in the quality of the management and decision making in conduct cases, were of great concern to the Council. As we have outlined today, we have now introduced a number of measures to improve our processes and to deliver a robust approach to public protection, balanced against our commitment to the registrant's right to a fair hearing.

I'd like to extend my personal gratitude to Paul Philip for the support he has provided in implementing these measures. As we build on this work, and with Paul Snell's input, I feel confident that the organisation will be on a firm and sustainable footing for the future with regulatory practices in which service users and the wider public can be confident."