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Tougher laws for Welsh cares homes to be unveiled

Tougher laws to regulate thousands of care homes and care agencies in Wales are to be unveiled by the Welsh Government today.

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'Fundamental change of culture' needed for care home laws to work

A social care leader has welcomed new legislation to beef up regulation of the sector but warns that it won't work unless there is a "fundamental change of culture".

Mario Kreft MBE, the Chair of Care Forum Wales, says it was vital to change the DNA in Wales to ensure everybody involved worked together in collaboration.

It comes as the Welsh Government unveils a new bill aimed at strengthening the regulation and inspection of the social care sector.

Care Forum Wales are also calling for those from local authorities and health boards who commission social care services to be regulated so that their decisions are based on quality not price.

The people living in care homes have very complex needs, much more so than 20 years ago.

It is therefore absolutely the right time on the back of the Social Services and Well-being Act 2014, which has created this new framework, that we now match that with a new regulatory framework, and there are certain aspects that we would certainly welcome.

But there are also areas of concern. The reality is that in Wales today we have a struggling health and social care system.

It's struggling because of demand and because we are not harnessing the resources that we already have at our disposal.

Unfortunately, this new legislation will change little unless we really harness all the resources at our disposal and particularly recognise that social care is a fundamental cornerstone of the NHS in Wales.

– Mario Kreft MBE, Care Forum Wales

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