The government has officially dropped plans to introduce legislation to restrict the movement of staff between care settings in England.
In its response to a consultation launched in November, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it has decided not to progress with amending regulations to require care providers to stop staff movement.
Instead, it has published updated guidance that makes clear routine staff movement should not be taking place.
“In those limited exceptional circumstances where staff movement is necessary to ensure the delivery of safe care, the guidance provides examples of how to mitigate the risks of this with frequent testing,” said DHSC.
A total of 1,312 responses to the online consultation were received through the GOV.UK consultation page with additional written responses, of which over half were from adult social care or health care service providers.
Several respondents raised concerns regarding the lost incomes of those adult social care workers who need to give up one or more jobs to enable care home providers to comply with the proposed legislation and the potential for this to lead to financial hardship.
This led many respondents to suggest compensation for those social care workers who may lose earnings.
“There is a workforce crisis in social care and a ban would have compounded an already-difficult situation. A ban would have undermined safe, person-centred care and punished unfairly diligent care home workers,” said acting Royal College of Nursing England director Patricia Marquis.
“The government urgently needs to come up with a long-term plan for the health and social care workforce,” she added.
