On 19 March 2021, the UK Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in the case of Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson Blake. The case concerned payment of National Minimum Wage (NMW) for sleep-in shifts. Specifically, the calculation of time spent by care workers for the purposes of the NMW regulations. The central question to …
On 27 April 2021 the Department for Health and Social Care updated its guidance and additional guidance on visiting restrictions for those who lack capacity. Essentially the guidance states that face-to-face visits by professionals, for example for DoLS assessments, are an important part of the DoLS legal framework. Such visits can occur if needed, for …
Government eases visiting restrictions for those lacking mental capacity Read More »
On 14 April 2021 the Government announced it was launching a 5-week consultation on making COVID-19 vaccinations a condition for staff working in care homes with older residents. This cements the Government’s move from its previous position that vaccinations were “not mandatory and it would be discriminatory to force somebody to take one” (Feb 2021) …
Considering Mandatory Vaccinations for Care Home Workers Read More »
The Government have officially announced today that they are consulting on mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for care home staff in England. The Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “The vaccine is already preventing deaths and is our route out of this pandemic. We have a duty of care to those most vulnerable to Covid-19, …
Government Consults on Mandatory COVID-19 Jabs for Care Home Staff Read More »
The Government has said that from 12 April care home residents will be allowed two regular visitors indoors. Currently care home residents can have just one face-to-face visitor, but this will increase to two as part of the next stage of lockdown easing. Other changes include visitors being able to bring babies and toddlers which …
On 1 April 2021, Helen Hayes (Labour, Dulwich and West Norwood) asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care the written question, “…what assessment he has made of the effect of the Infection Control Fund on supporting care homes with their infection prevention control measures during the covid-19 outbreak; and what assessment he …
The highly anticipated “sleep- in judgment”, Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake, will be handed down by the Supreme Court on Friday this week (19 March 2021). This will provide clarity on the issue of whether care workers who ‘sleep in’ are entitled to the national minimum wage for time that is not spent actually performing …
Supreme Court “sleep-in” case judgment due this week Read More »
On 9 March 2021, Flick Drummond (Conservative, Meon Valley) asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care the written question, “… what steps he is taking to support care homes in financial difficulty but not deemed by the CQC to be a risk or a priority which will not now receive an additional CQC inspection for more …
To say it’s been a tough year would be a shameful understatement. The health and social care sector has been tested like never before. Day after day we have been presented with harrowing statistics on how COVID-19 has tightened its grip on the world but amongst the bad news and escalating fear, we have seen …
Staffing in social care: The cornerstone of compliance Read More »
We are starting to see the benefits of the vaccinations on care home visiting regimes. While coronavirus cases remain high, the number of infections is falling. The UK’s vaccination programme has seen every care home resident offered a jab, with almost 17 million vaccinations carried out in total. The good news is that, as a …
Ridouts is a team of specialist health and social care lawyers, providing dedicated legal advice for care homes, GP practices, children’s homes, dental practices, domiciliary and home care agencies, supported and independent living services and both private and NHS hospitals.
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