Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 4 October 2017.
I thank you for that question. We certainly were proposing to remove that 24-hour nurse requirement within the regulations because it was very stringent and very strict, and actually didn’t give residential homes the flexibility that they actually need—that we believe they need—to meet the needs of the people they care for in the most appropriate way. So, in future, the statement of purpose that care homes will provide will be absolutely critical in terms of setting out the care that they provide for the types of conditions that people will have and will require. So, I think that that is a more appropriate way of taking forward the staffing structure within the care homes. I understand that there is some nervousness about it; of course, I do. I recently went on a visit organised by David Rees to a care home within his own constituency, which was organised alongside the Royal College of Nursing. So, we were able to tease out some of these specific issues and specific concerns that the nursing profession have raised. We certainly will be taking all of those on board when deciding on the next steps forward.