Cartref Preswyl Bryn y Cae

10 June 2022

 

Dear

Request for Information reference ATISN 16328

Thank you for your request which we received on 13/05/2022.  

You asked for the following information regarding the most recent inspection report for Bryn Y Cae Residential Services for older people.

1. How many staff did not receive supervision; over what period did they not receive supervision; what percentage of this were new staff (less than 3 months service); how many staff did not have their training up to date and in which areas

We have decided this information is exempt from disclosure under section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Our reasons for applying this exemption are set out at Annex 1 to this response.

       2. Were hazardous products accessible to residents on the dementia wing?

Potentially as the sluice door was found unlocked at the time of inspection. The Inspector brought the matter to the attention of staff on duty and immediate action was taken.

3. In terms of use of control and restraint, I note no immediate action is required of the provider to ensure a robust policy is in place, what (from CIW's perspective) have you done to ensure use of C&R is safe and appropriate in the interim?  

We discussed this area for improvement and actions required with the responsible individual as part of the inspection feedback. This will be followed up at the next inspection.

4. You state within the report that Quality of care reviews are completed at least every six months as per Regulation - which regulation is this as regulation 73 states this should be a minimum of every 3 months?

You are correct that Regulation 73 visits are to be carried out three monthly. However, the inspection report refers to the Quality of Care review, which falls under Regulation 80. This is required every six months.

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response.  Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:

Information Rights Unit, 
Welsh Government, 
Cathays Park, 
Cardiff, 
CF10 3NQ 

or Email: Freedomofinformation@gov.wales

Please quote the ATISN reference number above in any correspondence in regard to this request.   

Yours sincerely

 

Annex 1

Request for Information reference ATISN 16328

The Freedom of information Act/Environmental Information Regulations provide a right for anyone to ask a public authority to make requested information available to the wider public. As the release of requested information is to the world, not just the requester, public authorities need to consider the effects of making the information freely available to everybody. Any personal interest the requester has for accessing the information cannot override those wider considerations.

This annex sets out the reasons for withholding the following information: 

Information being withheld	Section number and exemption name
Information in respect of the CIW inspection report for Bryn Y Cae Residential Services for older people as follows:   How many staff did not receive supervision; over what period did they not receive supervision; what percentage of this were new staff (less than 3 months service); how many staff did not have their training up to date and in which areas	Section 30(2)(a)(iii) of the Freedom of Information Act – Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities.

Section 30 of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA):  Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities.

Section 30(2)(a)(iii) of the FoIA states:

(2) Information held by a public authority is exempt information if –

1. it was obtained or recorded by the authority for the purposes of its functions relating to –

(iii) investigations (other than investigations falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b)) which are conducted by the authority for any of the purposes specified in section 31(2) and either by virtue of Her Majesty’s prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under any enactment.

Care Inspectorate Wales, as a regulator and public body, conducts inspections to check the standard of care and support provided, measured against standards sets out in regulations.  Therefore, inspections are undertaken for the following purposes under Section 31(2) of the FoIA:

(a) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law,

(b) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is responsible for any conduct which is improper,

(c) the purpose of ascertaining whether circumstances which would justify regulatory action in pursuance of any enactment exist or may arise,

(j) the purpose of protecting persons other than persons at work against risk to health or safety arising out of or in connection with actions of persons at work.

These Inspections are conducted by virtue of powers conferred by or under the Regulation & Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA), which is an enactment of law.

The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016  gives powers to Care Inspectorate Wales to register and inspect providers of social care services in Wales.

Section 33 of RISCA states:

Inspection and inspectors:

(1) In this Part a reference to an “inspection” is a reference to an inspection—

(a) of the standard of any care and support provided by a service provider in the course of providing a regulated service, measured in relation to any requirements imposed by regulations under section 27(1) as to the standard of care and support to be provided;

(b) of the organisation and co-ordination of regulated services provided by a service provider.

The information requested was obtained by Care Inspectorate Wales under the following powers under RISCA:

32 Power to require information

1. The Welsh Ministers may require a relevant person to provide them with any information relating to a regulated service which the Welsh Ministers think necessary or expedient to obtain for the purposes of exercising their functions under Chapter 2 and this Chapter of this Part or under sections 38 to 40.

We therefore determine that the information requested is information held by a public authority which was obtained or recorded for the purposes of our functions under section 31(2) of the FoIA and by virtue of powers conferred by or under any enactment.  For this reason, the information is therefore exempt from disclosure under Section 30(2)(a)(iii) of the FoIA.

Public Interest Test

Section 30 of the FoIA is subject to the public interest test. This requires us to consider whether the public interest arguments in favour of disclosure of the requested information outweigh those in favour of maintaining the exemption.

CIW recognises there is a public interest argument to make in favour of the disclosure to the public of information about care services obtained during our inspections.  This is in order for the public to know whether a service is providing good quality care.  However, CIW publish inspection reports which detail our findings and judgements from an inspection.  These findings and judgements are formed based on the evaluation and triangulation of information/evidence collected as part of that inspection.   

We believe the findings and judgements provided within our inspection reports is more useful to the public than the specific evidence collected itself.  We therefore believe the public interest in disclosure of information about our inspections of services is met by the publication of our inspection reports and we therefore see no overriding public interest argument in favour of disclosure of the requested information.

Evidence collected during an inspection could subsequently form part of civil and/or criminal proceedings.  Releasing this information into the public domain could prejudice these procedures. We believe it is not in the public interest to prejudice enforcement action required to secure improvements in social care services.

We have concluded that the exemption under Section 30 of the FoIA is maintained and the information requested is therefore withheld from disclosure.