Who needs to become registered under the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014?
If you provide or manage a regulated activity, you need to be registered.
What are regulated activities?
Currently, care homes (including children’s residential homes), home care services and day centres are regulated activities, and the providers of these activities need to be registered. The Law will be amended in 2022 through new Regulations. This will mean that ten statutory children’s services will become regulated activities. The existing children’s residential homes will become re-registered as children’s homes.
In every case, a service will only need to become registered if it provides either nursing care, personal care or personal support.
What is nursing care?
Nursing care is defined in the Law as:
services that, by reason of their nature and circumstances, including the need for clinical judgement, should be provided by a nurse, including – (a) providing care; (b) assessing, planning and evaluating care needs or the provision of care; and (c) supervising or delegating the provision of care.
If a service must be provided by a nurse then it is likely to be nursing care. Nursing care may include the supervising or delegating of care provision to others who are not nurses.
The ‘need for clinical judgment’ includes the assessment of care needs and the planning and evaluating of care provision.
What is personal care?
Personal care is defined in the Law as:
assistance in daily living that does not need to be provided by a nurse, being –
(a) practical assistance with daily tasks, such as eating, washing and
dressing; or
(b) prompting a person to perform daily tasks.
If a service does not need to be provided by a nurse but includes practical assistance with tasks such as eating, washing or dressing then it is likely to be personal care. If a person needs to be prompted to complete these tasks themselves but does not need physical support then this is also likely to be personal care.
What is personal support?
Personal support is defined in the Law as:
supervision, guidance, counselling (other than counselling that is health care) and other support in daily living that is provided to an individual as part of a programme of such support.
Where support does not include elements of personal care (washing, dressing etc), but includes supporting a person in other aspects of daily living then this may be personal support. Personal support might include supporting a person to:
- Pay bills and manage finances
- Access the local community
- Prepare meals
- Clean their home
- Use public transport
- Attend appointments
- Take their medication
This list is not definitive and personal care may also include the provision of supervision, guidance or counselling (not including counselling provided in a health care setting).
The important point is whether the personal support is being delivered as a programme of support. In other words, whether it is formally planned.
What is a care home?
A care home service is defined in the Law as:
A service providing residential accommodation together with care, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, to adults or children where residents have no choice as to the provider of the care, other than foster care or a service provided in –
(a) a hospital;
(b) a school;
(c) a prison or young offender institution; or
(d) private accommodation (not being accommodation provided purely in the context of the provision of a care home service by the same person who provides that accommodation) occupied exclusively by the care receiver and his or her family.
Where either nursing care, personal care or personal support is being provided in a place other than the person’s own home, this is likely to be a care home unless it is one of the places defined in a-d (above).
What is a children’s residential home?
Currently, the Law does not separately define children’s residential homes as being different from care homes. However, the Commission recognises that the types of care being provided in each are likely to be very different. Therefore, the Commission operates specific Standards for children’s residential homes. It is important to note that the introduction of new Regulations will ensure that Children’s Homes are separately defined in the Law. The Standards will be amended accordingly.
How do I register?
Please visit our website Registration and Guidance | Jersey Care Commission to download the applications forms.
You will be required to complete the forms and supply the supplementary documentation in the checklists at end of each form:
And what about managers?
It is a requirement for a provider to be registered in order to carry on a regulated activity, and for a manager of a regulated activity to be registered in order to act as such.
Registered Managers are managers of regulated activities. They are the person in charge, and take full-time, day to day control of the establishment or agency.
Providers must ensure that each registered service has a manager. This manager must also register with us.
The manager’s registration is personal to them. It is not transferable to another registered provider.
If the provider is an organisation or an individual who is not suitably skilled, experienced and qualified to manage the establishment or agency, then a manager must be appointed to take full-time, day-to-day control of the service. They must apply to register with the Jersey Care Commission.
Anything else?
An application for registration is only complete when you have supplied all the information that we need to process it, and you have paid the required fee. If you make your application by post and do not supply us with all the required information and/or the required fee, we will contact you and may have to return the application for completion.
Please see the link to the relevant fees JERSEY-CARE-COMMISSION-FEE-TABLE-2022.pdf (carecommission.je)
What is a home care service?
The Law defines a home care service as:
A service consisting of the provision of care by any person to an individual in private accommodation (not being accommodation provided purely in the context of the provision of a care home service by the same person who provides that accommodation) –
(a) for reward (whether in money or in kind and whether or not that person is a relative or friend of the care receiver); or
(b) as part of a professional service offered to the individual free of charge,
other than a service that is carried on exclusively by a Minister.
Where a service is provided for reward i.e., for money and includes either nursing care, personal care or personal support, this is likely to be a home care service. There are some exceptions to this, and it is important that a discussion takes place with the Commission prior to a decision being made about whether registration is needed.
What is a day care service?
The Law defines a day care service as:
A service providing premises other than private accommodation –
(a) for adult persons only;
(b) for a limited number of hours in any one day without overnight accommodation; and,
(c) for care that is not limited to social activities, self-help or advice.
The Commission only regulates adult day care services currently. Where a day service provides either nursing care, personal care or personal support, it will probably need to be registered.
Do all adult day care services need to be registered?
Day care centres which only provide social activities or general advice are unlikely to fall within the scope of regulation and are unlikely to need to register.
Do charities/ voluntary organisations, need to be registered?
If a charity or voluntary organisation provides a regulated activity (such as a home care service or a care home), then it will need to become registered.
Do holiday clubs and residential activity groups for children and young people fall within the scope of regulation?
Much will depend upon the type of service which is being provided. The provision of place where children/young people live and sleep for a period of time is not something which the Care Commission should register and regulate unless a form of care is being provided. If a service provides nursing or personal care, then it probably would need to be regulated. If a service provides personal support as part of a programme of activity, then it may need to be regulated but if personal support is being provided on an ad hoc basis, and not as an actual programme, then it may not need to regulated. Where these types of situation arise, it would be appropriate to have a discussion with the Commission before making a decision.
If a service is provided for free, will there be a need to register?
This is likely to depend upon whether the service is defined as a professional service. As a rule, if a form of nursing care, personal care or personal support is provided to a person as a professional service or programme of support, then there will be a need for registration.
If a family member or friend provides support to a person, will there be a need to register?
If this type of support is being provided free of charge then there is no need for the person providing the support to become registered. However, if the person providing the support is being paid (either in the form of money or in kind), then there is a need for registration. There are some exceptions to ‘pay and reward’ which are set out in Schedule 1 of the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014. These include the provision of celebratory gifts, the reimbursement of expenses and components of specific benefits.
What should I do if I am unsure whether my service needs to become registered?
Please contact the Jersey Care Commission who will be able to support you in determining whether registration is needed. We will also be able to guide you through the registration process.