Plans to merge health and social service inspectorates will undermine standards of patient care and the safety of vulnerable people, Unison has claimed. In its formal response to health secretary Patricia Hewitt's consultation on the future regulation of health and adult social care, the union has asked the Department of Health to reconsider moves to merge the three organisations responsible for healthcare, adult social care and operation of the Mental Health Act. The union's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: ‘The DoH has announced its intention to slash the budget of the combined regulator by 40% in real terms'. ‘We fear that the scale of this budget cut will pose a major risk to the inspectorate's ability to maintain standards and ultimately to the safety and well-being of vulnerable people.' The decision to merge the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection was first signalled in the Chancellor's 2005 Budget as part of a move to reduce the number of inspectorates. In the consultation launched in November last year, Ms Hewittt has said that the Government will introduce legislation to set up the new organisation, which would also take over the responsibilities of the present Mental Health Act Commission and could be established by 2008. Unison has expressed concern that the merger is being pushed through to cut operating costs rather than improve the value of inspections and claimed: 'It is just the latest in a series of costly and disruptive restructurings – the ink was barely dry on new Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and Healthcare Commission (HCC) letterheads when it was announced that these fledgling bodies were to be merged. ‘CSCI already finds itself in a period of substantial instability as a result of a programme of office closures that it says are necessary to reduce operating costs. This is leading to the loss of skilled, experienced staff and reduced opportunities for the public.' Government responses to the consultation are expected before summer.
