Webinar - Taking Care of the Carers

We held another webinar this week for the second in our Talk to the Experts series, looking this time at the issues facing the care sector which has obviously faced enormous and unique challenges throughout the coronavirus pandemic, raising a multitude of legal questions for care providers.

Broker Business Manager, Chris Clacy took the host’s chair once again, to introduce the legal experts from Stephensons Solicitors LLP, one of ARAG’s specialist partner law firms.

Laura Hannah is a Solicitor and Partner who specialises in professional discipline and health and social care regulation, while Senior Associate Solicitors Alison Marriott, Adam Pennington and Julie Hunter offered their expertise in the areas of health and safety, employment law and recovering debts to the business.

The live webinar was attended by brokers and others in the insurance and care industries with an interest in the various legal issues that have emerged in the sector, in the wake of the pandemic.

First up, Laura Hannah spoke about the emergency support framework introduced by the Care Quality Commission and the changes in procedures for both civil and criminal enforcement action that have been necessitated by Covid-19.

Alison Marriott then discussed the health and safety implications for care providers, offering some tips about compliance and touching on the implications of any potential PR issues that businesses might face in the wake of a more serious incident or regulatory action.

Next, Adam Pennington talked about the current employment law challenges, such as handling grievance and disciplinary procedures with employees who may be working remotely, and the increase in claims for unfair dismissal that is already emerging.

Finally, Julie Hunter wrapped things up with some very helpful advice for businesses to ensure the best possible outcomes from clients who are unable or unwilling to pay for the care they or a family member has received, such as the importance of ensuring that written contracts are in place.

Our sincere thanks to Laura, Hannah, Adam and Julie for taking the time to offer their invaluable insight into all of these areas, and to everyone who attended the webinar.

Disclaimer - all information in this article was correct at time of publishing.