Mr. Phelim Quinn:

Individual service user. Again, it would be the initial building block of a commissioning model. One would bring about a model such as care management where the specific care and support needs of individuals are assessed and addressed through the commissioning of services for that individual. That can subsequently be escalated into commissioning at local and national level. There would be a requirement at a certain point in time for a national commissioning body as a purchaser.

The other question asked related to home care. In that instance, concerns were raised about the application of standards within the context of the provision of care within a person's own home. From our perspective, we would not be regulating a person's own home. That is an absolutely critical point in relation to the regulation of home care. What we would regulate would be the care provision into a person's own home. The unit or level at which care is actually being regulated is in the provision of care, which is to say the provider.

In that instance we use quality standards to examine the systems care providers have in place to provide safe and effective care, and we examine whether they have systems and safeguards in place to protect the provision of care in a person's own home. We do not look at issues such as the physical environment. This would not be feasible in the context of a home care environment because it is a person's home and private dwelling. What is regulated in that instance is the care and the systems through which it is provided.