Scotland’s Care Inspectorate’s New Guidance on Inspection of Registered Care Services
The Care Inspectorate is the independent regulatory body of care services in Scotland. Its primary role is to ensure that care services for people of all ages meet the required standards and provide quality care to individuals in various settings, including care homes, home care services, and childcare. It currently regulates approximately 11,500 care services.1
To regulate and inspect registered care services effectively, the Care Inspectorate periodically updates its guidance to align with changing legislative requirements and best practices. The new guidance—How we inspect regulated services: guidance for providers of regulated care settings and the public—was published in May 2023. It explains the Care Inspectorate’s principles of inspection, approach to inspections, usage of its quality frameworks, and its process for gathering evidence and evaluating the quality of individual care services. The guidance also notes that the Care Inspectorate publishes a report after each inspection and that these reports are available to the public.2
The Care Inspectorate’s 2023 guidance emphasizes:
- Gathering information from those who receive services, as well as those who provide them.
- Identifying not only weaknesses, but also strengths of care services to celebrate their achievements.
- Having open professional dialogue during the inspection process, with formal feedback provided at the end of the inspection.
By aligning with the Care Inspectorate’s regulations and working towards continuous improvement, care services can enhance the care experiences of individuals and contribute to the overall quality of care in Scotland.
Care services can also provide their new and experienced care workers with Emcare training courses to help them develop and maintain the skills and knowledge needed to confidently provide their services. To see the range of Emcare’s social care training courses, click Here.
Source:
1https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/7130/How%20we%20inspect%20regulated%20services.pdf
2https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/member-of-the-public/4560-readourinspectionreports
