nicola sturgeon on care homes

8/6/2019 Nicola Sturgeon on Care Homes

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Deputy First Minister and C~~inet Secretary

for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy

Nicola Sturgeon MSP

T:0845 7741741 .

E: [email protected]

Ms Kezia Dugdale MSPThe Scottish Parliament

EDINBURGH

EH991SP

Our ref: 2011/1007090July 2011

Dear Kezia

T h e S c o t t i s hG o v e r n m e n t

Thank you for your letter of 6 June 2011 about the serious and tragic events at the Elsie

Inglis Nursing Home in Edinburgh. You will be aware that these are the subject of an

ongoing police investigation and it would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment onthem. I have provided some more general information below which provides reassurance

about the scrutiny of care homes and our commitment to ensuring vulnerable people areprotected.

The Scottish Government expects the highest standards of care by all who are providing

services in Scotland. It is therefore essential that we have a robust regulatory system and

national standards that apply to all care services. It is also vital that we have a confident,

competent and valued workforce to meet the care needs of vulnerable people in care homes.A range of measures are therefore already in place or are being progressed.

The National Care Standards, developed by the Scottish Government, are written to providepeople who use care services with information on what they can expect to receive from their

provider. Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) must take the

Standards into account in all its regulatory work. The Standards require care homes to have

staff whose training and expertise allows them to meet the needs of residents. There is also

a statutory requirement on care service providers to ensure that persons they employreceive training that is appropriate for the work they are to perform.

Care services are required at registration with SCSWIS to set out the aims and objectives of

the service. SCSWIS would expect providers to deliver training for staff which meets the

services aims and objectives. Each service must develop its own training plan based on the

individually assessed needs of people receiving the service in order to give staff thenecessary skills to deliver good quality care.

St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh

EH1 30G www.scotland.gov.uk
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scotland.gov.uk/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/mailto:[email protected]


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The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is the workforce regulatory body. It has

responsibility for maintaining the register of staff and set the qualifications for care services

for adults. You may wish to contact SSSC at www.sssc.uk.com to request a copy of the

qualification requirements which outlines the different qualifications for each role in a carehome for adults.

The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 requires SCSWIS inspections to be carried

out in a way that is transparent, accountable, proportionate, consistent and in line with bestregulatory practice. This Act also requires Ministers to approve SCSWIS Inspection Plan

and any subsequent revision. The current inspection regime, operated by SCSWIS since 1

April 2011, moves away from periodical and cyclical inspections which applied under the

previous regulatory system. SCSWIS will take a proportionate, risk and evidence-based

approach to scrutiny allowing it to focus on poorer performing services. SCSWIS plans

inspections based on the risk assessment of each individual service type and even through a

service has good grades it may be that due to the type of service and users they apply a riskrating of medium to high, which results in more inspections throughout the year. SCSWIS

maya/so increase the frequency and intensity of inspections based on risk assessment

where they receive intelligence from a range of sources such as health boards, police, local

authorities, other regulators as well as notifications of variation by the services. In addition tothe inspections scheduled under its inspection plan SCSWIS undertakes random sampling

on an unannounced basis of well performing services over the course of the year.

Furthermore, complaints from service users, their representatives or carers may also triggeran inspection.

If you would like further information about the inspection regime and how SCSWIS carries

out its regulatory functions you can contact the interim chief executive,

Mrs Jacquie Roberts

SCSWIS

Compass House11 Riverside Drive

Dundee

DD14NY

Tel: 0845 600 9527E-mail: [email protected]

As regards SCSWIS's resources, I can assure you that safeguarding the health and welfare

of vulnerable people in Scotland is paramount to the Scottish Government, which is why

SCSWIS has maintained the required skill mix and experience in the appropriate locations to

provide the necessary assurance as to the quality and standards of regulated care services.

Finally, the Scottish Government has no locus in the tendering process of care homes, which

is a matter for the local authorities (LAs). When carrying out their functions in relation to the

provision of care services, including making arrangements for them to be provided by

another person, LAs are required by the PSR Act to have regard to reports, information and

notices produced by SCSWIS. You may be interested to know that the National Care Home

Contract (NCHC) for publicly funded care home residents was set up by COSLA and

Scottish Care, the representative body for the independent care home sector. The fees are

negotiated annually and include additional payments linked to quality to help drive up

standards. A target of 65% care staff qualified at SVQ 2 in care was set as one of the quality

targets with an objective of working towards a fully registered, qualified workforce by 2015 as

required by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).


EHl 30G www.scotland.gov.uk1'o..F_"iTOR IS PF.OPl,Ji
http://www.sssc.uk.com/mailto:[email protected]://www.scotland.gov.uk/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/mailto:[email protected]://www.sssc.uk.com/


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I hope this is helpful.

NICOLA STURGEON


EHl 3DG www.scotland.gov.ukr . I o' V H S T O R L ' I IPF..oPlli
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/


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nicola sturgeon on care homes

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