Jacquie Roberts,Interim Chief Executive of SCSWIS, said:

"The examples of abuse of vulnerable people exposed by Panorama at Winterbourne View care home are appalling and disturbing.

"While this home is in England, it has brought into sharp focus the right for people in Scotland who use care services - and their families - to expect good quality care at all times - and to have the confidence and assurance that we will do all that we can to root out bad practice.

"Care services in Scotland are regulated against the National Care Standards. These standards set out clearly what people have a right to expect from their service. If these standards are not being met, then we would encourage people to raise their concerns, make a complaint to their service provider or contact SCSWIS on 0345 600 9527or through our website on www.scswis.com.

The vigilance and support of people using services, their relatives, carers and people working in health and social care is important. Everyone must be encouraged to report concerns or complaints and these will be always be promptly and fully investigated.

"SCSWIS firmly believes that good outcomes for people who are involved in care, social work and adult and child protection services across Scotland will be achieved by improving the quality of care. We aim to enhance public assurance and confidence in these services by delivering robust independent and public evaluations of services but it must be stressed that we expect all providers to deliver good quality care.

"There is no place in Scotland for poor performers: we will do all that we can to root out bad services and demand improvements or take enforcement action to ensure that improvements are made.

"Following on from the Panorama programme, we will be reviewing the current position of the services run by Castlebeck in Scotland to provide assurance that there are no areas of concern.

"We will also continue to work closely with the Scottish Social Services Council, which is responsible for registering social services staff, as part of our drive to work even more closely with other regulatory bodies to drive improvements."