Health and Social Care Standards

On 1 April 2018, Scotland's Health and Social Care Standards came into effect, replacing the National Care Standards.  The Care Inspectorate is required, by law, to consider the Health and Social Care Standards when making decisions during our inspections and other scrutiny and improvement work.

We encourage services to refer to these when planning and delivering care.

Over time, the Care Inspectorate is testing and evaluating different ways to carry out its inspections of care services against the new Standards, starting with care homes for older people in summer 2018. 　

As part of implementing the new Health and Social Care Standards, the Care Inspectorate reviewed the adult to child ratios in early learning and childcare (ELC) settings and issued guidance.  This reflects the ratios that existed under the previous National Care Standards, with some additional advice included within the guidance.  The guidance will be reviewed in May 2019. 

Care Inspectorate report on Health and Social Care Standards implementation

Falls and Fractures

The 'Managing Falls and Fractures in Care Homes for Older People good practice resource' is a revised and improved edition of the resource pack launched in 2011.

This resource pack will help staff in care homes to assess how well falls prevention and management and the prevention of fractures is being addressed in their service.

It aims to provide the answers to many of the questions care home managers have, and can also act as an educational tool for new or existing care home staff. It provides practical help, guidance and tools and signposts to resources available online.

There are a number of changes and additions in the 2016 edition.

The self assessment is still your starting point when using the resource pack; you will notice it has a few additional ‘good practice statements’ in line with the updated practice. It will help you identify what improvements, if any, you need to make in your care home to prevent falls.

Section 5 - 'Learning from falls' emphasises the importance and value of learning from the information you gather about falls. Section 2 'Guidance for improving the quality of care’ is a new section which has been added to support you to identify, plan, test and implement lasting improvements in your care home. Section 4 ‘Keeping well’ is another new section, focusing on 10 common risk areas and includes guidance, points to consider, tools and links to useful websites.

Care home stories have been added throughout the resource pack to give examples of new ways of working. To emphasise the importance of working with the wider health and social care team Section 6, ‘Working together’  has been added, which suggests ways to develop and improve links.

And finally, some tools in the toolkit have been updated and new tools added including a falls data spreadsheet to gather and analyse information about falls in your care home (this is accessible on the internet along with instructions for its use) and a DVD education pack that goes with the falls awareness DVD that came out with the original pack.

Please make use of the revised resource in a way that fits with the needs of the staff and residents in your care home. We hope you find it useful, comprehensive and easy to use. Most importantly we hope it supports you to improve the care and lives of older people at risk of falling.

The resource can be downloaded here or by clicking on the image above.

Resource Tools

• Self Assessment Form 

• Tool 1a The Model for Improvement

• Tool 1b The Model for Improvement and PDSA cycle planning and progress proforma

• Tool 1c The Model for Improvement example

• Tool 2a Improvement log

• Tool 2b Action plan 

• Tool 3 Preadmission falls questionnaire

• Tool 4a Multifactorial Falls Risk Screen (MFRS) and falls care plan 

• Tool 4b Care home resident falls and fracture risk/intervention tool 

• Tool 5 Falls: Information for family and friends

• Tool 6 Falls management checklist 

• Tool 7a Wheelchair safety inspection guide

• Tool 7b Wheelchair safety inspection record 

• Tool 8 Falls prevention monitoring form 

• Tool 9 The Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) 

• Tool 10 Protocol for measuring lying/standing blood pressure (BP) (checking for Orthostatic Hypotension) 

• Tool 11 Resident environment and orientation tool 

• Tool 12 Generic falls environmental risk assessment 

• Tool 13 Bedrail risk assessment

• Tool 14 Seating matters

• Tool 15 Post fall pathway for managing a resident who has fallen or has been found on the floor

• Tool 16 Telecare matters: A quick guide to technology enabled care and support 

• Tool 17a Guidelines for completing a post falls/incident report form

• Tool 17b Post fall/incident report form

• Tool 18a Care home monthly falls diary guidance

• Tool 18b Care home monthly falls diary

• Tool 19 Fall data spreadsheet

  • How to use the falls data spreadsheet

• Tool 20a Procedure for the use of measles chart/falls plotting

• Tool 20b Measles chart example 

• Tool 21a Guidance on completing the falls safety cross

• Tool 21b Falls safety cross

• Tool 22 Training database 

• Tool 23 Managing falls and fractures in care homes for older people: DVD education pack (This links with the falls awareness DVD which is available below)

• Tool 24 Service directory

Watch the falls awareness educational video here.

We first published the resource in 2011 and carried out and evaluation in 2012. You can read the full evaluation report here.

For more information please contact Fiona Currie, Improvement Adviser at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Strength and Balance DVD to prevent falls and keep well

A DVD has been produced by Active Fife in partnership with Paths for All and is accompanied by their 'Walk Your Way to Better Strength and Balance' leaflet.  Anyone outside of Fife who wishes to get copies of the DVD or leaflet can get them directly from Paths For All or through their local health walking group.

The videos contained within the DVD are also available through Paths for All on YouTube. 

Useful information 

A feasibility study and pilot randomised trial of a tailored prevention program to reduce falls in older people with mild dementia

Register a care service (other than childminding)

Care services in Scotland must, by law, register with the Care Inspectorate.  

We regulate care services using the Health and Social Care Standards and the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. 

Click here to see the definitions of the care services that must be registered with us.

Before you register a care service you should read:

• Guidance for applicants on applying to register a care service
• Guidance for providers and applicants on aims and objectives
• Guidance for providers on the registration of dispersed services
• Our quality framework relevant to your service type
• Self-evaluation for improvement – your guide
• Statement – EU Services Directive 
• This self-evaluation tool supports young people, adult, and older people services to assess how prepared they are for the Covid-19 pandemic (Key Question 7 from our quality frameworks) at the point of registration.

You can also visit The Hub, our ‘one-stop-shop’ website which has a wide range of resources aimed at supporting improvement in social care and social work by sharing intelligence and research-led practice. 

What to expect from the registration process 

You can now apply to register a care service online, using our new, secure system.  The online application is simple to complete and only asks you questions that are relevant to your service type. 

You can manage your application easily.  You can save it as you go and return to it later so you can complete and submit at your own pace.  You can go back to previous stages to check, change and add to your application.  The new application allows you to upload supporting documents and pay your application fee.

Read our Guidance for applicants on applying to register a care service and online registration application form - user guide before applying.  

Fees

Care services must pay fees to be registered with us.  The maximum limit is set by Scottish Ministers.  The fees we collect contribute to our operating costs.

We charge a fee for registering a new service and an annual continuation fee.  The annual continuation fee licenses a care service to operate.

All application fees are non-returnable.

To find out more about our fees click here.  

Fire safety information

The Fire and Rescue Service may inspect your premises to confirm your compliance, or to enforce the legislation if necessary.  Your application will not be concluded without a completed Fire Safety Checklist.  Read our guidance notes for fire safety checklist.

You should complete the following documents and return them to relevant organisation when you are ready to do so.  As the checklist is a declaration that everything is in place you may wish to wait until later in the process to do this e.g. if you are undergoing building works.

• Fire safety checklist - This should be completed and sent your local fire authority.
• Fire safety checklist confirmation - This acts as your confirmation to us that you have sent the checklist to the local fire authority.  This should be completed and sent to us.

Membership of the PVG scheme and criminal records checks

You must pay an additional fee for the cost of a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record checks as appropriate.  We will determine from your application who this will be applicable to and be in contact with you to provide the relevant disclosure documentation.

You can find out more about the fees for PVG applications on the Disclosure Scotland website.

The Care Inspectorate must be a counter signatory to your own scheme record, and as such we require you to progress your PVG application through us.  Once we complete the first part of the PVG application, you’ll receive an email with a link to complete your section.

Please be aware that, in addition to the PVG check, the Care Inspectorate also run online searches of publicly available information.  If we have concerns about the information we find, we may contact Police Scotland.

Registering with Disclosure Scotland

For you to countersign PVG or disclosure checks for your staff or volunteers, you must be registered with Disclosure Scotland.  You can find out how to register with Disclosure Scotland on their website. You will have a number of responsibilities after your register, including:

• following Disclosure Scotland's Code of Practice
• referring individuals to Disclosure Scotland when harmful or potential harmful behaviour and you dismiss the person as a result (or would or might have done had they not otherwise left).

You can also use an umbrella body to countersign PVG or disclosure checks on behalf of your organisation.  A list of umbrella bodies is available on the Disclosure Scotland website.

Contact Disclosure Scotland if you need help:

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: 0300 020 0040
Monday to Thursday: 9am to 4pm
Friday: 9am to 3:30pm

What happens next?

Once we have received your completed application and all the documentation we have asked you for, and you have paid the fee, we will contact you.  We aim to assess applications for a childminding service within three months and all other services within six months.  However, this presumes that you supply us with a competent and fully detailed application, as well as any additional information we request.  It is in your interest to give us all the information we ask for in the application form to prevent any delays or the risk of us closing or refusing your application.

Once you have submitted your application, our national registration team will check:

• that the information you give us in the application form is correct
• that the correct fee has been paid
• whether you are fit to provide and manage the service
• if your premises (where the service is to be provided) are fit to be used for that purpose
• that the proposed service will make all the proper provisions for the health, welfare, independence, choice, privacy and dignity of everyone using the service.

We may also check the financial viability of the service.  Any information we ask for during this process is in accordance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

Successful registration

If your registration is successful, we will confirm this and provide you with a certificate of registration (electronically via our eForm portal), detailing the conditions of registration.  You should print the certificate and display it so that anyone who uses your service can read it.  The conditions of registration are also available on our care service list.

You will also see a list of records that you must keep and a list of notifications that you must make to the Care Inspectorate within our eForms portal.  See our guidance on records that all registered care services (except childminding) must keep and guidance on notification reporting.

Decisions on an application to register a service

Following an application for registration, under Section 59(1) of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 ("the Act"), the Care Inspectorate can in terms of s 60(1):

• grant the application unconditionally, s60(1)
• grant the application subject to conditions, s60(2)
• refuse the application, s60(1).

If we propose to refuse your registration, or to grant registration subject to conditions that have not been agreed in writing, we must give you notice of our proposal to do so.  Such a notice, where sent by post, is deemed (by section 101 of the Act) to be received on the third day after the day it was posted. 

If you wish to dispute any matters, you must do this in writing within 14 days.  The notice of proposal will state where these must be addressed to.

If we propose to refuse registration, or to grant registration subject to conditions that have not been agreed in writing, you have a right of appeal to the sheriff.  This right is set out at section 75 of the Act.  Any appeal must be made within 14 days (17 days if we have sent this in the post). 

Create an account to begin your application

Sign in to see an existing application

If you need the application form in an alternative format, please call our contact centre on 0345 600 9527.

Joint inspections

The joint inspections are undertaken by the Care Inspectorate’s strategic inspection team who sit within the Scrutiny and Assurance Directorate. Please click here to find out more information.