Near Me video calls
Near Me Video calls
The Care Inspectorate now use video calls as one of the ways to engage with care providers, those who receive care and carers. This has now become a regular means of communication along with telephone call and site visits. All you need is a device for making video calls such as a smartphone or a tablet and an internet connection.
Near Me is the one of the platforms that we use.
Near Me handy guide
We have produced a handy guide for service providers using the Near Me video consulting tool. We have produced it as a PDF file so you can easily download it and share with colleagues. Download the guide here.
Participating in a Near Me call
We use Near Me for prearranged appointments. You may already have been sent a link but, if you know the correct waiting area for your meeting, you can also click on the appropriate link below. Please be aware you need to be using either a Google Chrome, Google Edge or Safari web browser.
Guidance on using Near Me (Added 11 May 2020)
Near Me is a secure form of video consulting approved for use by the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland.
Visit the Near Me website and watch a demo on YouTube to find out how you can use it.
The NHS Attend Anywhere website tells all you need to know to set up including advice on browsers, bandwidth and more.
Technology Enabled Care’s website has lots of useful information including guidance on gaining consent to use Near Me and implementation guidance including for care homes, and for police custody, which may be useful for secure units.
Further guidance is also available for implementing Near Me on the TEC covid 19 implementation site here.
New report tells how Near Me worked in lockdown (Added 17 July 2020)
During the pandemic, we scaled up our use of Near Me video consulting to stay in touch with services. In partnership with Technology Enabled Care (TEC) we have been monitoring how this has been working for users. Our new, short report Near Me and Care Homes gives insight into services’ experiences of it including what worked well and what challenges they met.
National Preventive Mechanism
The Care Inspectorate is a member of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), a group of organisations designated to monitor the treatment and conditions of those people who have been deprived of their liberty.
The NPM’s Eighth Annual Report was published on 20 February 2018. It gives an overview of members’ work monitoring detention across the UK from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 and the NPM’s joint, thematic work on transitions and pathways between different detention settings.
The NPM was established pursuant to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). OPCAT is an international human rights treaty designed to strengthen the protection of people deprived of their liberty, including requiring each state party to set up a national level body (known as a National Preventive Mechanism) that can support efforts to prevent their ill treatment. The aim of an NPM is to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment from taking place.
Central to OPCAT is the idea that a system of regular, independent visits to places of detention can serve as an important safeguard against abuses, and prevent torture and ill-treatment in places that by their very nature fall outside the public gaze.
Specific requirements of an NPM
To comply with OPCAT, members of the National Preventive Mechanism, such as the Care Inspectorate, must have certain powers. These include the power to:
- inspect all places of detention
- access all information relating to detainees
- interview detainees in private
- choose where to visit and who to speak to
- make recommendations based on human rights norms to relevant authorities
- make proposals and observations on existing or draft legislation.
The Care Inspectorate has these powers in respect of secure care for children. We also work closely with HM Inspectorate of Prisons in Scotland and support some of their inspections.
They recently published Isolation in Detention guidance. The guidance provides a framework that NPM members will apply when examining the issue and making recommendations, and aims to improve consistency of approach. It allows NPM members to identify and promote good and improved practice.
The UK’s National Preventive Mechanism
The UK ratified OPCAT in 2003, expressing its commitment to prevent torture and ill-treatment in places of detention.
The UK’s National Preventive Mechanism was formally designated in 2009 and is now made up of 21 member organisations whose official functions include monitoring and inspecting places of detention.
Across the UK, different detention settings are visited or inspected by different NPM members. The UK NPM is coordinated by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and decision-making is guided by a steering group, which is made up of representatives from NPM members in the four nations.
Each NPM member has a different mandate, powers and geographical remit, and sets its own priorities for detention monitoring as well as contributing to joint NPM priorities.
The Care Inspectorate is actively involved in the UK NPM work, including involvement in three of its four sub-groups:
- Mental Health Network
- Children and Young People’s sub-group
- Scottish sub-group.
Scotland
The Scottish members of NPM are:
- Care Inspectorate
- Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland
- Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland
- Independent Custody Visitors Scotland
- Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
- Scottish Human Rights Commission
The Scottish sub-group coordinates NPM activities in Scotland, provides support to NPM members, raises the profile of the work of the NPM and improves liaison with the Scottish Government. It is chaired by the Scottish member of the Steering Group, currently the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.
Why your annual returns are so important
This year’s annual returns have now closed. We would like to thank everyone who submitted their annual return to us by the deadline Sunday, 2 March 2025. The information you have provided will help us plan, inform and carry out our inspections and improvement work.
Why your annual returns are so important
Every year in January and February, we ask care service providers to complete an annual return. It asks for a great deal of information about your service and the people who use it. It is important to know why you are asked for this information, and what we do with it.
First and foremost, the information you provide in the annual return helps us understand your service. This means inspectors are able to plan and prepare for effective inspections that are focused appropriately.
Not only is the annual return important for planning and focusing inspections, but the information you also give provides a national picture, which can help the us and other partner organisations in a number of ways.
Even inactive services must submit an annual return.
If a service was registered on or after 1 October 2024, it should try to complete an annual return this year. Although it is not mandatory for these services, any information supplied will be used by the Care Inspectorate and Scottish Government. The information entered this year will automatically appear in the December 2025 annual return and only information that has changed will need to be entered.
Benchmarks and comparisons for inspectors
Inspectors can compare a service they are looking at with national averages to identify potential issues. For example, if the inspector is preparing to inspect a service with higher staff turnover than average, when they inspect, the inspector might look at the impact this could have had on the quality of care and outcomes for people using that service.
Publishing statistics
We also publish statistical reports of some of the annual returns data. We also use the annual return data to inform many of our other publications such as:
National policy makers (the Scottish Government) can use these summaries and publications to shape and evaluate national policies and providers can see how their service compares with other services.
Supporting improvement
The intelligence we gather through annual returns helps us target our improvement activity and support within social care. It is a great source of baseline data across a variety of health and wellbeing indicators which we use to identify, drive and track improvement, for example infection control, nutrition and the recruitment and retention of staff. The data also helps us to identify trends and topics by both geographical area or service type, so that we can see where best to focus our improvement support work, for example, improvement workshops or new resources and guidance for care services across the sector.
Reducing duplication and sharing information
We also share information with other public bodies to reduce duplication and the costs of data collection for both the taxpayer and the people providing data. For example, anonymised staffing information is shared with the Scottish Social Services Council, so they can develop intelligence about the workforce without having to collect additional data from care services.
If you need help accessing the annual return, you can call our contact centre on 0345 600 9527 or read our frequently asked questions (to follow).
About us
Who are we
We work in four teams: adults, children, justice and protection. Each team is led by a service manager and we report through two chief inspectors to the executive director of assurance and improvement. We are supported by a team of strategic support officers who provide support and co-ordination to all our scrutiny activities.
What we do
These are the core functions of the strategic inspection team.
- Carrying out strategic inspection work.
- Providing support to local authorities and partnerships through our link inspector role.
- Quality assurance functions – monitoring the completion and quality of:
- Learning reviews (significant case reviews) in relation to children and adults.
- Serious incident reviews (SIRs) in relation to people on community payback orders, drug treatment and testing orders and people supervised on release from prison.
- Investigations into the deaths of looked after children.
Who we work with
We know that outcomes for children and adults are affected by many factors.
Different services and organisations are involved in providing care and support to vulnerable children and adults and in most cases, social work services are planned and delivered in collaboration with partners.
We also understand that children and adults are all different, with a wide range of life circumstances and experiences.
For this reason, we do not carry out our scrutiny work in isolation but in partnership with children, adults and other organisations. This helps us to be confident that we are taking all relevant factors into account in our scrutiny work.
Inspection volunteers and people with lived experience
Wherever possible, we involve people with lived experience of using services, or of caring for someone who does, in our scrutiny work. We know that this keeps us grounded and often makes it easier for children and adults to share their experiences with us.
The Care Inspectorate has a team that recruits and supports volunteers to work on inspections across our organisation, including strategic inspections. There is a specific team to support young people with experience of care services, between the ages of 18 and 26.
If you have lived experience of social work and social care services, or care for someone who does, and would like to know more about becoming involved in strategic inspections, please email: get.involved@careinspectorate.gov.scot
Associate assessors
Associate assessors are professionals from statutory and third sector organisations who work at a strategic level and have significant practice or management experience in services for children, adults or justice. They work as part of an inspection team for one inspection.
We believe that including associate assessors brings current practice perspectives to our strategic inspections. They can help ensure we are partnership-orientated and contribute to our understanding of the contemporary picture of service planning and delivery. At the same time, this involvement provides an ideal opportunity to help build capacity for joint self-evaluation and improvement in local partnerships.
Please check our frequently asked questions for more information.
We are not currently recruiting associate assessors. However, if you are interested in becoming an associate assessor, please check our website which we will update when we are next recruiting.
Our scrutiny partners
Many of the functions of planning, delivering and monitoring services for children and young people and adults and older people are carried out by more than one agency or organisation. For example, through community justice partnerships, children’s services partnerships and health and social care partnerships. So, we often collaborate with these other scrutiny bodies.
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Education Scotland
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Healthcare Improvement Scotland
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His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland
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His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland
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Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland
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Audit Scotland
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Mental Welfare Commission
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Scottish Housing Regulator
How the framework links to How good is our early learning and childcare
The following table shows how our quality framework for children, childminding and school-aged childcare link to Education Scotland’s ‘How good is our early learning and childcare’ quality indicators.
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Care Inspectorate quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school aged childcare |
Links to How Good Is Our Early Learning & Childcare |
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Quality indicator 1.1 Nurturing Care and Support |
2.4 Personalised support 2.6 Transitions 2.7 Partnerships 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion |
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Quality indicator 1.2 Children are safe and protected |
2.1 Safeguarding and child protection |
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Quality indicator 1.3 Play and learning |
2.2 Curriculum 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment 2.6 Transitions 3.2 Securing children’s progress 3.3 Developing creativity and skills for life and learning |
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Quality indicator 1.4 Family engagement |
2.5 Family learning 2.6 Transitions 2.7 Partnerships 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion |
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Quality indicator 1.5 Effective transitions |
2.5 Family learning 2.6 Transitions 2.7 Partnerships 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion |
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Quality indicator 2.1 Quality of the setting for care, play and learning |
1.5 Management of resources to promote equity. |
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Quality indicator 2.2: Children experience high quality facilities |
1.1 Self-evaluation for self-improvement 1.4 Leadership of management and practitioners 1.5 Management of resources to promote equity |
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Quality indicator 3.1 Quality assurance and improvement are led well |
1.1 Self-evaluation for self-improvement 1.3 Leadership of change 1.5 Management of resources to promote equity |
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Quality indicator 3.2 Leadership of play and learning |
1.2 Leadership of learning 1.3 Leadership of change 1.4 Leadership and management of practitioners |
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Quality indicator 3.3 Leadership and management of staff and resources |
1.5 Management of resources to promote equity |
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Quality indicator 4.1 Staff skills, knowledge, and values |
1.3 Leadership of change 1.4 Leadership and management of practitioners |
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Quality indicator 4.2 Staff recruitment |
1.3 Leadership of change 1.4 Leadership and management of practitioners |
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Quality indicator 4.3 Staff deployment |
1.3 Leadership of change 1.4 Leadership and management of practitioners |
Medicine waste in care homes
The Care Inspectorate worked with colleagues in NHS Tayside, Scottish Care, Community Pharmacy Tayside and other Pharmacy organisations to reduce inappropriate medicine waste in care homes. Co-production between these organisations resulted in all agreeing a new protocol to ensure only appropriate waste was collected. The project has been successful and we have received positive qualitative feedback from care home managers and pharmacy staff.
Letter sent to care homes in September 2016
Watch our clip below to find out more.
If you need any help or advice in relation to this project please feel free to contact either your community pharmacist or any one of the following individuals:
Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors
The Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors is available on the Education Scotland website.
It is important to note that the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will begin to use the new framework for inspection from September 2025. This will allow settings to become familiar with its content and structure. The final version of the framework will be formally launched in autumn 2025.
Read more about this in our latest joint statement, published on 24 June.
Frequently asked questions
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) we have compiled with help from stakeholders to accompany the framework. These address some of the key points raised with us so far. We will keep these FAQs updated as new questions arise. We have also produced these FAQs on self-evaluation.
Where can I access the Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors?
The Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors is available on the Education Scotland website. PDF versions of the new framework are available to download from the links below:
- Quality improvement framework for ELC
- Quality improvement framework for childminders
- Quality improvement framework for school aged childcare
Will it be clear which quality indicators Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will focus on?
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland have worked together to minimise the burden on settings by reducing the number of quality indicators (QIs) from 28 in the current frameworks to 11 in the new framework.
Both inspectorates have made it clear within the framework which QIs relate to the Care Inspectorate and which relate to Education Scotland. Each organisation will determine how these QIs will be used during their inspections and on shared inspections.
Why are there not weak illustrations for all QIs?
In response to stakeholder feedback, the inspectorates are developing weak illustrations for all QIs and these will be included in the next version of the framework.
Why is there no separate transitions QI?
Both inspectorates recognise the importance of transitions at all stages of development and learning.
Planning, managing and supporting children’s transitions is key to all areas of the framework and should therefore be considered in each QI rather than separately in isolation.
We will provide further support on how this is exemplified in the framework in future engagement sessions with practitioners to support reflection on transitions as part of self-evaluation and during future approaches to inspection.
Can the QIs be numbered for ease of reference?
Our focus is on the quality of children’s experiences across all areas of the framework. In order to meet user accessibility requirements, QIs have not been numbered and we would encourage the use of their full titles. For ease of reference, services should focus on the wording of the QI, for example ‘play and learning’.
We understand the framework may still feel unfamiliar, making it challenging to understand initially. To assist, we have created visual table of the framework's headings and quality indicators. We hope the visuals of the framework support you in seeing the holistic nature of the framework and all the different quality indicators that contribute to quality practice.
Early learning and childcare
Heading |
Leadership |
Children thrive and develop in quality spaces |
Children play and learn |
Children are supported to achieve |
| Quality indicators |
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|
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Childminding
Heading |
Leadership |
Children thrive and develop in quality spaces |
Children play and learn |
Children are supported to achieve |
| Quality indicators |
|
|
|
|
School-aged childcare
Heading |
Leadership |
Children thrive and develop in quality spaces |
Children play and learn |
Children are supported to achieve |
| Quality indicators |
|
|
|
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Will the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland use shared grading criteria?
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland worked together to develop shared grading criteria.
This will be considered during the pilot phase and further discussion will take place between the two bodies regarding a consistent approach to the evaluation of adequate/satisfactory.
The Care Inspectorate will retain the term ‘adequate’ for the time being, in order to align with the National Standard, and Education Scotland will retain the term ‘satisfactory’.
Will the framework be tested and is there an opportunity to provide feedback to inform any further refinement?
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will test content of the framework in a number of settings during the next pilot phase of the project. This piloting will be undertaken both separately and jointly.
During the pilot phase, both the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will ask for feedback from settings about the QIs to inform any further refinements needed.
What are the arrangements for settings involved in the pilot phase?
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland invited settings to volunteer to be part of the pilot phase to test the new framework. We had a great response with more than 200 settings offering to participate.
We will reflect on the best way to involve as many settings as possible while also ensuring a balanced sample of visits. We will notify those settings that have been selected to participate in advance. Participants will be provided with guidance and information to support them during the pilot so that they know what to expect.
What is the timeframe for full implementation the framework?
The Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors was released online on January 14 2025. This will allow settings to become familiar with its content and structure. The final version of the framework will be formally launched in autumn 2025.
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will begin to use the new framework for inspection from September 2025. Our inspections will continue to focus on the experiences and outcomes for children and young people.
What happens to How good is our early learning and childcare and A quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school-aged childcare?
The current frameworks will continue to be used for inspections until implementation of the new framework.
From September 2025, the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will begin inspections using the new the Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors only. This framework replaces both How good is our early learning and childcare and A quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school-aged childcare.
When do we need to start using the new framework?
We understand that settings will adopt the new quality improvement framework when it best suits them, and that there will be a transition period as settings move away from using the existing frameworks.
You may want to continue to use the existing framework until you are ready to adopt the new framework fully.
Both inspectorates will engage with settings to support them to become familiar and confident in using the new framework for self-evaluation.
Will there be support for settings with their own self-evaluation using the new framework?
The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland will deliver sessions on self-evaluation using the new framework from spring 2025. We will provide further detail of these sessions in due course.
Will there still be separate inspections? If yes, will they have their own frameworks?
Both inspection bodies will use the new framework for separate and shared inspections from September 2025. There will be no other frameworks used for inspection from that point on.
The QIs that each inspectorate body may use in the final inspection methodology will be confirmed when the new approach to inspections has been developed and agreed. In the framework, we have made it clear which QIs relate to the Care Inspectorate and which relate to Education Scotland.
How will childminders who offer funded ELC be inspected?
Both inspectorates have agreed that the childminding-specific content in the new framework is appropriate for the requirements of the National Standard and that the Care Inspectorate will continue to inspect childminders (including those delivering funded places).
Childminders do not need to self-evaluate using any other QIs from the framework. Education Scotland do not have any plans to inspect childminders.
Is there a Gaelic version of the new framework?
The new framework for the early learning and childcare sectors will continue to be developed and refined as we move through the pilot phase. We will ensure a Gaelic version of the framework is available when the framework is launched in autumn 2025.
Early learning and childcare profiles
Early learning and childcare profiles, by local authority
We have created early learning and childcare local profiles to assist local authority planning for the expansion of early learning and childcare in Scotland.
These profiles are a valuable source of information about daycare of children services in local authority areas. They include information about: number of services and capacity; funded places; trends in children registered; registered children by age; service quality; sessions and opening times; SIMD and urban/rural classification; staffing and vacancies; population estimates and projections; and an early learning and childcare service list of the area.
The profiles focus on those services that provide early learning and childcare (children and family centres, nurseries and playgroups) while our early learning and childcare statistics publication also provides information about out of school care, holiday playschemes and creches.
We welcome any feedback, queries and ideas for improvement for these profiles; please email IntelligenceTeam@careinspectorate.gov.scot
Early Learning and Childcare Profiles, as at 31 December 2016
Early Learning and Childcare Profiles, as at 31 December 2017
Early Learning and Childcare Profiles, as at 31 December 2018
