DOWNLOAD A PDF COPY OF THE CORPORATE PLAN BY CLICKING HERE OR FOR A COPY OF THE SUMMARY CLICK HERE

Scotland’s care regulator, the Care Commission, has unveiled its plan to ensure the standard of care services across the country continues to improve over the next two years.

The organisation has published a new corporate plan, highlighting how it will continue to raise care standards across Scotland until 2011, while fully involving people who use care and their families in the regulation of those services.

The Care Commission, which regulates almost 15,000 care services in Scotland, is also stressing that it will be “business as usual” while the Scottish Government plans to change the country’s public service landscape to create a new, streamlined network of scrutiny bodies.

Under the Government’s plans, the work of the Care Commission and the Social Work Inspectorate Agency will go into a new organisation by April 2011 – as part of a wider scheme to improve the role of scrutiny bodies in Scotland. At that time, there will also be another new body introduced to regulate healthcare. The Care Commission is currently working with the Scottish Government and other organisations to ensure a smooth transition.

Among the key priorities set out in the corporate plan for the next two years, the Care Commission will:

• Devote more time to regulating care services and working with services that do not perform well
• Improve inspection reports for all care services and make information more easily accessible to members of the public
• Develop more opportunities for children, young people and adults to get involved in the regulation of care services – as well as encouraging individual services to fully involve people who use care services, their families and carers in the development and delivery of their service
• Use resources, such as staff time and money, efficiently and ensure the Care Commission offers the best value service possible
• Work with other regulatory bodies to ensure that services are regulated efficiently, effectively and in an integrated way
• Contribute and prepare for the implementation of the Scottish Government’s reforms to the scrutiny landscape.

Jacquie Roberts, chief executive of the Care Commission, said: “We will soon be entering a period of great change with the creation of two new scrutiny bodies, and we are already working with the Scottish Government and other organisations to help make a smooth transition.

“In the meantime, though, it’s vital to ensure the public is aware that we will carry on with business as usual, regulating Scotland’s care services effectively and providing assurance that they are safe and well run. These functions will continue in the new body.

“Our new grading system is bedding down. It is focuses more on people who use care services, their families and carers. Now that so many services have grades, there is better information available for people who are using or choosing a care service. Our inspection reports are becoming clearer and easier to use and providers tell us that the grades are helping them focus on where they must improve.

“We continue to listen and learn from the feedback we get at the lively gatherings of our Involving People Group, Equality Consultation Panel and Care Commission Forums. This involvement actively shapes what we do and keeps us in touch with the needs of people who use services, their families and carers.

“Above all, our work is about improving the standards of care and helping to keep people safe and well cared for. We are confident we will continue to do that, whilst also making a strong contribution to the development of Scotland’s scrutiny landscape.”

The Corporate Plan and other Care Commission publications, as well as the grades for individual care services, can all be viewed at www.carecommission.com.

ENDS

Notes to editor

The Care Commission, established in 2002, regulates almost 15,000 care services which provide care to 320,000 people. The organisation is committed to regulating for improvement and developing a care sector that adheres to and exceeds the Scottish Government’s National Care Standards.  

More information on the creation of the new scrutiny bodies that will replace the Care Commission, the Social Work Inspection Agency and NHS QIS from April 2011 is on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/Scrutiny