Care homes – new support arrangements: advice note

Supporting people to live well in a homely setting

Care homes, whether they provide residential or nursing care, are people’s homes and are not clinical settings. However, it is nevertheless entirely appropriate that there should be assurance of clinical standards and quality of care sought by Executive Nurse Directors, in the context of Excellence in Care. This is a national approach which aims to ensure people have confidence they will receive a consistent standard and quality of care no matter where they live.

It is therefore recommended that:

• arrangements should focus on clinical and care support with leadership from Executive Nurse Directors, Chief Social Work Officers, HSCP Chief Officers and Medical Directors in full partnership with providers and care home staff who are experts in providing care and support for people in a homely setting. Directors of Public Health should continue to play a role in outbreak support to care homes. The roles of other professionals to support the Group around understanding of pressures, developments and opportunities across the whole system will also be important. For example, Director of Planning and Commissioning and social care contracts team or equivalent to make best use of intelligence from contracts and commissioning teams.  

• Executive Nurse Directors should ensure that care homes are being supported in the context of Excellence in Care to facilitate the best possible care for residents, including IPC support for embedding of the National Infection Prevention Control manual. Such support should be delivered in full and collaborative partnership and aligned with My Health, My Care, and My Home - healthcare framework for adults living in care homes, the Health and Social Care Standards in Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scoltand IPC standards/national IPC requirements and the National Care Home Contract.
• Executive Nurse Directors and Chief Social Work Officers should continue to work in close partnership with the Care Inspectorate to act on findings from inspection and when intelligence is shared to guide the support to services. There should be a collaborative approach to the development of improvement plans with care homes, HSCP operational/professional leads and the Care Inspectorate.

• Collaborative Care Home Support Teams should continue to monitor opportunities for people living in care homes to connect with their loved ones both in and out of the home in the context of the ongoing delivery of Anne’s Law (named visitor policy, health and social care standards implementation and any forthcoming directions linked to provisions in the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill)