National health and social care standards: consultation responses (easy read version)

New National Health and Care Standards

Answers to the consultation

Easy Read version

In 2014, Scottish Ministers decided to look at the National Care Standards.

Scottish Ministers wanted new standards for all health and social care services.

The new standards would be based on human rights and making things better for everyone.

The Scottish Government suggested seven standards in October 2016 and asked for people to give their views by 22 January 2017.

The people who answered the consultation questions

499 people responded to the consultation. 440 responded to the full consultation and 59 to the easy read version.

Half of the responses were given by organisations. Some (38%) were from individuals to the full consultation. A small number (12%) were from individuals and groups to the easy read version.

A large number (70%) of the people who answered said they worked or volunteered in health and social care.

Common views

There was a lot of support for the new standards.

• A lot (79%) of the people agreed that the new Standards will be helpful across all health, care and social work services.
• A lot (74%) of the people agreed that the Standards reflected the experiences of people who get care and support.
• People were happy that a lot of work and thought had been put into making the new Standards.
• Most people who answered the easy read consultation agreed fully or agreed a bit with each of the seven Standards.

These are some of the comments that a lot of people made:

• The Standards might not be right for all people or situations.
• In places the Standards were about what we hope will happen but not about how we actually make things better.
• The language in the Standards could be better. Some of the words used were unclear.

Question 1: Do you think the new standards are right for both healthcare and support?

Most people said the Standards will be important for all health and social care services.

People were happy that the Standards were about human rights, making things better and making sure that people are involved in decisions about their care.

Some people thought the Standards were more about social care than about health care.

Some people were worried that the Standards might be too general to be useful. This might make it hard to check that they are being used properly.

Question 2: Do you think the new standards are right for what people who get healthcare and support need?

A lot (74%) of the people who answered the full consultation said that the Standards did reflect the experiences of people who get care and support.

All but one of the people who answered the easy read version agreed with this.

People thought that the Standards would work well as long as there were enough resources and a good system to check that they were being used properly.

Things not covered by the Standards or areas that needed to be looked at were:

• People who get care at home
• People with dementia
• Very young children, children and young people
• People in secure care settings
• Use of advocates
• The safety of service users and staff
• People who move from one care service to another

Question 3: Do you think these new standards will help make healthcare and support better?

A lot (75%) of the people who answered the full consultation said that the Standards will help to make care services better.

All but three of the people who answered the Easy Read consultation agreed with this.

The three main reasons why people said the Standards would make things better were:

• They are easy to understand, user-friendly and accessible
• They give a common set of goals which will make services the same everywhere
• Talking about people’s rights means that service users and staff all know what services should be like.

A lot of people thought that health and social care staff should get help to make sure the Standards were being used properly.

Is there anything else you want to tell us about the standards?

People made a lot of suggestions for things to add to the Standards.

The main four were:

• A system for feedback, complaints and appeals
• Care for people near the end of their lives
• Managing when people move from one care service to another
• Use of advocates

Most people said that the system for checking how care services are given would have to change because of the new Standards.

Most people also said that the new Standards will have to be made available and accessible to everyone.

Question 4: What should the new Standards be called?

Out of the five names we suggested, most people who answered the full consultation picked “National Health and Social Care Standards”.

Most people who answered the easy read version picked “National Care and Support Standards”.

Lots of other names were suggested, with many including “Scotland” or “Scottish” in the title or something about the Standards being person-centred, like “People’s Standards”.

Any other comments or suggestions?

Many people were happy about the thought and work that had gone into the Standards so far.

Many people thought the Standards would help people to understand what services should be like and work together.

Some people thought the Standards need more work to make them shorter and easier to understand.

Some people liked the universal approach of the Standards, but other people thought it missed how complicated health and social care services can be.

Most people said that there should be time taken to educate people about the new Standards before they started to be used.

The full consultation report can be found at www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-new-national-health-care-standards-analysis-responses/