Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019: statutory guidance

12. Reporting in Health

12.1 Which sections of the Act is this chapter about?

This chapter provides further detail on:

• section 2 of the Act: Guiding principles etc. in health care staffing and planning; and
• section 12IM of the 1978 Act, reporting on staffing, which is inserted by section 4 of the Act.

There are other links to useful information embedded in this chapter; these are denoted in blue text.

Section 12IB, Duty to ensure appropriate staffing: agency workers, requires quarterly reporting on high-cost use of agency workers. These quarterly reports are not covered under this chapter; guidance for these reports can be found in chapter 6.

Section 12IF, Duty to seek clinical advice on staffing, requires those with lead clinical professional responsibility for a particular type of health care to report at least quarterly to members of the board of their relevant organisation. These reports are not covered under this chapter; guidance for these reports can be found in chapter 8.

12.2 Who does this chapter apply to?

The following organisations must comply with the requirements contained in this chapter:

• All geographical Health Boards;
• NHS National Services Scotland (referred to in the Act as the “Agency”); and
• Special Health Boards who deliver direct patient care, i.e., NHS 24, the Scottish Ambulance Service Board, the State Hospitals Board for Scotland and the National Waiting Times Centre Board.

These are referred to as “relevant organisations” in this chapter.

12.3 In what settings and to which staff does this chapter apply?

Reporting requirements contained in these sections apply to all NHS functions provided by all professional disciplines (chapter 2, introduction provides more details on professional disciplines covered by the Act), with the exception of reporting related to sections 12IJ and 12IL in relation to the common staffing method. These only apply to the types of health care, locations and employees listed in section 12IK of the Act.

Accountability for all the requirements covered in this chapter remains with the relevant organisation and not with individuals who may be charged with carrying out certain actions.

12.4 What is this chapter about?

Section 12IM of the 1978 Act requires relevant organisations to publish and submit an annual report to the Scottish Ministers detailing how it has carried out its duties under the following sections of the 1978 Act:

• 12IA Duty to ensure appropriate staffing (including the related duties in section 2 of the Act);
• 12IC Duty to have real-time staffing assessment in place;
• 12ID Duty to have risk escalation process in place;
• 12IE Duty to have arrangements to address severe and recurrent risks;
• 12IF Duty to seek clinical advice on staffing;
• 12IH Duty to ensure adequate time given to clinical leaders;
• 12II Duty to ensure appropriate staffing: training of staff; and
• 12IJ and 12IL Duty to follow the common staffing method, including training and consultation of staff.

This annual report also includes details of any challenges or risk that relevant organisations have faced in carrying out certain duties under the Act and the steps they are taking / will take in addressing these.

Section 2(1) of the Act requires a relevant organisation to have regard to the guiding principles for health and care staffing when carrying out its duty under section 12IA of the 1978 Act (Duty to ensure appropriate staffing). Section 2(3) of the Act requires relevant organisations to provide information to the Scottish Ministers on an annual basis on the steps they have taken to comply with this requirement. Section 2(4) of the Act requires this information to include how these steps have improved outcomes for service users.

Section 2(2) of the Act requires relevant organisations, when planning or securing health care from a third party under the 1978 Act to consider both the guiding principles in section 1 of the Act and the need for the third party to have appropriate staffing arrangements in place (see chapter 4 for more detail on planning or securing health care from a third party). Section 2(3) of the Act requires relevant organisations to provide information to the Scottish Ministers on an annual basis on the steps they have taken to comply with this requirement. Section 2(4) of the Act requires this information to include how these steps have improved outcomes for service users.

All of the annual reporting requirements of relevant organisations under the Act will be incorporated within one report (referred to here as the “annual reporting requirement”).

The purpose of the annual reporting requirement is to:

• enable monitoring of the impact of the legislation on quality of care and staff wellbeing;
• identify areas of good practice that can be shared;
• identify challenges relevant organisations are facing in meeting requirements in the Act and what steps they have taken / are taking to address these;
• identify any improvement support required; and
• inform Scottish Government policy on workforce planning and staffing in the health service, alongside other sources of information and data.

Following receipt of these annual reports from relevant organisations, under both section 2 of the Act and section 12IM of the 1978 Act, there are various requirements placed on Scottish Ministers regarding laying these reports before Parliament, along with certain other information.

12.5 What will the format of the report be?

To promote consistent reporting across relevant organisations, the Scottish Government will provide a report template. This template will contain guidance on completion and details of how to submit.

12.6 What are the timescales for reporting?

The annual report will cover the financial year, i.e. the period from 01 April to 31 March. The report must be published and submitted to the Scottish Ministers by 30 April following the end of the financial year.

12.7 Who should be included in the report?

Each relevant organisation should submit one annual report to cover all NHS functions that it exercises and professional disciplines involved.

12.8 Where does the report have to be published?

The Act states that the annual report required by section 12IM must be published as well as being submitted to the Scottish Ministers. The most appropriate means to achieve this should be decided by the relevant organisation but it is envisaged this would comprise using existing methods used to publish other reports.