National Care Service: factsheet

Improvements we will make next

Regulation of services

In line with our commitment to improve regulation of services, we will:

• review the current health and social care standards
• improve access to information for those seeking social care

Improvement approach

We will co-develop and implement a framework which builds learning, improvement and quality management into the system.

Complaints update

We have worked closely with people who access and deliver support, and stakeholders, on improving complaints and redress . Based on this work, we will set out and deliver an updated programme to improve complaints processes.

Charter of Rights

We will continue to develop and publish our co-designed Charter of Rights. It will set out people’s rights when accessing support and provide a clear pathway to make a complaint if their rights are not upheld. The Charter will support people to better hold the system to account and receive the services they need to thrive.

Workforce charter

We will continue to take a co-design approach to developing an NCS workforce charter. It will aim to bring together social care, social work and community health as a more integrated workforce. We must help this workforce to feel engaged, supported and valued for the important work they do under the NCS.

Establishing a national partnership approach to social work

We need future-proof reform to support the whole social work profession. The social work sector agrees and, along with the social work workforce, we all believe we must work differently. We must work in partnership to drive lasting improvements that support the vital role of social workers across Scotland.

Commissioning and procurement practice

We have worked with stakeholders to consider where changes to legislation, including procurement regulations, may strengthen the implementation of ethical commissioning.

But we have already started working on improvements that do not need legislation. We have a working group looking at current practice and barriers to delivery of good practice.

As the Feeley Review recommended, through the NCS we will embed ethical commissioning and procurement throughout Scotland. This includes publishing principles of ethical commissioning and procurement and developing guidance and tools to support them. These will be set at a national level, to be delivered locally.