National Care Standards: Care Homes for People with Mental Health Problems

Footnotes

1 To ensure flexibility for existing provision that cannot meet these standards but is otherwise of good quality, specific criteria may be agreed with the Commission's registration and inspection staff to allow some existing rooms which do not meet these standards to remain in use.

2 As footnote 1.

3 To ensure flexibility for existing en-suite provision which is otherwise of good quality, some specific criteria may be agreed with the commission to allow existing en-suite facilities which do not meet this standard to remain in use.

4 Providers are recommended to move as near as possible to 840 mm clear opening width off corridors of at least 1200 mm, and for narrower corridors door widths will need to be wider.

5 A new care home means all new buildings as well as extensions to existing buildings; all conversions and first time registrations (not including existing local authority homes).

6 Calculation of the 50% includes registered nurses employed by the service where they are working as direct care staff. Nurses are included in the 50% as they are required to be registered with their regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, to practise as nurses. The level of qualification to gain registration is significantly higher than SVQ 2.

7 Information on the SSSC is given in the Introduction and on its relevant registration requirements in Annex C.

8 The last sentence does not include registered nurses, who must be registered with their regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and must maintain their standards and registration every three years.

9 Restraint: Control to prevent a person from harming themselves or other people by the use of: physical means (actual or threatened laying on of hands on a person to stop them carrying out a particular action); mechanical means (for example, wrapping someone in a sleeping bag or strapping them in a chair); environmental means (for example, using cot sides to prevent someone from getting out of bed); or medication (using sedative or tranquilising drugs for the symptomatic treatment of restless or agitated behaviour).

10 Adults with Incapacity Act 2000; Mental Health Scotland Act 1984.