Guidance for Regulated Care Service Providers ...

1 Guidance for Regulated Care Service Providers : Arrangements for Regulated Care Service Inspections 2013/14. Updated - March 2013. Publication code: OPS-0313-228. Publication date 26 March 2013. Version number 1. Author's initials SM. Intelligence and Job title Methodologies Manager Depute Director of Responsibility for Inspection (Adult this document services ). Review date 26 March 2014. Page 1 of 14. Introduction Since April 2008 Regulated care services in Scotland have been inspected using a framework of Quality Themes and Quality Statements. services have been given grades based on the findings at each inspection. Inspection findings are published in reports and the reports and grades are published on the Care Inspectorate website.

2 We will continue to award grades based on the findings of inspections. The history of grades that services have previously been awarded from the former Care Commission will also continue to be available from the Care Inspectorate website ( ), as will previous inspection reports on services that were published by the Care Commission. This is so that information about the quality of individual care services in Scotland is easily accessible to people. The grading system will continue to use the six point grading scale and the same methods for calculating grades. This year we will: continue to carry out unannounced inspections implement changes to how often we will inspect services require all services to submit a self assessment when we request one maintain a greater focus on poorly performing services and those services assessed as presenting a higher level of risk.

3 Unannounced inspection Please note that the Care Inspectorate will rely on conducting unannounced inspections, unless there are practical reasons why we need to announce a particular inspection. Inspections may take place at any time during the day or night. Frequency of inspection The Care Inspectorate has reviewed and updated the frequency between inspections for Regulated care services , based on the assessed risk of a Service and the history of the Service 's performance. The details of these changes are set out in a table which is available on our website. services will qualify for extended periods between inspections if they are below a defined level of risk and if they also have achieved the required level of performance as measured by grades.

4 Providers and managers of services should note that where there is an extended period between inspections, they should not assume, therefore, that they will experience the maximum period possible between inspections. The request to submit your self-assessment does not indicate that we will definitely inspect your Service , although we can inspect a Service at any time, with or without notice, under s53 of the Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. Page 1 of 14. Self assessment We will send you an email notification through the eForms system, which will ask you to complete and submit your online self assessment by a given date. The email notification will not normally give you any details about whether your Service is due for an inspection or not.

5 In most cases, we will have already determined which services we are intending to inspect. However, we may also decide whether to inspect, based on the self assessment information you submit to us and any other information available to us about your Service . You should make sure that you keep your self assessment up-to-date throughout the year as you could be inspected, without prior warning, at any time. In your self assessment, you should give evidence about the outcomes you are achieving for the people using your Service and grade yourself against the framework of Quality Themes and Quality Statements which are linked to the National Care Standards. Your self assessment must show how you involve people who use your Service , both in assessing the quality of the Service and in developing the Service .

6 You will not be able to achieve higher grades if people who use your Service have not been actively involved. There may be situations where we receive information which results in us bringing forward your inspection. In these circumstances we may not ask you for your self assessment before we start the inspection. We may ask you to update your self assessment as part of that inspection process and would then take the information into account as we conclude our inspection. Why the Care Inspectorate grades services We will continue to publish grades to better inform people about the quality of individual care services . Grades help people make more informed choices about the care services they want to use.

7 Publishing grades also helps us, as the regulator, to show that our inspections are targeted and proportionate. The inspection process, and awarding grades at inspections, encourages Providers to identify and tackle areas for improvement. We want Providers to involve people who use care services in assessing the quality of services and in developing services because this increases the influence that people who use their Service have over the quality of services . What are Quality Themes and Quality Statements? Providers and managers should complete their self assessment by grading themselves using the Quality Theme and Quality Statements framework. The Quality Themes and Quality Statements are derived from the National Care Standards and divide Service quality into the main areas that concern people who use services and their carers.

8 For most types of services there will typically be four Quality Themes. These are: Page 2 of 14. quality of care and support quality of environment or information quality of staffing quality of management and leadership. Childminding and some non-accommodation services may only have three Quality Themes. Each Quality Theme is a heading for an area of performance which we inspect and graded. Each Quality Theme is made up of a number of Quality Statements (usually around six). As a provider or manager you should assess yourself against all the Quality Statements in all the Quality Themes and provide evidence of your performance. This will demonstrate whether you are maintaining an active approach to improving all aspects of the quality of your Service .

9 At inspection, your inspector will assess your performance against a selection of these Quality Statements within a selection of the Quality Themes. We will then calculate a grade for your performance on each Quality Theme from grades awarded on the inspected Quality Statements. The grading scale Guidance is attached at the end of this document. How do Quality Themes, National Care Standards and Inspection Focus Areas link together? Quality Themes and Quality Statements are informed by the National Care Standards, but do not replace them. Quality Themes and Quality Statements are simply ways of grouping the standards and judging how your Service is performing against them. National Care Standards provide the core detailed standards against which we assess a Service 's performance.

10 They lie at the heart of our regulatory framework for Regulated care services . Recommendations and requirements we make will refer to National Care Standards and regulations. As well as using the framework of Quality Themes and Quality Statements, inspectors may also inspect using Inspection Focus Areas'. The Inspection Focus Areas help inspectors examine detailed aspects of Service performance, such as processes and procedures and assess how these are used in practice. When inspectors use an Inspection Focus Area, it will be designed to complement and contribute to the Quality Themes and Quality Statements framework. There are no planned Inspection Focus Areas for 2013/14 however we may throughout the year consider the use of Inspection Focus Areas if we have a particular concern in services .