Scotland

There will also be a duty on care service providers to ensure that ‘at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in the care service’.

The Regulations currently in force require that ‘at all times’ service providers have ‘suitably qualified and competent persons’ working in the care service.  People employed at the service must also receive:

(i) training appropriate to the work they are to perform; and

(ii) suitable assistance, including time off work, for the purpose of obtaining further qualifications appropriate to such work.’

Breach of this regulation is not an offence and is therefore enforced through the inspection regime.

Regulation 9 places a duty on service providers to employ only people who are ‘fit to be so employed. A person is deemed unfit for employment if they do not have the qualifications, skills and experience necessary for the work they are to undertake.

Breach of Regulation 9(1) is a criminal offence.

[The guidance issued by the Scottish Government] contains a number of Standards that service providers are expected to meet. A number of these have clear training implications for people working in these services.  There are, for example, expectations that restrictions on a person’s independence, control and choice comply with relevant legislation, are justified, kept to a minimum and carried out sensitively (1.3), and that individuals are supported to communicate in a way that is right for them, by people who are sensitive to them and their needs (2.8).

These Standards are taken into account by the Care Inspectorate when undertaking inspections and registration.

In Scotland there are training needs that are imposed by the [requirements on careworkers to register with the Scottish Social Services Council].  To register with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) a person must hold specified qualifications and meet standards of character and competence, stipulated by the SSSC according to the person’s role.

Once registered, care workers are required to adhere to the SSSC [Code of Practice for Social Service Workers] ‘the Code’. The Code contains a number of requirements that relate to training and knowledge and skills development.  These place responsibility for gaining or maintaining skills explicitly on the care worker. In particular, section six of the Code requires care workers to be accountable for the quality of their work and to take responsibility for maintaining and developing knowledge and skills. This section requires careworkers to:

·      Ask for assistance from their employer or appropriate authority if they do not feel able or well enough prepared to carry out any part of their work or if they are not sure about how to proceed (6.4)

·      Undertake relevant learning to maintain and improve their knowledge and skills and contribute to the learning and development of others (6.9).

·      Listen to feedback from people who use services, carers and other relevant people and consider that feedback to improve practice (6.10).

In addition, the Code requires care workers to have knowledge which implies requirements for training. For example, careworkers must follow risk assessment policies and procedures to assess whether the behaviour of people who use services presents a risk of harm to themselves or others (4.2), they must respect confidential information and explain the employer’s policies on confidentiality to others (2.3), they must declare issues that might create conflicts of interest and make sure they do not influence judgement or practice (2.6), and they must promote the independence of people who use services and empower them to understand and exercise their rights (3.1).

Breach of the Code by a registered care worker may call their [fitness to practise] into question. If so, they may be investigated and sanctioned by the SSSC under its [fitness to practise proceedings].

Care workers registered with the SSSC are also required complete post-registration teaching and learning (PRTL). The type and amount of training required varies with the role undertaken. PRTL can comprise activities such as formal training (for example, undertaking relevant SVQ units, reading relevant publications, job shadowing and mentoring. Care workers are required to record their own PRTL with the SSSC and must sign a declaration as to the PRTL completed when renewing their registration. Individual declarations are checked by the SSSC on a random basis.

Failure to undertake PRTL will affect the care worker’s ability to re-register with SCW when their term of registration expires. It may also be considered misconduct by the SSSC and give rise to investigation.

The SSSC Code of Practice for Employers of Social Service Workers (‘the Employer Code’) is published together with the Code of Practice for Social Service Workers. The Employer Code states that ‘all employers … must make a commitment to work in line with the Codes of Practice’.

The Employer Code details the training and supervision that is expected to be made available by service providers. In particular, Section 3 expects them to ‘provide learning and development opportunities to enable social service workers to strengthen and develop their skills and knowledge’. This includes expectations to:

·       Provide good quality induction, learning and development opportunities to help social service workers do their jobs effectively and prepare for new and changing roles and responsibilities (3.1).

·       Contribute to providing social care and social work education and learning, including effective workplace assessments and practice learning (3.2).

·       Support staff who need to be registered with us to meet the conditions for registration and the requirement for continuing professional development (3.3).

·       Respond appropriately to social service workers who need support because they do not feel able to, or well enough prepared to, carry out their work (3.4).

·       Provide effective, regular supervision to social service workers to support them to develop and improve through reflective practice (3.5).

In addition, under the Employer Code, service providers are expected to ‘have the culture and systems in place to support social service workers to meet their Code of Practice’ (Section 2). Expections require employers to:

·      Give workers clear information about their roles and responsibilities, relevant legislation and the policies and procedures they must follow in their work (1.4) .

·       Effectively manage and supervise social service workers to promote best practice and good conduct and support staff to continuously improve their performance and make sure they are fit to practise (2.2)

·       Support social service workers to meet the standards in their Code of Practice and not require them to do anything that might prevent that from happening (2.6)

·       Make it clear to social service workers that bullying, harassment or any form of discrimination is not acceptable and take action to deal with such behaviour (4.1)

·       Make it clear to social service workers, people who use services and carers that violence, threats or abuse are not acceptable. Have clear policies and procedures for reducing the risk of violence and managing violent incidents (4.4)

·       Provide appropriate support to social service workers whose fitness to practise may be impaired and give clear guidance about any limits on their work while they are receiving support or treatment, making sure that the care and safety of people who use services is the priority (4.7)

·      Inform social service workers about the Code of Practice for Social Service Workers and their responsibility to keep to it (5.2).

Failure to take account of provisions in the Employer Code is not an offence, but CIW can take [enforcement action].