Health

This report focuses on people with learning disabilities and complex needs who are currently placed far from home. This might be in a hospital (exacerbated when someone's discharge is delayed) or in a care home. Returning people to their home area is a complex issue involving interrelated processes, agencies, and services, all of which must work together for better outcomes for individuals. This report outlines the transformational change needed to address this issue.

This investigation concerns Ms ST who had learning disabilities, cerebral palsy and diabetes, and is registered blind. She was treated in hospital following a neck fracture. Ms ST was deemed fit for discharge, however, she remained in hospital due to prolonged disagreement between family, health professionals and the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) about discharge plans.

This statement offers principles and guidance to support the provision of supervision for all Allied Health Professions (AHPs) and AHP Health Care Support Workers (HCSWs) working across health and social care in Scotland. Effective supervision can contribute to the continued development of healthy organisational cultures, ensure sustainable AHP practice, the embedding of emerging AHP roles and support staff engagement and morale. Ultimately this has a positive impact on the people who use services, including adults at risk of harm.

This framework sets out evidence of high-quality, safe, and effective services that promote the protection of children and adults. The evidence included in this framework reflects key recent policy and practice developments. This framework is intended to guide Health Boards in assessing their public protection arrangements at both strategic and operational levels. The aim is to ensure greater consistency in what people can expect in terms of support and protection from health services in Scotland.

These Health and Social Care Standards set out what everyone should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland. They seek to provide better outcomes for everyone; to ensure that individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and that the basic human rights we are all entitled to are upheld.

The headline outcomes are:

1: I experience high quality care and support that is right for me.

2: I am fully involved in all decisions about my care and support.

3: I have confidence in the people who support and care for me.

Duty of candour is a professional responsibility to be honest with people. It means being open and transparent in health and social care support. It also means that services must say sorry when things go wrong. The Duty of Candour Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2018 came into force on 1 April 2018. These regulations apply when there is an event which causes unintended, or unexpected, harm to an individual receiving a health or care service.