National guidance and frameworks

The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007: Code of Practice indicates that an inquiry can be undertaken by a non-Council Officer, unless there is a need to use investigative powers. It also stipulates that ‘Good practice would ensure that a Council Officer is involved in overseeing or supervising all activity relating to the Act’. This guidance helps support that best practice in oversight and supervisory activity.

This document supports all those in the workforce who are working with people affected by mental health difficulties. It aims to strengthen awareness and understanding of trauma-informed practice. The document provides context, key messages and practice-focused reflective questions to help people work in a trauma-informed way that recognises the nature, prevalence and impact of poor mental health and experiences of trauma.

This document is designed to support all professionals working with people affected by alcohol/drug use and/or their families. It aims to strengthen awareness and understanding about trauma-informed practice. Each section provides guidance for how professionals supporting people affected by alcohol/drug use can do so in a trauma-informed way. It supports recognising the prevalence and impact of trauma for people, and the impact of trauma on people’s recovery journeys.

This document supports all professionals working with women, children and young people affected by domestic abuse, and/or perpetrators. It aims to strengthen awareness and understanding about trauma-informed and domestic abuse-informed practice. Each section provides guidance for how professionals supporting women, children and young people affected by domestic abuse and/or perpetrators can do so in a trauma-informed way that recognises the nature, prevalence and impact of domestic abuse.

This document offers good practice guidance to effective participation of adults being supported and protected under the Adult Support & Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, particularly in relation to ASP case conferences. It provides pointers as to how to facilitate meaningful engagement, taking a holistic view of the perspective and circumstances of the adult, including experience of trauma. Checklists and signposts to additional resources are also provided.

The Care Inspectorate look at the quality of care in Scotland to ensure it meets high standards. They provide an overall evaluation for each of the key questions inspected , using the six-point scale from unsatisfactory (1) to excellent (6). This resource helps everyone understand what the evaluation scale means.

Scotland's ambition for young people is that “we grow up loved, safe, and respected so that we realise our full potential.” The Promise is built on these foundations:

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.

Supported decision-making maximises an individual’s ability to ensure that their rights, will and preferences are at the centre of all decisions that concern them. This guidance is aimed at those working with people who may have difficulty making decisions - this could be due to mental illness, dementia, a learning disability, or another condition. The guidance sets out how people can be supported to ensure that decisions made by or about them genuinely reflect their choices.

GPs and General Practice staff are well placed to identify adults at risk of harm. They are a vital component in the multi-agency arrangements to support and protect where necessary. This guidance is to support GPs and General Practice staff when they may have need to refer to the Act. It should be used in conjunction with the main Adult Support and Protection Code of Practice.