Error response form
What is the error response process?
The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 specifies that the Care Inspectorate must produce a report for all inspections carried out. Section 57(2) also states that the provider of the inspected service must receive an initial draft of the report and an opportunity to comment on it.
Collaboration with you as a provider is key to our inspection approach. Ongoing professional dialogue and thorough inspection feedback make the process as transparent as possible and allows for discussion and clarification of any uncertainties early on. You also have opportunities to evidence any successes, achievements and plans for improvement throughout inspections. This collaborative approach should mean that the information in the draft report is familiar to you, and nothing comes as a surprise. However, we welcome your feedback and have an error response process which we encourage you to use. This fulfils our legal obligations and includes the error response form (ERF) for you to give your comments and feedback on the contents of the draft inspection report.
Other ways to feedback to the Care Inspectorate
We understand that sometimes you may wish to share your views on our general approach to inspections. The error response process is primarily about a specific inspection report, but there are other ways in which you can provide feedback to us.
For example, you can provide feedback using the Inspection Satisfaction Questionnaire process. If you are unhappy with how the Care Inspectorate has carried out our regulatory functions, you can make a complaint here.
Accessing the ERF
When we send you your draft report in eForms, we will include a letter prompting you to review it and return an ERF. This video shows you how to log into your eForms account.
Completing the ERF
Once you have reviewed the draft report you can respond to us by completing the ERF. We want to ensure the report is an accurate representation of the service at the time of the inspection and that the report is clear to the public. You can therefore comment on any aspect of the report.
You can access the ERF from the ‘documents’ section of your eForms (screenshot below). On a mobile device this may appear as a drop-down menu.
When you are in the documents page you should select ‘current’ from the menu on the left, or from the drop-down menu.
You will then see the ERF, which you can open by clicking on it.
When you open the form, you will have the option to select that you agree for us to finalise the report without changes. If you select that you agree and submit this to us, we will receive a ‘blank’ ERF stating that you agree for the report to be published without any changes. It will be finalised and appear on our website shortly after.
If you select that you do not agree to it being finalised without changes, you will then need to give us more details by completing the form. To tell us about the issues you have identified, you need to create an item on the form. You should use the ‘new’ button to create an item for each issue you have identified; this allows us to easily see each issue you are raising and respond to them in turn.
Complete each part of the form. Select the section of the report that your issue relates to from the drop-down menu. This means we can easily navigate to the correct area of the report to review it. If there is more than one issue in the same section of the report, create a new item for each one.
There are then two free-text fields for you to complete. In the ‘Describe the Error’ section you should explain the issue you have identified and, if helpful, copy the relevant section of the report text. Use the ‘Proposed Correction’ box to offer us your alternative suggestion for this section of the report.
There is also the option to upload attachments to the ERF. Please ensure these are relevant to the inspection, clearly named and referred to in the ‘Proposed Correction’ box. This allows the inspector to assess whether the attachment is relevant to our inspection findings.
You do not need to complete the form in one go; you can save it and return to it later. If you want to amend any item you have created, you can click on it to re-open and edit it. Once you are ready to send the ERF to us, click the submit button to send it through eForms.
You have 10 working days from receipt of the draft report to respond. Extensions to this may be agreed by your inspector in certain circumstances. If we do not hear from you in the agreed timescale, the report will automatically be finalised and published on our website.
The ERF is the only opportunity to comment on the report and once we respond to you with a letter, the report will usually be finalised and published on our website. To ensure we can respond appropriately, please be clear when describing any issues and proposed corrections and make sure you create new items for each issue.
Please note the inspection completion date that appears on the front page of the report is the date formal feedback was given and is populated on the report automatically by our systems. The service details reflect the details we have on the digital portal. You can review these and keep them up to date by logging into the digital portal.
How we respond
When we receive an ERF, the lead inspector will respond to you using our error response letter. This is sent from the eForms system in the same way as the ERF. Our timescale for this is 10 working days from the date the ERF is submitted. If we need longer than this to respond, for example due to staff absence or needing more time to review our evidence, the inspector will advise you of this.
In all but very exceptional circumstances (see below) the process is complete once we have sent the error response letter, and the report will be published on the website.
If we need to clarify any of the points raised, the lead inspector will contact you to arrange a telephone call or meeting, to ensure we provide an accurate response.
A team manager or more senior manager from the Care Inspectorate may also be involved in reviewing the inspection evidence with the lead inspector and advise on any changes. The letter will outline if a team manager or anyone else has been involved.
It is important to note that, if you ask us to amend our draft report or revise the evaluations (grades) awarded, we may need to review all our evidence from the inspection to reach a conclusion. This is because our findings are based on our overall assessment of the evidence we look at. Evaluations (grades) are based on our grading criteria, which requires us to consider the strengths and weaknesses of a service based on the evidence we have gathered.
There are certain circumstances in which we may accept your proposed correction and amend our report. These include where our review of the evidence shows that:
- the report contains factual inaccuracies, such as names, times, dates and places,
- the report does not reflect an accurate representation of the evidence,
- evaluations (grades) are based on inaccuracies or discrepancies in the evidence,
- evaluations (grades) can be demonstrated to be unjustified as they are not reflective of the relevant evidence (which is not in dispute).
In most instances, if you tell us, in your ERF, that you feel the evaluation (grade) we have awarded is inaccurate against our grading criteria, a team manager will review the evidence gathered on inspection, and any additional evidence with the inspector. They will reach a conclusion as to whether this supports a change in evaluation (grade).
Depending on the findings from their review, the team manager could conclude:
- the proposed evaluations are appropriate,
- the proposed evaluations be increased,
- the proposed evaluations be decreased.
If the team manager concludes that the evidence does not support the evaluation (grade) in the draft report and a higher evaluation (grade) is more accurate, we will inform you of this in our response letter. The report and evaluations will be amended and published on our website.
In very rare circumstances, the team manager may conclude that a lower evaluation than the one originally awarded is more appropriate. In these exceptional cases, the error response letter will clearly explain why this decision has been made. We will arrange a meeting with you to explain our decision and the processes that have been followed. You will then have an opportunity to make comment on the revised draft report by email before it is finalised.
If our review of the evidence does not identify any errors, we will not make changes to the report. This will be clearly stated in our response letter.
Evaluations (grades)
We will provide an overall evaluation for each of the key questions we inspect, using the six-point scale from unsatisfactory (1) to excellent (6). This will be taken from the specific quality indicators that we inspect.
The evaluations for each set of quality indicators within the key question will inform an overall evaluation (using the same scale) for that particular key question. key question the indicators sit under.
Where we inspect only one of the quality indicators under a key question, the evaluation we give the indicator will automatically be the evaluation for the key question overall. Where we inspect more than one quality indicator per key question, the overall evaluation for the key question will be the lowest evaluation (grade) of the quality indicators for that specific key question.
For example, if we evaluate only one quality indicator under key question two, as ‘very good’ then the overall evaluation for key question two will be ‘very good’. However, if we evaluate three quality indicators under key question two as ‘good’, ‘adequate’, and ‘good’ respectively, the overall evaluation for the key question will be ‘adequate’. This indicates that there is a key element of practice that makes the overall key question no better than the lowest evaluation (grade).
The six-point scale
We use the six-point scale to describe the quality we see:
| 6 | Excellent | Outstanding or sector leading |
| 5 | Very good | Major strengths |
| 4 | Good | Important strengths, with some areas for improvement |
| 3 | Adequate | Strengths just outweigh weaknesses |
| 2 | Weak | Important weaknesses - priority action required |
| 1 | Unsatisfactory | Major weaknesses - urgent remedial action required |
An evaluation of excellent describes performance which is sector leading and supports experiences and outcomes for people which are of outstandingly high quality. There is a demonstrable track record of innovative, effective practice and/or very high-quality performance across a wide range of its activities and from which others could learn. We can be confident that excellent performance is sustainable and that it will be maintained.
An evaluation of very good will apply to performance that demonstrates major strengths in supporting positive outcomes for people. There are very few areas for improvement. Those that do exist will have minimal adverse impact on people’s experiences and outcomes. While opportunities are taken to strive for excellence within a culture of continuous improvement, performance evaluated as very good does not require significant adjustment.
An evaluation of good applies to performance where there is a number of important strengths which, taken together, clearly outweigh areas for improvement. The strengths will have a significant positive impact on people’s experiences and outcomes. However, improvements are required to maximise wellbeing and ensure that people consistently have experiences and outcomes which are as positive as possible.
An evaluation of adequate applies where there are some strengths but these just outweigh weaknesses. Strengths may still have a positive impact but the likelihood of achieving positive experiences and outcomes for people is reduced significantly because key areas of performance need to improve. Performance which is evaluated as adequate may be tolerable in particular circumstances, such as where a service or partnership is not yet fully established, or in the midst of major transition. However, continued performance at adequate level is not acceptable. Improvements must be made by building on strengths while addressing those elements that are not contributing to positive experiences and outcomes for people.
An evaluation of weak will apply to performance in which strengths can be identified but these are outweighed or compromised by significant weaknesses. The weaknesses, either individually or when added together, substantially affect peoples’ experiences or outcomes. Without improvement as a matter of priority, the welfare or safety of people may be compromised, or their critical needs not met. Weak performance requires action in the form of structured and planned improvement by the provider or partnership with a mechanism to demonstrate clearly that sustainable improvements have been made.
An evaluation of unsatisfactory will apply when there are major weaknesses in critical aspects of performance which require immediate remedial action to improve experiences and outcomes for people. It is likely that people’s welfare or safety will be compromised by risks which cannot be tolerated. Those accountable for carrying out the necessary actions for improvement must do so as a matter of urgency, to ensure that people are protected, and their wellbeing improves without delay.
While we have clarified what we mean by each evaluation to ensure a better, shared understanding of these, our evaluation scale from one to six has not changed. This is because in the 100 test inspections we carried out, there were no significant issues that indicated a change was needed.
The Health and Social Care Standards published by the Scottish Government in 2017, significantly modernise the expectations of what people should experience from their care and support. We must, by law, take these into account when making decisions on our inspections.
Falls and Fractures
The 'Managing Falls and Fractures in Care Homes for Older People good practice resource' is a revised and improved edition of the resource pack launched in 2011.
This resource pack will help staff in care homes to assess how well falls prevention and management and the prevention of fractures is being addressed in their service.
It aims to provide the answers to many of the questions care home managers have, and can also act as an educational tool for new or existing care home staff. It provides practical help, guidance and tools and signposts to resources available online.
There are a number of changes and additions in the 2016 edition.
The self assessment is still your starting point when using the resource pack; you will notice it has a few additional ‘good practice statements’ in line with the updated practice. It will help you identify what improvements, if any, you need to make in your care home to prevent falls.
Section 5 - 'Learning from falls' emphasises the importance and value of learning from the information you gather about falls. Section 2 'Guidance for improving the quality of care’ is a new section which has been added to support you to identify, plan, test and implement lasting improvements in your care home. Section 4 ‘Keeping well’ is another new section, focusing on 10 common risk areas and includes guidance, points to consider, tools and links to useful websites.
Care home stories have been added throughout the resource pack to give examples of new ways of working. To emphasise the importance of working with the wider health and social care team Section 6, ‘Working together’ has been added, which suggests ways to develop and improve links.
And finally, some tools in the toolkit have been updated and new tools added including a falls data spreadsheet to gather and analyse information about falls in your care home (this is accessible on the internet along with instructions for its use) and a DVD education pack that goes with the falls awareness DVD that came out with the original pack.
Please make use of the revised resource in a way that fits with the needs of the staff and residents in your care home. We hope you find it useful, comprehensive and easy to use. Most importantly we hope it supports you to improve the care and lives of older people at risk of falling.
The resource can be downloaded here or by clicking on the image above.
Resource Tools
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Tool 1a The Model for Improvement
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Tool 1b The Model for Improvement and PDSA cycle planning and progress proforma
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Tool 2a Improvement log
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Tool 2b Action plan
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Tool 4a Multifactorial Falls Risk Screen (MFRS) and falls care plan
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Tool 4b Care home resident falls and fracture risk/intervention tool
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Tool 6 Falls management checklist
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Tool 10 Protocol for measuring lying/standing blood pressure (BP) (checking for Orthostatic Hypotension)
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Tool 13 Bedrail risk assessment
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Tool 14 Seating matters
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Tool 15 Post fall pathway for managing a resident who has fallen or has been found on the floor
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Tool 16 Telecare matters: A quick guide to technology enabled care and support
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Tool 17a Guidelines for completing a post falls/incident report form
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Tool 17b Post fall/incident report form
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Tool 18b Care home monthly falls diary
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Tool 19 Fall data spreadsheet
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Tool 20a Procedure for the use of measles chart/falls plotting
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Tool 20b Measles chart example
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Tool 21b Falls safety cross
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Tool 22 Training database
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Tool 23 Managing falls and fractures in care homes for older people: DVD education pack (This links with the falls awareness DVD which is available below)
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Tool 24 Service directory
Watch the falls awareness educational video here.
We first published the resource in 2011 and carried out and evaluation in 2012. You can read the full evaluation report here.
For more information please contact Fiona Currie, Improvement Adviser at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Strength and Balance DVD to prevent falls and keep well
A DVD has been produced by Active Fife in partnership with Paths for All and is accompanied by their 'Walk Your Way to Better Strength and Balance' leaflet. Anyone outside of Fife who wishes to get copies of the DVD or leaflet can get them directly from Paths For All or through their local health walking group.
The videos contained within the DVD are also available through Paths for All on YouTube.
Useful information
Fees
Services must pay fees to be registered with us. The maximum limit is set by Scottish Ministers. The fees we collect contribute to our operating costs.
We charge a fee for registering a new service and an annual continuation fee. The annual continuation fee licenses a care service to operate.
Download our fees table here.
Annual continuation of registration fee
We will send an invoice each year for all your registered services. The date of when we send the invoice depends on the date you first registered. The table below helps you work out when your continuation fee will be due each following year:
| Date of first registration | Annual continuation fee due from |
| Between 1 April and 30 June | 1 April |
| Between 1 July and 30 September | 1 July |
| Between 1 October and 31 December | 1 October |
| Between 1 January and 31 March | 1 January |
If a service cancels part way through its fee year, we do not give a refund or discount.
Combined service discount
Separately registered services that operate from the same premises, sharing staff, management, policies and so on, are often referred to as ‘combined services’. Combined services can be cheaper for us to administer. If they are, we give a 15% discount on the smaller of their continuation fees.
The discount isn’t automatic and we must be confident that we can make a saving on their administration. Combined service discounts will show on the smaller service’s continuation fee invoice. If you think you may be entitled to a combined service discount, but there is no discount shown on your smaller service’s invoice, please contact your inspector.
We don’t normally give combined service discounts to fostering and adoption services. We don’t give discounts to services where the continuation fee is less than £500.
Variation, addition or removal of condition(s) – No fees charged
Although we have set this fee at zero, you must still complete an application to add, vary or remove a condition of registration. You can apply online through the digital portal. If this is not possible, call our Contact Centre on 0345 600 9527 for an application form.
New certificate fees – no charge
If we grant a variation to your registration, we will issue you with a new certificate of registration. There is no charge for sending your certificate.
Cancellations – no charge
Like variation fees, we have set the cancellation fee at zero. You can apply to cancel online through the digital portal. If this is not possible, call our Contact Centre on 0345 600 9527.
Unless we agree a shorter timescale, you must give us 3 months’ notice of your proposed cancellation. We will consider your cancellation completed when you have returned all the necessary documentation and we have confirmed your cancellation. If you are voluntarily cancelling a service in the period leading up to your annual continuation fee due date, make sure you don’t delay the process unnecessarily.
If you do not cancel your service before the annual continuation fee is due then it becomes payable in full. The annual continuation fee is not discounted for services that only operate for part of a year.
How to pay Care Inspectorate fees
Credit/Debit Card
You can pay by credit or debit card online through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/payments/care-inspectorate/continuation-fee
Direct Debit
You can pay by direct debit, either as a single payment or by 10 equal monthly instalments (only available if the fee is more than £100).
Direct Debits are normally collected at these times:
|
Annual continuation due date |
Single payment by |
10 equal instalments |
| 1 April | 31 May | from 31 May to 28 Feb |
| 1 July | 31 August | from 31 Aug to 31 May |
| 1 October | 30 November | from 30 Nov to 31 Aug |
| 1 January | 28 February | from 28 Feb to 30 Nov |
We do not fully control when the fees are set. We decide this in consultation with Scottish Government. Because of this, collection dates and number of instalments may change. If they do, we will let you know.
If you wish to pay by Direct Debit, please download, print and complete the Direct Debit instruction adding your customer number and return it to us.
BACS
Royal Bank of Scotland, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh
Sort Code: 83-06-08
Account Number: 11580052
Account Name: Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland
Cheque/Postal Order
You may pay by either cheque or postal order, made payable to The Care Inspectorate, including the remittance advice on the foot of your invoice, by posting to:
Care Inspectorate, Finance – Income Section, Compass House,
11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY.
Contact us
Please contact us if you have an enquiry about your invoice. Call us on 0345 603 6979 Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm, or write to us at: Care Inspectorate, Finance – Income Section, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fee Information
This can be found within the fee section of our website
Inactive services
Please note that although your service may be inactive, you will still be due to pay annual continuation fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions from the briefing sessions to community justice strategic groups to the Care Inspectorate.
| Questions/Points raised | Response |
| Will the model use a 6 or 4-point evaluation scale? | From on-going discussion, we recognised that a 4-point scale might simplify the model and allow for different language but overall, it was felt a 6-point scale would be more helpful in being able to evaluate and see improvement over time. Using improvement language was viewed as being beneficial. |
| As different partnerships are at different stages in development, there was some reservation about capacity to undertake this work and what the expectations were to undertake self-evaluation. | A second phase of the project has been proposed which would focus on building capacity and confidence in partnerships in undertaking meaningful self-evaluation. Partners thought this was required and as well as support locally, there may be benefits for specific support for some partners on a national basis. The OPI Framework does not specify requirements specifically about undertaking self-evaluation. However, embarking on this work will be externally valuable for partnerships in helping strive for continuous improvement and excellence and establishing a strong sense of performance and key priority areas for action. It will also enable partners to identify key strengths. When Community Justice Scotland comes into being, they may wish to offer further views on this. |
| We sent the initial correspondence for the briefing to chairs of Community Planning Partnerships; this has not always resulted in it being passed on. | We took this approach at the end of March 2016 as we recognised strategic partnerships were at different stages in development and CPP chairs were the one constant. We then followed this up by ensuring we copied all transitions leads in to subsequent correspondence about the briefings and this proved more successful. Subsequent dialogue with local areas has resulted in the decision that we will make all chairs of strategic groups the main contact point with the transition leads copied in to all communication. This should make communication flow easier and more consistent. |
| Partners felt strongly that the language should have an improvement tone. | We agree and will endeavour to ensure the model reflects this. |
| Partners had some reservations about expectations of performance against the quality indicators within the self-evaluation model. This was based on the transition stage and the timing required to embed community justice and how this may reflect performance evaluations. |
We understand there are reservations and there are a couple of elements to consider.
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| Are you speaking to other groups as well as statutory partners? | Yes, we have an extensive approach to engagement and involvement, which will be happening during summer 2016. This will involve a staff survey, service user focus groups and stakeholder focus groups/meetings. |
| Some partners were slightly apprehensive that the staff survey would ask questions about community justice that may still be new or unknown to many staff and were unsure how this would be interpreted and used. | The staff survey is for us to develop the self-evaluation model only. This will be to ensure that a wide range of staff have an opportunity to give their views and influence what the self-evaluation model looks like. The survey is confidential and we will not use it for any other purpose |
| Will partners be able to use the survey questions for their own use? | There is no reason why partners can’t use the content of the Care Inspectorate survey with their staff locally to help gather views and opinions about community justice. They may want to consider amending some or all of the questions to meet local needs |
| Has there been any research done in developing the model? | The proposed model is based on the EFQM framework which is widely known and used and highly regarded across a very wide range of public and private sector organisations. Frameworks based on EFQM have been used to inform scrutiny models in Scotland for many years. In developing this model we are also drawing on existing research, policy and strategy including ‘Reducing reoffending in Scotland’ and ‘Commission on Women Offenders’. |
| Whilst a self-evaluation model is helpful the demand on time was highlighted in respect of evidence. Is there any way to reduce this? | We will consider this when developing the model and plan to include some tips about approaches to gathering evidence. In all of the models we have developed, we encourage partners to use evidence they need to gather anyway, either for the purposes of routine reporting or for ongoing service improvement, rather than undertaking self-evaluation for its own sake. |
| Some partners were slightly concerned about the plans for future inspection of community justice and them being over scrutinised. | The OPI Framework states the intentions for any future inspection of community justice. The Care Inspectorate recognises the need for any scrutiny work to be proportionate, risk-based, targeted and firmly directed at supporting improvement in outcomes for people. |
Guidance and good practice
We expect services to be self-aware and able to evaluate their own performance effectively and openly.
To support this, we aim to:
- act as a catalyst for change and innovation
- support improvement and signpost good practice.
For general information for registered care services, read our guide.
Choose from the menu items on the left to find the information you need to deliver care and social work services.
We support nurseries, childminders and other early years care services that take a positive approach to risk.
Read our position statement here.
Read our improvement strategy here.
Read our Policy position on the use of restrictive practices.
We regularly publish resources to support services to keep up to date with best practice and improve. Click on the resources below to find out more.
- My World Outdoors
- My Childminding Experience
- Our Creative Journey
- Care... about physical activity
- Make every moment count
- Managing falls and fractures in care homes for older people
- Promoting continence for people living with dementia
- Medicine waste in care homes
Our other website The Hub provides ‘one-stop-shop’ access to a wide range of resources aimed at supporting improvement in social care and social work by sharing intelligence and research-led practice.
Open to everyone, The Hub includes:
- a library of good practice guidance
- information on the latest developments in policy and legislation
- video based examples of innovative practice
- guidance to help users carry out their own research
- toolkits and resources aimed at supporting improvement.
Guide to using the portal
Creating an account
To register for an online account and link your current service information to the portal please read:
To create your online portal account visit: https://portal.careinspectorate.gov.scot/Account/Register
Managing access to your service or provider
You can also grant additional user access to the service information. For example, a provider may want to allow a service manager access to a service, in order for them to view service information, submit applications and update service details.
Find out how to add a new user with service access.
Find out how to add a user with provider access.
If you have access to a service on the eForms system, you can also use this to grant access on the digital portal. Please read our guidance on granting access to a service or provider.
Registering a new care service
You can apply to register a new care service using the digital portal. If you are an individual applicant, please see our guidance for contents of the application form for an individual applicant. If you are an organisation, please see our guidance for contents of the application form for an organisation.
We also have guidance to support you with accepting your conditions and becoming registered, and how to withdraw an application to register a care service.
If you need to add or amend a service managers details while you are in the process of registering a care service, please see our guidance for adding and amending managers details.
You can request advice from our registration team before you submit your application form using the portal. To do this, you must create an application to register a care service and fill in some details first. If you need support with this please see our guide for requesting advice.
Viewing and changing your service and provider details
For support with seeing your service details, please read our guides to viewing your service and provider details.
You can apply to change your service details such as change of manager or change the service address. These changes will require Care Inspectorate approval.
You can also update (without the need for approval) your contact details – email address and phone numbers and these will be updated on your record immediately.
Please see our guidance for changing service details and changing provider details for support with this.
Apply to become inactive
You can apply online to become inactive. Registered services must operate within the legal framework laid out within the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, (the “Act”). We have policy where any service can make an application to stop operating for up to 12 months, without having to cancel their registration. Where such an application is granted, a service will be referred to as ‘inactive’.
Reasons for a service to be treated as inactive would be limited to:
- refurbishment of premises
- provider has caring responsibilities for a limited period of time
- provider maternity leave
- provider health issues.
There may be, on occasion, other exceptional circumstances, which we may consider on an individual basis.
If you need help with this form, please read our guide to becoming inactive.
Apply to cancel a service
Any registered service can voluntarily apply to cancel their registration, giving a minimum of three months’ notice.
If you want to cancel your registration, you can now complete the application to cancel a care service form through your portal account. This must be completed before we can progress with your cancellation.
If you need help with this form, please read our guide to cancelling a service
Apply to vary conditions of registration
If you need to vary, (add, amend or remove) the conditions of registration of your service, you should in the first instance discuss this with the inspector responsible for your service. You will now be able to make an application to vary the conditions of your registration on the portal. Note, you are currently only able to have one application for variation in progress at a time.
Unless otherwise agreed with us, the date the variation is to take effect from must not be less than three months after the date of application. We can only grant or refuse an application to vary a condition – we cannot change the detail of the variation that you have originally requested. However, whilst the application is still in progress you can update/amend the application yourself within the portal. Where you subsequently decide that you no longer wish the variation request to be progressed, for instance, if it is no longer necessary due to a change of circumstances, then you should discuss this with whoever has been dealing with your application. You must then withdraw the application via the portal, and we will receive automatic notification of this.
If you need help with this form, please read our If you need help with this form, please read our guide to a variation for a premises based service and guide a variation for a non-premises based service.
Health and Social Care Standards
On 1 April 2018, Scotland's Health and Social Care Standards came into effect, replacing the National Care Standards. The Care Inspectorate is required, by law, to consider the Health and Social Care Standards when making decisions during our inspections and other scrutiny and improvement work.
We encourage services to refer to these when planning and delivering care.
Over time, the Care Inspectorate is testing and evaluating different ways to carry out its inspections of care services against the new Standards, starting with care homes for older people in summer 2018.
As part of implementing the new Health and Social Care Standards, the Care Inspectorate reviewed the adult to child ratios in early learning and childcare (ELC) settings and issued guidance. This reflects the ratios that existed under the previous National Care Standards, with some additional advice included within the guidance. The guidance will be reviewed in May 2019.
Care Inspectorate report on Health and Social Care Standards implementation