A few changes to visiting made all the difference – a care home manager shares their experience
A few changes to visiting made all the difference – a care home manager shares their experience
On a recent call with my inspector, we were discussing how my service was managing visiting – it has been stressful trying to achieve a good balance between supporting and encouraging good quality visiting while keeping our residents as safe from Covid as possible. I was disappointed when she highlighted that our visiting arrangements were too rigid and not in line with guidance, but she was supportive and encouraging and I came away with some really constructive and practical advice.
We’ve now made some changes based on our inspector’s advice and I’m so glad we did. With some simple adjustments, we’ve really improved the visiting experience for residents and their loved ones. It feels better for me and my staff too; being able to make visiting more welcoming, homely and accessible is helping us make a positive difference for residents and that’s something we’re really passionate about.
I’d like to share a few key highlights of the changes we made.
- The booking system has been removed, with only a request from families to notify us if possible, prior to the visit so we can ensure the resident is not busy in another activity when they arrive.
- We have created an additional visiting area downstairs so that two visits can take place in a communal visiting area at the same time if the family/residents are not keen on a visit in the bedroom.
- We will be offering one of the toilets at the main entrance as a primary visitor toilet with further enhanced cleaning in place.
- We have removed the need to distance or wear a mask outdoors in line with the guidance too and reduced the social distance back to 1m indoors (not overtly marked in any way, just subtle and homely positioning of the chairs).
- Children were always allowed to visit indoors and outdoors for some time now, but we hadn’t made that clear – we have made sure everyone is aware of this now.
- We had been encouraging outings, but we are now highlighting that these can be to local cafes or to the relative’s household for a visit and so on.
- We are ensuring that any risk assessments we undertake now demonstrate less rigidity and a greater level of warmth.
I also had a person-centred discussion around visiting with one family that had raised concerns to discuss all the changes we were making and answer any queries. It was a really productive and positive discussion. Not long after, they came to visit their loved one and brought their daughter and two grandchildren too. They all went for an outdoor visit to the loch and the play park together since it was a quite bright and mild day. I spoke to them afterwards and they were very complimentary, saying “We had a wonderful time. It was the best visit we have had since Covid began. Mum was on great form”. (We always encourage staff to engage a resident in a person-centred stimulating activity pre-visit so the resident is able to engage really well during a visit or video call and the resident had been playing Simon Says with the staff and also had a short walk in the garden for some fresh air before the family arrived, which hopefully helped her engage well on the visit.)
I encourage fellow care home managers and providers to get in touch with your inspector if you’re concerned about visiting. I was met with positivity, encouragement and constructive advice, and with a few quick fixes, we were able to make a big difference.
Senior Improvement Adviser - AHP
Location: Any Care Inspectorate office
Salary: £48,453-£53,502
Hours: 35 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
About the role
We are looking for a colleague with a strong background in a variety of health and social work roles and a passion in quality improvement to join the new Health and Social Care Improvement Team (HSCIT) on a permanent basis.
Reporting to the AHP Consultant but working closely with the Care Inspectorate’s Chief Nurse, under the umbrella of Improvement Support and with close collaboration with Scrutiny and Assurance the post holder will provide specialist skills and knowledge in AHP with a focus on falls, frailty, rehabilitation and reablement.
You will work internally to strengthen the capability and confidence of inspectors across inspection, complaints, and registration teams, in specific topic areas, supporting their learning and development and keeping the evidence base of practice current and develop resources to support the health and wellbeing of people experiencing care for use both internally and externally.
You will build and develop strategic partnerships across the health and social care landscape to support the delivery of health and wellbeing improvement advice and quality improvement support.
About you
Educated to degree level in a relevant field, registered with the aligned professional body together with the NES Scottish Improvement Leader (ScIL) programme (or willingness to work towards), or an equivalent improvement qualification, you will have significant immediate influence in working across the health or social care sector. You will also work strategically across several organisations.
You will have significant specialist subject matter expertise and be able to combine it with an understanding of quality improvement theory/change management and its practical application in health and social care settings.
Current work delivery methods will be timely reviewed against the Covid-19 national position and public health guidance. Whenever face to face work activities recommence, the role may require extensive travel and involve some overnight stays and unsocial hours.
To apply
You’ll find more information in the:
For an informal chat please contact Heather Edwards, AHP Consultant on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form, (and equal opportunities form where you are an external applicant), and submit it by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8am on Monday 31 May 2021.
Interviews for this role are anticipated to take place on either 15 or 16 June through MS Teams.
Senior Improvement Adviser (Registered Nurse)
Job title: Senior Improvement Adviser (Registered Nurse)
Salary: £55,530 to £61,314 (Pro rata)
Hours: Part Time 17.5 hours
Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)
Contract: Permanent
About us
We are the national regulator and scrutiny body responsible for providing assurance and protection for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is that people across Scotland experience high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices.
We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect individual care services, and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards the expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
We are looking for a colleague who is a registered nurse with a passion for quality improvement to join the Health and Social Care Improvement Team (HSCIT) permanently.
Our team have quality improvement and health expertise. We use this to work strategically and operationally, with internal and external colleagues and frontline care staff. We do this so that people who experience care achieve improved health and wellbeing outcomes that matter to them.
About you
You will have all round knowledge of the health and wellbeing of adults and older people and be educated to degree level or equivalent in Nursing.
You will have significant specialist subject matter expertise and be able to combine it with an understanding of quality improvement theory/change management and its practical application in health and social care settings.
On appointment as Improvement Support Adviser (Registered Nurse), you will be a secondary authorised officer and be registered with the appropriate registration body, in this case NMC.
Registration
The successful applicant will be registered with NMC.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role, please contact Lynn Flannigan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To apply
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and equal opportunities form and submit it by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08:00 on Monday 17 June 2024.
It is anticipated that interviews will be held no sooner than 2 July at our Dundee Headquarters office.
Person specification
Essential criteria
Qualifications and registration
To become an inspector, you must be registered with or able to register, and hold a qualification that meets the registration requirements of, one of the following regulatory bodies:
- Social Social Services Council (SSSC)
- General Teaching Council (Scotland) (GTC)
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- General Medical Council (GMC) Health and Care Professions Council (applies to the following roles only: occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and practitioner psychologists)
- Other equivalent professional bodies for the UK nations
Inspectors eligible to apply for registration with the SSSC must hold a suitable practice qualification at SCQF level. For more information on the list of suitable qualifications please see our recruitment web pages.
Inspectors must also hold or undertake an appropriate regulator's award from the list below:
- Regulation of Care Award
- PDA Scrutiny and Improvement Practice (Social Services) SCQF level 10
Experience
- Senior professional experience, expertise and knowledge of adult social care or health care, early learning and childcare or children and young people sectors and
- Experience of lead responsibility for complex professional practice through case management, managing people, projects or resources.
Skills
- Ability to use evidence and knowledge to provide accurate, expert, insightful professional advice and judgements, which are based on clear and incisive thinking.
- Ability to identify priorities and gather and analyse evidence to evaluate options before arriving at well-reasoned, justifiable decisions.
- Ability to weigh up complex and conflicting evidence, reach robust judgements and record these.
- Ability to communicate clearly, convincingly and succinctly to different audiences, verbally, in writing and virtually.
- Stakeholder engagement skills and ability to build relationships with people at all levels of seniority.
- IT literate with a thorough understanding of Microsoft Office.
Key performance outcomes/competencies
Supporting and co-operating
- Supports others and shows respect and positive regard
- Puts people first, working effectively with individuals, teams and people who use care services
- Behaves consistently with clear personal values and relevant professional standards of practice that complement those of the organisation
- Understands the limits of their knowledge and experience and when decisions need to be referred to others.
Interacting and presenting
- Communicates clearly and networks effectively, projecting credibility
- Establishes good relationships and relates to others in a confident and relaxed manner
- Considers Care Inspectorate values in relation to the impact of their decisions
- Considers the wider context in which the Care Inspectorate operates.
Analysing and interpreting
- Demonstrates analytical and systematic approach to problem solving
- Gets to the heart of complex problems and issues
- Applies own expertise effectively
- Quickly learns and embraces new technology
- Excellent written communication skills.
Creating and conceptualising
- Open to new ideas and experience
- Seeks out learning opportunities
- Handles situations and problems with innovation and creativity
- Thinks broadly and strategically
- Supports and drives organisational change
- Contributes to the development of operational processes and systems
- Ability to use knowledge and experience to gather and consolidate information to make appropriate improvements
- Applies rules and procedures sensibly and understands where flexibility is required.
Organising and executing
- Plans ahead and works in a systematic and organised way
- Follows directions and procedures
- Focuses on service user satisfaction and delivers a quality service to the expected standards
- Ability to work flexibly in response to changing priorities and to prioritise conflicting demands
- Ability to plan workload effectively in the short, medium and long term in conjunction with their line manager and work to strict deadlines
- Ability to show initiative and work independently without close supervision.
Adapting and coping
- Adapts and responds positively to change
- Manages pressure effectively and copes with setbacks
- Ability to adapt communication to suit different audiences.
The Care Inspectorate expects that all its employees, who can be, are registered and maintain an active registration with their relevant registering body throughout the duration of employment with the Care Inspectorate.
You will be required to maintain all necessary professional registration as required by the Professional Registration Policy - adherence to this policy is imperative.
Service Manager (early learning and childcare)
Job title: Service Manager - Early Learning and Childcare
Salary: £35,730 (£71,460 FTE)
Hours: Part-time (10 days per 4-week period)
Location: Flexible (Any Care Inspectorate office)
Contract: Temporary for 18 months (with the possibility of further extension)
About us
We are the national regulator and scrutiny body responsible for providing assurance and protection for people who experience care services, their families, carers and the wider public, as well as supporting delivery partners to improve the quality of care for people in Scotland. Our vision is that people across Scotland experience high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices.
We are a scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect individual care services and we also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in their local areas.
Our desire is to achieve an effective and balanced way of working, that enables us to meet organisational needs and achieve a work-life balance that promotes wellbeing and collaboration opportunities. We are moving towards an expectation that all staff will work collaboratively, within and across teams, in person, for approximately 40% of their working week.
About the role
Due to flexible retirement, we are looking to recruit a temporary part-time Service Manager to join our Early Learning & Childcare Team.
This role will oversee the work of Team Managers, who manage Inspectors to carry out scrutiny activity of early learning and childcare services including shared inspections with Education Scotland. Team Managers and Inspectors also play an important role in supporting quality assuring care services and providing professional advice to assist in developing the quality of service delivery. Acting as relationship managers, they provide support and challenge to local authorities, and providers of multiple services with the aim of supporting continuous improvement.
The successful candidate will manage projects and support the work of the directorate including overseeing the quality assurance of our scrutiny work. The role also involves liaison with external stakeholders, promoting the work of the organisation and contributing to national initiatives.
The role holder will be expected to support the Scrutiny and Assurance Directorate to ensure that the Care Inspectorate meets its responsibilities as defined by the Public Services Reform Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.
This senior role works with other leaders and colleagues to support significant cultural change, consolidate excellence in the Care Inspectorate’s activities and continue to invest in our competent, confident workforce in a way that puts collaboration at the core of our work.
About you
You will have significant experience in services for early learning and childcare and experience of scrutiny and assurance activity. You must be able to work well with colleagues to achieve shared aims, support innovation and make best use of resources. You will demonstrate the ability to provide leadership and direction to a diverse, multi-disciplinary team of professional staff and be highly effective in working creatively and collaboratively across organisational and professional boundaries.
Adept at challenging traditional thinking in a positive and constructive way, you will be an articulate and positive communicator, both verbally and in written form, with the ability to engage, influence and lead the development of a wide range of key stakeholder relationships, both internally and externally.
You will also be politically astute and demonstrate a broad knowledge of trends and relevant issues within health, social care, and education.
- You will be educated to SCQF level 9 (e.g. degree, graduate diploma/certificate, etc.)
- You will have a secondary Authorised Officer qualification - either PDA (Professional Development Award), RoCA (Regulation of Care Award), EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) or PSIF (Public Sector Improvement Framework)
We are looking for someone who has:
- Proven track record of effective management and leadership of staff in the area of health, social care, or education.
- Demonstrable experience of strategic planning and delivery of services and supporting and embedding sustainable business and transformational change.
- Extensive experience of collaborative and values-based leadership including working with partners.
Next steps
You’ll find more information in the job profile and person specification.
If you would like more information or an informal chat about the role please contact the recruitment team in the first instance - please include a contact telephone number and times that would be best to reach you in your email.
If you believe that you are a suitable candidate for this post, please download and complete an application form and submit it by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 08:00 on Monday 23 September 2024.
It is anticipated that interviews will be held in the week commencing Monday 7 October.
Professional Registration Information
As a Service Manager you will support the Scrutiny & Assurance and Strategy & Improvement directorates to ensure that the Care Inspectorate meets its responsibilities as defined by the Public Services Reform Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.
The successful applicant must be registered with a professional body (this can be NMC, GTCS, NMC, HCPC or the SSSC).
For SSSC registration, there is a specific registration category for Care Inspectorate Authorised Officers (AO). There will be two levels of AO registration (Primary AO and Secondary AO), and identification of types of work undertaken (Social Care and Children & Young People).
If you are a SSSC registrant, on appointment as a Service Manager you will be required to register with SSSC as a secondary AO under both types of work (Social Care and Children & Young People) or be registered with another appropriate registration body (NMC, GTCS, HCPC).
We would expect non-SSSC staff to hold or gain the appropriate AO qualification (in this case EFQM would be the minimum qualification).
Personal Assistant to the Interim Executive Director of Transformation, ICT & Digital
Location: Dundee
Salary: £22,425 - £23,964
Contract: Temporary until 31 March 2022 – potential for extension
About the role
The Care Inspectorate is a scrutiny body that supports improvement in care. Our vision is that people across Scotland receive high quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices. We are a national organisation, employing in excess of 600 staff working across our network of offices and from home.
Reporting to the Executive Support Officer, you will be responsible for providing an efficient and effective confidential tailored support service to the interim Director of Transformation, ICT and Digital.
This role will include organising and preparing documents, preparation of meeting papers and taking minutes for specific directorate meetings together with composing routine correspondence, diary management and arranging travel and accommodation. In addition, you will be required to develop and administer a system for dealing with enquiries, recording, acknowledging receipt of and re-directing letters and monitoring progress of responses with limited direction.
You will be an excellent organiser and communicator with proactive and friendly inter-personal skills together with a multi-tasking ability and flexible approach, working well under pressure to meet tight deadlines.
You will have excellent word processing and IT skills with experience of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and experience of diary management and minute taking.
You can find out more about the role in the person specification, job profile and job advert.
Next steps
If you believe that your expertise and motivation make you suitable for this post, please complete an application and return by email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8am on Wednesday 14 April 2021. Interviews will be held by Teams video call on Wednesday 21 April 2021.
If you require any further information, or for an informal chat, please contact Claire Corbett (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Please note that initially you will be required to work from home due to the current covid situation.
Job profile
Job title: Inspector
Location: Local / nearest office base
Responsible to: Team manager
Job overview
Our inspectors have a vital role to ensure that people in Scotland who need care, receive high quality, safe and compassionate care. They are responsible for assuring and improving the quality of care for people who use care services by determining and undertaking appropriate scrutiny, assurance and improvement activities.
Our values
Our values are about clearly establishing what it means to be a Care Inspectorate employee and set the standard for every person and how they play their part. Our values are:
- Person Centred: we will put people at the heart of everything we do
- Fairness: we will act fairly, be transparent and treat people equally
- Respect: we will be respectful in all that we do
- Integrity: we will be impartial and act to improve care for the people of Scotland
- Efficiency: we will provide the best possible quality and public value from our work
- Equality: we will promote and advance equality, diversity and inclusion in all our work and interactions
Key responsibilities
- Plan and deliver timely and high-quality scrutiny activities of registered services aligned with the Public Services Reform Act.
- Provide feedback, report on findings and work with providers to support improvement and innovation and signpost good practice.
- Apply specialist knowledge and skills to gather, analyse, assess and share information and intelligence on care services and service providers to help target scrutiny and improvement activities.
- Apply specialist knowledge, skills and expertise to authoritatively and credibly provide advice and guidance to service providers and their staff to support continuous improvement in the quality of care they deliver.
- Work in partnership with people who use services, family carers, scrutiny delivery and policy partners to act as a catalyst for change and innovation and promote the Health and Social Care Standards and good practice guidance.
- Support the strategic scrutiny activities of adult or children’s services or shared scrutiny activities with other scrutiny bodies as required.
- Support enforcement activities, attending legal hearings or other types of constituted hearings to give evidence or advice.
- Produce evaluative reports, within required timescales, to include clear evidence-based outcomes that direct and contribute to improvements in the care and protection of service users.
- Work collaboratively and effectively with a range of stakeholders, including partner scrutiny bodies and Scottish Government staff and officials.
- Participate in supervision arrangements, team meetings, appraisal and learning and development as required and appropriate.
- Provide relationship management support to allocated providers.
- Take a lead role on designated projects and other initiatives that require specialist knowledge, expertise and experience.
- Support the induction of new start inspectors and colleagues through peer learning and other learning and development activities within your team and directorate.
- Participate in and support quality assurance activities of the work of the care inspectorate.
- Work flexibly to meet the needs of the business and the availability of providers (for example evening and weekend working and travel and overnight stays across Scotland, where required).
- Undertake such other duties as may be required by the organisation to fulfil the role of Inspector.
Key accountabilities
- Ensure accurate records of all registered services are prepared and maintained, and share intelligence, in accordance with the requirements and procedures of the Care Inspectorate.
- Maintain a high standard of records in relation to work undertaken, producing reports, letters and instructions.
- Work to relevant professional codes of practice and ensure national occupational standards are achieved.
- Follow processes and duties relating to enforcement action against registered services
- Build and maintain productive working relationships, both internally and externally with providers and partners.
- Share and maintain knowledge and understanding of current developments in your specialist area (early learning and childcare, adults or children and young people).
- Participate in all learning and development activities relevant to your role, including the professional development award (PDA) and/ or other qualifications as deemed necessary.
- Maintain professional registration with the relevant professional regulatory body.
- Meet performance management indicators and performance management objectives of the organisation as relevant to your role.
Children’s rights, care experience and corporate parenting plan 2024 - 2027
What is corporate parenting
A corporate parent is an organisation or person who has special responsibilities to care experienced babies, infants, children, and young people.
The Care Inspectorate is a corporate parent.
This means we should understand and respond to your needs as any parent should. We will do as much as we can to make sure you feel in control of your life and able to overcome any barriers you face. We must publish detailed corporate parenting plans and reports, collaborate with other corporate parents, follow direction, and provide relevant information to Scottish Ministers.
Care experience
The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 provide legal definitions for the terms ‘looked-after’ and ‘care-leaver’. Throughout this plan we will use the term ‘care experienced’. This is more inclusive language which many in the care experienced community prefer, as it speaks to the diverse range of experiences and the lifelong impact of care experience. This term includes those looked after at home, or away from home in kinship, foster, residential or secure care.
We made the decision to include:
- those who are adopted
- a lifelong recognition of care experience by removing the age 26 barrier for care experienced individuals being involved in opportunities with the organisation.
Children’s rights
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that covers all aspects of children’s lives. The United Nations Conventn the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2023 and from 16 July 2024 is now a part of Scottish Law.
As a public body, we play a role to support Scottish Government to promote, uphold and fulfil children’s rights and wellbeing across policy and practice for all children and young people, and in particular people where we have responsibility as a Corporate Parent.
Article 20 of the UNCRC highlights the importance of:
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The Plan 2024 - 2027
This high-level plan will cover the period April 2024 to December 2027. It details our commitments and recognises that all staff at the Care Inspectorate are Corporate Parents. The priority actions and commitments in this plan were consulted on with:
- our young volunteers with care experience
- children’s rights and care experienced group
- national organisations
- care experienced adults.
They also come from the development areas as noted in the 2021 – 2023 Corporate Parenting triennial report.
To achieve everything set in this plan, we will:
Work in partnership
Engage in meaningful participation
Be trauma informed
Be rights-based
Promote young people's right to continuing care and enduring relationships
To help us achieve the commitments in the plan, and meet our responsibilities under section 58 of the act, we will be:
- alert to all matters that affect the wellbeing of our children and young people
- strong when challenging the disadvantages that our children and young people face
- leaders by driving improvements and working with other corporate parents to raise society’s expectations for our children and young people
- responsive in how we assess the needs of our children and young people, or any service or support provided
- active in providing our children and young people with real opportunities within our organisation, so that they grow and develop skills for the future.
Commitment 1: Children’s rights
Promote, uphold, and fulfil children’s rights for all connected by our work, particularly those where we have corporate parenting responsibilities.
We will:
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Promote an approach that reduces the use, and eliminates the misuse, of restraint and restrictive practice
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Improve the ways children and young people who are connected by our work, can offer / receive feedback and access independent advocacy
-
Use accessible and inclusive communication with all infants, children and young people
Commitment 2: Participation
Strengthen our participation and equalities practice to support care experienced individuals.
We will:
-
Work towards acknowledging care experience as a protected characteristic
-
Work closely with other corporate parents and participate in national groups to share good practice and learning
-
Use the Lundy model of participation to inform how we meaningfully involve individuals.
Commitment 3: Development
Provide flexible and supportive development, volunteering, and employment opportunities for care experienced individuals.
We will:
- Deliver a volunteer development scheme
- Provide accessible, supportive, and tailored development opportunities.
Subcategories
Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
The early learning and childcare expansion…
Role: Inspector - Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
Location: Forth Valley, Borders, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh & Glasgow
Salary: £31,083 - £39,069 plus excellent benefits
Hours: 140 hours to be worked over a 4-week period
Contract: Permanent or 2-year secondment (would be considered)
Join us and make a difference – for you, for everyone
It’s our job to ensure care for everyone, everywhere in Scotland is as good as it can be. If you are as passionate about high-quality care as we are, and you’re experienced in your field, we’d love to hear from you.
About us
As a national scrutiny body that supports improvement. We inspect care services and partnerships across Scotland, report on the quality of care people experience, and support improvements in services to facilitate improvements in outcomes for people.
We inspect care services individually. We also work with other scrutiny bodies to inspect the social care and social work services people are experiencing in local areas.
We champion high-quality care whenever we encounter it across the thousands of inspections, we carry out each year, and we work closely with all care providers to support them to improve all the time. We collaborate with other organisations too, supporting improvement across public services. Our work plays a big role in reducing health and social inequalities between people and communities.
We are looking for talented people to join us in making a difference - specialists who understand how to put people’s needs, rights and choices at the heart of delivering social services – and how to lead improvement too. Our 600 staff work with services across the public, voluntary and private sectors. We have offices across Scotland and many of our staff work from home.
About you
Whether early or established in your career, you will share our determination that care, social work and justice services should work well for people – every time. You’ll be confident about what good-quality care looks like and how to deliver it. You’ll be good at analysing information and evidence. You will have excellent writing skills for narrative inspection reports that are clear, concise and focused on outcomes. You will be confident in working with a wide range of people and at supporting and advising on improvement.
You’ll currently be working, or have significant experience in, social care, social work, health, children’s services, early learning, child protection, or community learning and development. You will be registered or eligible to register with a professional body like the SSSC, NMC or GTC.
About the role
Our care inspectors work with care services: childminders, nurseries, care homes, care at home, housing support and a host of other specialist services. A specialist in your field, you may have helped lead a service and have a strong track record in delivering quality. You’ll be adept at leading improvement and influencing others. You will work with people experiencing care, and care service providers, managers and staff.
Why join us?
We strive to be a great employer, knowing that competitive salary, leave and pension schemes are only part of that. We pride ourselves on the values we hold, person-centred; fairness; respect; efficiency and integrity - all supported with a culture of care and kindness.
We believe in collective leadership and innovation. You’ll have a lot of autonomy to manage your own work and use the professional skills you’ve honed during your career – but in new ways. Starting on day one, our learning and development support will help you become confident in the craft of scrutiny and in supporting improvement. Because a lot of your role is about sharing effective practice across Scotland, the impact you can have on experiences and outcomes for people is significant. You will draw on management and leadership skills you’ve developed in the past.
We’re proud to be a progressive, supportive employer – we’re happy to talk about flexible working with you and we’re members of the Disability Confident Scheme, aiming to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to the workplace.
New appointments will normally be placed on the minimum grade for the role; a higher starting salary may be offered in exceptional circumstances only.
ELC expansion
The Scottish Government is committed to expanding the provision of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from 600 hours to 1140 hours per year by 2020. The expansion of ELC is aimed to support the reduction in the poverty-related attainment gap and improve long term outcomes for children and families.
Due to the ELC expansion programme we are looking for 7 further ELC Inspectors in addition to the “business as usual” Inspector campaign launched recently.
Principles and aims
The priority for the expansion to 1140 hours is to improve children's outcomes and close the poverty-related attainment gap. In addition, the expansion aims to support parents into work, study or training. The Scottish Government's four principles of the ELC expansion are: quality, flexibility, affordability, and accessibility.
The Scottish Government has stated that quality is 'at the heart' of the expansion and that achieving a high-quality ELC experience for children is a key objective.
Use and provision
A 2018 survey found that the main reason why parents use funded ELC is that they consider it beneficial for their child's learning and development. In addition, parents reported using the funded hours to either work, increase the number of hours they work, or look for work.
Funded ELC in Scotland is delivered by a wide range of providers including nurseries, crèches and playgroups, from across the public, private and third sectors. A small number of childminders also deliver funded ELC, but the Scottish Government hopes this number will increase under the expansion to 1140 hours.
Criteria to apply
- We require you to hold a relevant qualification (minimum SCQF Level 9), register with either the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) or any other relevant professional body and undertake PVG checks.
- You must also be prepared to do a Professional Development Award in Scrutiny and Improvement (Social Services) at SCQF level 10 with appropriate support from the organisation.
- You will have a minimum of three years recent and demonstrable management experience in a relevant field. You must also be willing to travel with overnight stays as required.
Before you apply
- Please contact the relevant body directly to resolve any queries you have regarding registration or eligible qualifications for registration (SSSC, NMC and so on) before submitting your application.
- For an informal chat about the job role, please contact (Who?) You or Kim Connolly, Team Manager on 07766133161
- For all other queries, please contact Human Resources at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To apply
- If you are interested, please see the minimum criteria to apply as an Inspector and the specific guidance and directions to apply. Thereafter, click on the gateway questions link to apply.
- Your completed application form (campaign number C39 only forms) and equal opportunities form should be returned to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.no later than Monday, 14 October 2019 at 8.00am.
- We anticipate that selection days will take place in the week commencing Monday, 18 November 2019.