We carry out inspections of adult mental health inpatient provision in Scotland.
Summary
Our inspections are unannounced and focus on:
- key indications of the delivery of care
- fundamentals of care
- management of safety and risk
- clinical governance structures within the NHS board
- leadership and culture
- standard infection control precautions and transmission-based precautions for infection prevention and control
- mental health care environment, patients’ sense of safety
- patient right, involvement in care
We will inspect against:
- Health and Social Care Standards (2017)
- Infection Prevention and Control Standards (2022)
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland Quality Assurance Framework (2022)
- any other standards that become relevant during the course of the inspection
Our mental health methodology lists the relevant:
- national standards
- guidance
- best practice
We will also consider the delivery of care in line with the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act (Acts of the Scottish Parliament, 2019)
How we inspect services
We will identify any areas where NHS boards need to take action. We call these ‘requirements’. Find our more about requirements on our terminology page.
The NHS board mus prioritise the requirements to meet national standards.
Following an inspection, the NHS board will create an improvement action plan. We will publish our inspection and the action plan on our website.
We will report our findings under our Quality of Care Framework domains and quality indicators.