Healthcare Improvement Scotland is responsible for inspecting and regulating independent healthcare in Scotland.
Who is being regulated?
Independent clinics are defined in the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 as:
A clinic which is not comprised in a hospital and in or from which services are provided by a medical practitioner, dental practitioner, registered nurse, registered midwife, registered pharmacist, registered pharmacy technician or dental care professional.
The term ‘service’ includes consultations, investigations and treatments.
An Independent Medical Agency is defined in the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 as:
An undertaking which consists of or includes the provision of services, other than in pursuance of this Act, by a medical practitioner, a dental practitioner, a dental care professional, a registered nurse, a registered midwife, a registered pharmacist, or a registered pharmacy technician.
Exemptions from regulation
There are a number of exemptions that exist in the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 for independent clinics and independent medical agencies. These services do not require to register as an independent health care service.
Exemptions can be found in the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.
How we regulate services
We regulate independent healthcare by inspecting services to ensure that they comply with standards and regulations. Our team of inspectors check independent healthcare services regularly. We do this using announced and unannounced inspections.
We use an open and transparent method for inspecting and reporting on our findings, using standardised processes.
Read our inspection methodology for more information.
Legislation and guidelines
In order to regulate independent healthcare we work to the following legislation and guidelines:
- National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978
- Health and Social Care Savings and Transitional Provisions (No. 2) Order
- Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010
- The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Applications and Registration) Regulations 2011
- The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Fees) Regulations 2016
- The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Inspections) Regulations 2011
- The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Requirements as to Independent Health Care Services) Regulations 2011
- The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Reports) Regulations 2011
- The Health and Social Care Standards
- The National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (Independent Clinic) Amendment Order 2016
- The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (Dissolution) Order 2011
- The Public Services Reform (Joint Inspections) (Scotland) Regulations 2011
- The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (Consequential Modifications) Order 2011
- The Quality Framework