Appendices
Appendix 1
What are National Occupational Standards?
National Occupational Standards have been developed in most sectors. They:
- describe best practice in particular areas of work
- bring together the skills, knowledge and values necessary to do the work as statements of competence
- provide managers with a tool for a wide variety of workforce management, quality control and specification tasks
- are the basis of training and qualifications.
Initially, the standards were used as the basis for qualifications, but wider uses of the standards are now emerging, such as their use in human resource management.
Who develops them?
In social care and social work the standards have been identified and agreed by employers. To do this, the Scottish Social Services Council (the SSSC) works in partnership with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, the Care Council for Wales, Skills for Care in England and the Children's Workforce Development Council (also England only) to form the sector skills council Skills for Care & Development and it is this partnership of organisations which is responsible for developing and maintaining the national occupational standards for the full social services workforce across the UK.
The SSSC develops standards with the care sector that focus on all levels of work, with an expectation that the standards will be used at least as much in human resource and operational management, as they will be in the development of qualifications. The SSSC will continue to work with employers to contribute to and promote the developing uses of the standards.
Structure of National Occupational Standards
National Occupational Standards are organised into units of competence. Each unit describes an area of work, with the activities separated out into elements with associated performance criteria and knowledge listed. The standards also highlight the values required to work in care.
These standards are separated into different levels of competence and used to benchmark the skills, knowledge and responsibilities associated with more complex roles within organisations.
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Appendix 2
The National Care Standards
In order to raise the level of care in Scotland and ensure that service users receive the same quality of care no matter where they live, Scottish Ministers have developed national care standards for a wide range of care services.
The standards have been created from the service user's point of view and are designed to explain what can be expected from care services. They also help service users to raise concerns or make a complaint.
They describe what each individual person can expect from the service provider. They focus on the quality of life that the person using the service actually experiences.
The standards are grouped under headings which follow the person's journey through the service.
Service Users are encouraged to refer to the standards to help them decide which service to choose. If already receiving a service, they may use the standards when discussing the service they receive with:
- staff and managers;
- your social worker or care manager, if you have one; or
- someone acting on your behalf, for example, your lawyer or other independent representative.
If things go wrong, you can refer to the standards to help you raise concerns or make a complaint.
Service owners or managers should use the standards to find out what is expected of them in offering support and care services. The standards make it clear that everything about the service should lead to you enjoying a good quality of life. They should guide the owner or manager over:
- building requirements;
- who to employ; and
- how they should manage the service.
The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (‘the Act') set up the Care Commission, which registers and inspects all the services regulated under the Act, taking account of the national care standards issued by Scottish Ministers. The Care Commission has its headquarters in Dundee , with regional offices across the country. It assesses applications from people who want to provide registered services. It inspects the services to make sure that they are meeting the regulations and in doing so takes account of the national care standards.
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Appendix 3
What Are Skills Sets?
Skills Sets are a series of guidance documents developed by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in conjunction with employer representatives, the Scottish Centres for Excellence and the awarding bodies Scottish Qualifications Authority (Care Scotland) and City & Guilds Scotland to assist employers, assessors and candidates to identify the Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ) units and underpinning knowledge which is most relevant for particular areas of practice in social services in Scotland.
They are intended to guide employers, assessors, training providers and candidates in choosing units to work on which will extend the practice skills and/or knowledge and understanding of social service workers in specified service areas. Therefore, it is hoped they will provide guidance for staff in making choices regarding their continuing professional development (CPD).
It is also envisaged that Skills Sets could be used to assist staff moving from one service area to another (eg from domiciliary care to learning disability). Staff do not need to undertake a full SVQ again, but instead will complete units from the relevant Skills Set to add the skills areas they do not already possess to equip them for the new area of work.
It should be emphasised that Skills Sets are not new awards. As noted above, they are guidance notes, and in using Skills Sets candidates will be registered and certificated for the individual units they undertake.
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