Some legal underpinnings in the Scottish care home scene

Abstract

Once registration is granted, the regulatory regime swings into operation. Where there is a problem or complaint about a service or a home, the Care Commission, in its enforcement capacity, has a range of powers rising in severity from a simple note in the inspection report requiring the service manager to address the issue in question, to the imposition of an additional condition on the home's registration if there is a serious and persistent failure or refusal to meet the standards or obey the regulations, on to an improvement notice detailing the required improvement to be made and the timescale for this. It should be noted that the Commission does not have to go by this ascending order of disciplinary steps; it can issue an improvement notice straightaway. Indeed, it can seek a court order to close a home if it considers there is a real and urgent risk to service users. The Commission may seek to cancel the registration of the home, if the improvement notice does not achieve the desired result.