16 October 2008
For this project, ‘Healthcare Support Workers’ are defined as those who provide a direct service – that is, they have a direct influence/effect on patient care/treatment/relationships - to patients and members of the public in the name of NHS Scotland. This would include those in support roles to the healthcare professions (such as care assistants) and those who provide ancillary services (such as porters and mortuary attendants). For ease of definition, anyone who ‘is in contact with a patient in the name of, or on behalf of, NHS Scotland’ and who is not already regulated would be included. Standards should also ideally be voluntarily adopted by those working in independent or voluntary health care settings.
Responses to this consultation are being sought from:
Responding to this consultation paper
We are inviting online and written responses to this consultation exercise by Thursday 31 August 2006.
We recommend using this response booklet, if possible. Please complete the respondee information form contained within the booklet.
Hard copies are also available.
If you have any queries or any comments on the consultation process, please contact Jude Watson at the address/email above or telephone 0131 244 5088
Accessing this and other consultations
This consultation, and all other Scottish Executive (SE) consultation exercises, can be viewed online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is. The Scottish Executive now also has an email alert system for SE consultations. You can register to receive a weekly email containing details of all new SE consultations at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx.
Access to consultation responses
We will make all responses available to the public in the SE Library by 1 October 2006 unless confidentiality is requested. All responses not marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library.
All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Executive is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.
Scottish Executive Health Department Regulatory Unit May 2006
Please complete the details on the Respondent Information Form below. This will help ensure we handle your response appropriately.
Yes, make my response, name and address all available Yes, make my response available, but not my name or address Yes, make my response and name available, but not my address
The name and address of your organisation will be made available to the public (in the Scottish Executive library and/or on the Scottish Executive website). Are you also content for your response to be made available?
Yes No we will treat your response as confidential
We will share your response internally with other Scottish Executive policy teams who may be addressing the issues you discuss. They may wish to contact you again in the future, but we require your permission to do so. Are you content for the Scottish Executive to contact you again in the future in relation to this consultation response?
Yes No
Background
.
In analysing your response, it would help us to know what your background is. Please indicate using the boxes provided below the sector to which you belong and you designation within that sector. Please add any further points of clarification you wish to make.
Further Comments
And please indicate which of the following countries you are resident in
Scotland Wales England Northern Ireland
Your Views
1: Is the draft code easy to understand for the target audience (HCSWs)?
2: Is the draft code expressed appropriately for the intended audience?
3: Is the draft code sufficiently comprehensive to reflect a healthcare support worker’s responsibilities to service users, particularly in relation to public protection standards?
4: Do you agree with the definition of ‘good character’ set out on page 13 of the consultation document?
1: Is the draft code easy to understand for the target audience (employers in NHS Scotland)?
2: Is the draft code sufficiently comprehensive to reflect an employer’s responsibilities to both service users and healthcare support workers in relation to public protection standards?
3: Is the draft code sufficiently compatible with existing employer responsibilities through staff and clinical governance arrangements to keep additional responsibilities to a minimum?
1: Are the standards comprehensive?
2. Are the standards easy to understand for the employer?
3. Are the standards easy to understand for the employee?
4. Do the performance criteria identified provide sufficient evidence for the achievement of the standards?
5. Do you think that it is feasible for the standards (as currently defined) to be achieved by HCSWs within three months?
If the answer to this is ‘no’, state why in the comment section below, then indicate in the box how long you think it will take for HCSWs to achieve the standards as currently defined.
Six months Twelve months Other (specify months)
6. Do you have any other comments to make on the standards?
7. In your opinion, should all three sets of standards as outlined in this consultation document be mandatory?
Page updated: August 15, 2005