Identify the professional values which guide care practice

• My human rights are respected and promoted.
• I am respected and treated with dignity as an individual.
• I am treated fairly and do not experience discrimination.
• My privacy is respected.

• I experience warm, compassionate and nurturing care and support.
• My care is provided by people who understand and are sensitive to my needs and my wishes.

• I receive the right information, at the right time and in a way that I can understand.
• I am supported to make informed choices, so that I can control my care and support.
• I am included in wider decisions about the way the service is provided, and my suggestions, feedback and concerns are considered.
• I am supported to participate fully and actively in my community.

• My health and social care needs are assessed and reviewed to ensure I receive the right support and care at the right time.
• My care and support adapts when my needs, choices and decisions change.
• I experience consistency in who provides my care and support and in how it is provided.
• If I make a complaint it is acted on.

• I am asked about my lifestyle preferences and aspirations and I am supported to achieve these.
• I am encouraged and helped to achieve my full potential.
• I am supported to make informed choices, even if this means I might be taking personal risks.
• I feel safe and I am protected from neglect, abuse or avoidable harm.

You need to demonstrate that you can follow your Code of Practice, which includes not doing anything at work or outside of work which might call into question your suitability to be in a trusted and professional role in which you care for others.

At all times you must respect the views and wishes of people who use care services and their families.

The Codes are a helpful tool that can be used in a number of ways in the workplace to reflect on and develop practice.

There are some roles in social care (like personal assistants, who are directly employed by people who need support) that do not require a worker to register with the SSSC. Nevertheless, the Codes are a useful tool for everyone and support good practice.

If your employer does not follow their part of the Codes, including supporting you to follow yours, action may be taken to address this with them. For example, the Care Inspectorate may tell your employer to improve.

The Codes describe a number of responsibilities for employers including providing a good quality induction and further learning and development opportunities for staff.

Employers must also provide a workplace environment in which staff feel safe, supported and able to raise concerns and ask for help.

The people you support can use the Codes of Practice to learn what they can expect from you and your employer.

People using care services, and families and carers, can tell the SSSC if they believe a worker is not meeting the behaviours and values set out in the Codes. They can tell the Care Inspectorate if they have concerns about an employer.

Definition:

This is behaviour by a worker which falls short of what is expected by a person registered with the SSSC. If misconduct is found the SSSC can take a number of actions, for example putting a warning on a person’s registration for a period of time or asking them to complete extra learning. In serious cases, when someone is not suitable for the role, the person can be removed from the Register and stopped from working in care.

In less serious cases the SSSC may decide not to take further action. In these cases, employers will help their employees to reflect on the misconduct and put positive plans in place to address them.

Examples:

Examples of misconduct include dishonesty, aggression, and physical, sexual or financial abuse (which could be towards people using services, colleagues and members of the public). Misconduct can happen in work and outside of work. While some misconduct is more serious than others, it is never acceptable.

Definition:

This is when a worker is not demonstrating competence in their role. Competence means a person’s ability to do something successfully, for example their ability to provide the right quality of care and support, and work safely and effectively. Jobs in care are skilled and deficient professional practice can lead to harm. The SSSC investigates to keep people safe, and expects employers to have worked with the individual employee to help them improve their practice before informing the SSSC of their concerns.

Employers can help for example offering extra supervision, organising training or assigning a more experienced worker to mentor you. The SSSC does not need to investigate mistakes when these are caused by a temporary issue. We all make mistakes, and should use these as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Examples:

Examples of deficient professional practice include mistakes and errors which reoccur despite support from an employer to improve. This can include poor record keeping, repeated medication errors and a failure to follow policies and training. While the person may not intend to make these errors they may put people at risk.

Definition:

This category is about health conditions which are not being managed and which are affecting a person’s ability to do their job safely and effectively. The SSSC may need to investigate to make sure people using services, and people working there, are protected.

This category is not about people with health conditions in general. Most people living with a health condition practise safely and effectively. Where a health condition may impact on your role we expect you to be open and honest with your employer. The employer should support you and has a responsibility to consider making reasonable adjustments if they are needed.

Examples:

Examples of health conditions which (when not managed) can have an impact on work include those related to a lack of concentration, inability to control anger or an alcohol or substance addiction. These are not a complete list.

If this is being managed by the person with their employer, and not affecting their ability to do their role safely and effectively, no further action is required.

People with spent or unspent previous convictions might think they can’t have a career in care, but this is not necessarily true. People with previous convictions may have knowledge and first-hand experience which is valued by employers.

When applying for a job you should be honest with your employer and tell them about relevant convictions. This will give you an opportunity to discuss them openly. You will also need to tell SSSC if you register with us. There’s a link in the Go further row below with more information about what you have to share (you don’t have to tell employers about all kinds of previous convictions, only those listed in the Disclosure Scotland guidance).

Your employer will also complete a criminal record check with Disclosure Scotland. Care workers who take part in regulated work will need to join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. People who work in other roles in care services, for example in administration or catering, will need another correct level of criminal record check (usually a Standard Disclosure). These are higher level disclosures and you will need to disclose all unspent convictions, and you may also need to disclose some types of spent conviction.