Health and Social Care Standards

The Health and Social Care Standards: My support, my life, were published by the Scottish Government in June 2017 and came into effect on 1 April 2018.

Additional information was published in the Standards on 31 March 2022. This includes the addition of a foreword by the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care. It also includes two new paragraphs, 5.16 and 5.17, within Chapter 5 ‘Be Included’.

The Standards set out what we should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland.

Aims

The Standards aim to make health, social care and social work services better for everyone. This is to make sure that every person is treated with respect and dignity and the human rights we’re all entitled to are upheld.

The standards and outcomes set out in the Health and Social Care Standards have been developed as a result of 2 acts:

• Section 50 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010
• Section 10H of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978

Principles

The Standards are built upon 5 principles of:

• dignity and respect
• compassion
• be included
• responsive care
• support and wellbeing

The Standards

The Health and Social Care Standards are:

1. I experience high quality care and support that is right for me
2. I am fully involved in all decisions about my care and support
3. I have confidence in the people who support and care for me
4. I have confidence in the organisation providing my care and support
5. I experience a high quality environment if the organisation provides the premises

The outcomes related to each of these standards may mean different things in different care settings.