Little Scholars and Curious Coincidences
I think it would be good for Scotland to hear more from the Little Scholars day nursery which Humza Yousaf accused of 'discrimination' in August 2021 before quietly dropping his legal action 18 months later.
After all the allegation affected everyone involved - the staff and management of the nursery - not just the complainers.
By a curious coincidence, Humza's legal case was abandoned shortly before Nicola Sturgeon announced her surprise resignation which triggered the current SNP leadership contest.
Humza and the Care Inspectorate (August 26, 2021)
Scottish Minister Sidesteps Scottish Regulator (August 25, 2021)
The Scottish Sun reports that Humza Yousaf is going to court to pursue a complaint against a local Dundee nursery which suggests the Care Inspectorate will be prevented from dealing with the complaint itself - see post below.
Now why would a Scottish Minister prevent Scotland's official regulator from doing its job?
Humza Yousaf and the Care Inspectorate (August 10, 2021)
Here's an extract from the Care Inspectorate's complaints process which presumably must be followed in respect of Humza Yousaf's complaint about being denied a local nursery place in Broughty Ferry, Dundee.
Part of the Inspectorate's rules (more to follow) is that they can only investigate complaints which are not already the subject of legal proceedings in court.
Yet The Herald reported earlier today that Humza Yousaf has launched a legal action against the nursery and has given the owners only 14 days to respond - even though the Care Inspectorate says it aims to complete their own investigation within 40 days.
So will the Care Inspectorate's investigation be stopped in its tracks and why is the Health Minister potentially by-passing the Scottish Government's official regulator?
Covid-19 update for complaints
Due to Government guidance, our staff are now working from home. You can raise a concern with us by email at concerns@careinspectorate.gov.scot. If you are unable to email us or use our online complaints form, please call 0345 600 9527 between 09:00 to 16:00 Monday to Friday.
In order to protect the safety and wellbeing of people experiencing care we are only making visits to services when it is absolutely necessary. If you have a concern about a care service, in the first instance please raise this with the manager of the service. We will risk assess any concerns we receive, and this may result in complaints being referred to the service provider.
To help us to deal with your complaint effectively please provide us with a contact telephone number so we can talk to you about how best to address your concerns. We can deal with complaints in confidence if you do not wish the service to know that you have complained. Complaints can also be made anonymously. Anonymous complaints can provide valuable information about a service. Most anonymous complaints will be used to help us decide how and when to inspect services.
One of the most important ways for us to make sure care services improve is by listening to your concerns. These may be about a care service or about the Care Inspectorate. We cannot investigate complaints about services that are not registerable, or are not yet registered.
For more information, you can read unhappy about a care service?
'How we deal with concerns and complaints' explains the process.
How to make a complaint
Registered care service
If you are not happy with the level of care you or someone you care for is receiving, we would encourage you to first of all speak to the care service itself about your concerns. This is often the quickest way to resolve a problem.
However, you can choose to complain directly to us by either:
- filling in our complaints form online
- calling us on 0345 600 9527
- emailing us at concerns@careinspectorate.gov.scot
- Children and young people can send a text directly on 07870 981 785
Whichever method you use to, we will deal with your complaint following 'How we deal with concerns and complaints'.
In summary, this means we will:
- acknowledge that we have received your complaint within three working days
- aim to complete the investigation within 40 working days
- let you know if we think there will be a delay and give you the reasons for the delay
- let you know our findings and the outcome of the complaint.
If you are unhappy with the outcome, you have the right to ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look into our decision. The SPSO website has information on making a complaint and the types of complaints it looks at. They are the final stage for handling complaints about public services in Scotland.
Other organisations
Local authority social work departments: you need to contact the local authority and ask about their complaints procedure.
NHS hospital or clinic: you need to contact the local NHS board.
Independent health service or hospice: contact Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
Planning permission and building standards: you need to contact your local authority planning department.
If you want to raise a concern about a specific individual (or individuals) working in a care service – rather than the service itself – the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) may be able to help. The SSSC regulates a wide range of social care workers: www.sssc.uk.com. The SSSC can only consider concerns about workers who are registered or applying to register with it. You can check if a worker is registered by searching the Register or by calling the SSSC on 0345 603 0891.
