Job title: Inspector
Location: Local / nearest office base
Responsible to: Team manager
Job overview
Our inspectors have a vital role to ensure that people in Scotland who need care, receive high quality, safe and compassionate care. They are responsible for assuring and improving the quality of care for people who use care services by determining and undertaking appropriate scrutiny, assurance and improvement activities.
Our values
Our values are about clearly establishing what it means to be a Care Inspectorate employee and set the standard for every person and how they play their part. Our values are:
- Person Centred: we will put people at the heart of everything we do
- Fairness: we will act fairly, be transparent and treat people equally
- Respect: we will be respectful in all that we do
- Integrity: we will be impartial and act to improve care for the people of Scotland
- Efficiency: we will provide the best possible quality and public value from our work
- Equality: we will promote and advance equality, diversity and inclusion in all our work and interactions
Key responsibilities
- Plan and deliver timely and high-quality scrutiny activities of registered services aligned with the Public Services Reform Act.
- Provide feedback, report on findings and work with providers to support improvement and innovation and signpost good practice.
- Apply specialist knowledge and skills to gather, analyse, assess and share information and intelligence on care services and service providers to help target scrutiny and improvement activities.
- Apply specialist knowledge, skills and expertise to authoritatively and credibly provide advice and guidance to service providers and their staff to support continuous improvement in the quality of care they deliver.
- Work in partnership with people who use services, family carers, scrutiny delivery and policy partners to act as a catalyst for change and innovation and promote the Health and Social Care Standards and good practice guidance.
- Support the strategic scrutiny activities of adult or children’s services or shared scrutiny activities with other scrutiny bodies as required.
- Support enforcement activities, attending legal hearings or other types of constituted hearings to give evidence or advice.
- Produce evaluative reports, within required timescales, to include clear evidence-based outcomes that direct and contribute to improvements in the care and protection of service users.
- Work collaboratively and effectively with a range of stakeholders, including partner scrutiny bodies and Scottish Government staff and officials.
- Participate in supervision arrangements, team meetings, appraisal and learning and development as required and appropriate.
- Provide relationship management support to allocated providers.
- Take a lead role on designated projects and other initiatives that require specialist knowledge, expertise and experience.
- Support the induction of new start inspectors and colleagues through peer learning and other learning and development activities within your team and directorate.
- Participate in and support quality assurance activities of the work of the care inspectorate.
- Work flexibly to meet the needs of the business and the availability of providers (for example evening and weekend working and travel and overnight stays across Scotland, where required).
- Undertake such other duties as may be required by the organisation to fulfil the role of Inspector.
Key accountabilities
- Ensure accurate records of all registered services are prepared and maintained, and share intelligence, in accordance with the requirements and procedures of the Care Inspectorate.
- Maintain a high standard of records in relation to work undertaken, producing reports, letters and instructions.
- Work to relevant professional codes of practice and ensure national occupational standards are achieved.
- Follow processes and duties relating to enforcement action against registered services
- Build and maintain productive working relationships, both internally and externally with providers and partners.
- Share and maintain knowledge and understanding of current developments in your specialist area (early learning and childcare, adults or children and young people).
- Participate in all learning and development activities relevant to your role, including the professional development award (PDA) and/ or other qualifications as deemed necessary.
- Maintain professional registration with the relevant professional regulatory body.
- Meet performance management indicators and performance management objectives of the organisation as relevant to your role.