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Scotland’s care regulator has announced that the quality of care in the country’s 14 private hospitals and 15 voluntary hospices is good.
The Care Commission, which is responsible for regulating over 15,000 care services in Scotland, has published a report examining staffing, standards of clinical care and quality of information available to patients.
The watchdog nevertheless found there was still room for improvement, such as involving the service-users more in how the care is operated.
Susan Brimelow, Director of Healthcare Regulation at the Care Commission, said: “Private hospitals and voluntary hospices have an important role making sure people have quick and easy access to a wide range of healthcare services, so it’s vital that the quality of this care is good and improving.”
Of the 29 services covered by the review, 14 requirements made of them by the Care Commission in the 2006/2007 period, forcing them to act within a certain timescale to meet compliance requirements.
However, the body said that most care providers took rapid action to make improvements, and just five of the care services were issued with more than one requirement. Also, during 2006/2007, none of the care providers were served with an enforcement notice, legal documents which would require a provider to meet certain conditions or risk being forced to close.
Ms Brimelow said: “This report gives people who use these services and their carers a practical indication of the quality of care that private and voluntary healthcare services provide.
Care Commission
View the report here.
