Social care directorate

What is Social Care? 

Social care means all forms of personal and practical support for children, young people and adults who need extra support. It describes services and other types of help, including care homes and supporting unpaid carers to help them continue in their caring role.  

Social care is an investment in Scotland’s people, society and economy. Many of us, or many of our family members or friends, will already use social care. Most of us will need to use social care at some point in our lives.  

Social care support is about supporting people to: 

• live independently 
• be active citizens 
• participate and contribute to our society 
• maintain their dignity and their human rights 

Areas of work  

Areas of work the Social Care Directorate are currently involved in: 

• Extensive engagement with social care representatives and other relevant stakeholders promoting NES existing resources 
• Discharge without delay education 
• Development of an Integrated Health and Social Care SVQ Qualification 
• Leading to Change (L2Change) 
• Social prescribing network 
• A New National Induction Framework for Adult Social Care
• New tool to support careers in social care under development
• Remote and rural health and social care 
• Widening access 
• Realistic medicine and value based health and care
• Repurposing educational resources on Turas Learn for the social care workforce
• International recruitment in social care (in partnership with Centre for Workforce Supply)

The Knowledge Network

Social care staff in Scotland now have access to The Knowledge Network, which is the national digital library for books, journals, articles and other resources relating to health and social care. It provides access to a range of resources including:

• Library resources such as eBooks, print books, eJournals and guidelines
• Databases covering many health and social care topics
• Leadership and self-development resources and British standards
• RefWorks reference management software
• Recent news and announcements, including current awareness bulletins
• Training opportunities to develop searching and information literacy skills
• Support to help you to use The Knowledge Network

Staff working for NHS boards can access the Knowledge Network using their single-sign on details, and staff in partner organisations can sign up via this short registration form. For further information about eligibility, see here or contact the helpdesk team at knowledge@nes.scot.nhs.uk

If you were previously familiar with the SSKS, this service is now provided by the Knowledge Network. The SKSS newsletter is no longer active, though you can still view archived copies of this newsletter here.

For further information and support about knowledge management and discovery services available for social care, see the links below:

• Keep up to date: Knowledge Nuggets mailing list
• Give us your feedback
• Contact us: NES Knowledge Services Help Desk

More information

Further information on Social Care in Scotland can be found at the following websites.

Scottish Social Services Council​​​​​​​ 

Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) are the regulator for the social work, social care and early years workforce in Scotland. 

Their work means the people of Scotland can count on social work, social care and early years services being provided by a trusted, skilled and confident workforce. 

SSSC protect the public by registering social workers, social care and early years workers, setting standards for their practice, conduct, training and education and by supporting their professional development. Where people fall below the standards of practice and conduct, SSSC can investigate and take action. 

Scottish Care 

Scottish Care is a membership organisation representing the independent social care sector in Scotland. They work with members and stakeholders in social care to create conditions for sustainable human-rights-based care and support.  

​​​​​​​Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) 

The mission of the Coalition of care and Support providers in Scotland (CCPS) is to identify, represent, promote and safeguard the interests of third sector and not-for-profit social care and support providers in Scotland, so that they can maximise the impact they have on meeting social need. 

Care Inspectorate 

The Care Inspectorate is a scrutiny body which supports improvement. That means they look at the quality of care in Scotland to ensure it meets high standards. Where they find that improvement is needed, they support services to make positive changes. 

The Care Inspectorates vision is that everyone experiences safe, high-quality care that meets their needs, rights and choices. 

Approximately 600 staff work across Scotland, specialising in health and social care, early learning and childcare, social work, children’s services, and community justice. 

Join our mailing list

If you would like to hear more about the NES Social Care Directorate’s latest developments, please use this link to sign-up: NES Social Care Directorate Mailing List Sign-Up

By signing up to the mailing list, you can opt into either or both of the following:  
 
A. Receive the NES Social Care Directorate's regular email newsletter  
 
and/ or 
 
B. Receive direct contact about our projects with opportunities to contribute to our work (e.g. through surveys or pilot testing of learning resources). Please note that these opportunities are voluntary, and you are under no obligation to participate.