Welcome to the first improvement update of 2026
This edition highlights our continued whole‑system commitment to working collaboratively with Care Inspectorate assurance and improvement colleagues, as well as with like‑minded national partners, to deliver quality improvement in the right places at the right time across Scotland.
Across all our work and despite the deep‑rooted structural challenges facing social care, we continue to encounter high levels of enthusiasm, energy, and commitment from services engaging with our quality improvement work. This remains a powerful driver for improvement and a clear signal of the sector’s determination to deliver the best possible experiences and outcomes.
As you will see throughout this update, working with inspection colleagues, we remain focused on targeted quality improvement programmes and on supporting services to make the changes needed to improve outcomes. Alongside this, we are committed to providing the quality improvement scaffolding that enables the social care sector, across the lifespan, to build capability, confidence, and embed sustainable improvements.
We continue to work collaboratively to deliver specialist webinars and consultancy that deepen sector knowledge in key thematic areas and inform updates to national guidance and policy.
Our approach remains innovative, proactive, and responsive to emerging need, ensuring that the support we provide is both timely and impactful.
Happy reading!
Craig Morris, Head of Quality Improvement and Participation (including Equalities)
Digital social care improvement programme
Over the past two months, the digital social care improvement programme has delivered substantial progress supporting the safe and effective use of digital technology in social care.
Phase 2 of the PainChek pilot has now concluded, with the academic evaluation published and follow‑up discussions underway to explore independent analysis and future options for Scotland. PainChek is currently in use across more than 120 care homes, demonstrating strong sector engagement and growing digital maturity.
Sector‑facing activity has remained extensive. Webinars, focus groups, and the launch of the digital self‑evaluation toolkit (with accompanying resources) have supported social care providers to assess and strengthen their digital capabilities. Analysis of annual returns data on digital readiness has been completed and widely shared, informing targeted improvement activity. Communication channels continue to be used proactively to promote learning, gather examples of digital good practice, and support wider system engagement.
Collaboration with national partners remains a core strength of the programme. The digital social care improvement programme continues to contribute to cross‑sector initiatives including national digital programmes, Digital Care Collaborative Scotland, and sector‑wide discussions on AI, digital inclusion, and innovation pathways. A webinar on 22 January 2026 attracted 225 participants and featured contributions from NES and the SSSC, showcasing shared resources to build digital capability across the workforce.
The digital social care team also continues to support internal professional development award (PDA) candidates and internal scrutiny practice through events, guidance, and tailored support. Early keyword analysis of inspection reports indicates increasing references to digital and technology, with variable trends in areas such as data protection and digital care planning. In parallel, the team is working with the internal methodology group to develop new guidance on the use of sensor‑based technology in care settings.
Collectively, this quality improvement programme is strengthening digital capability across assurance, quality improvement, and the wider social care sector, while shaping the conditions required for future innovation and safe, person‑centred ethical digital adoption.
Launching a new approach to sector collaboration and reflective practice
A new joint, innovative programme is taking shape involving a senior improvement adviser, our children and young people teams, and local authority children’s homes. Designed around modelling, reflection, and meaningful collaboration, this approach aims to strengthen leadership, build practice confidence, and most importantly, improve the care experience for children and young people across Scotland.
The Promise in Partnership, a seven‑month quality improvement collaborative running from March 2026 to September 2026, will work with six care homes across Scotland. Its overarching aim is to improve the care experience of children by supporting registered managers to:
- build leadership capability
- grow confidence in their practice
- design and deliver a focused improvement project that leads to meaningful outcomes for children.
The updated quality framework acts as a guiding anchor for the collaborative, supporting teams to plan and test changes, and to reflect on learning, practice, and impact. Further updates will be provided as the project progresses.
Practical dementia resources
The practical dementia resources project led by senior improvement advisors, is focused on co-designing a shared learning platform to support care staff in delivering non-pharmacological approaches to dementia.
A paper on the project has been published: Practical Dementia Resources: A Platform for Peer-to-Peer Shared Learning, David Marshall, Maureen Cossar and Lynn White.
Work continues to develop and refine content for the platform ahead of its launch. A range of audio, video, and written resources has already been produced, with additional materials currently in development and further recording sessions planned.
Medicines quality improvement work
Care homes
Following an inspection, an islands-based care home sought support to reduce medicine recording and administration incidents. One unit has seen a steady reduction in incidents over the first four months, while another has shown a significant reduction in the most recent month. Work continues post‑Christmas to embed and sustain these improvements.
Care at home
A similar quality improvement project is underway with a care at home provider in the northeast, focusing on two housing support services. One service has demonstrated a reduction in incidents in recent months, while the other has not yet shown improvement. Targeted work will continue over the coming months to support the changes required to achieve and sustain improvement.
Stress and distress improvement programme
The stress and distress improvement programme began in January 2025 and is jointly delivered by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, the Care Inspectorate, and NHS Education for Scotland. The programme is supporting 58 teams across four cohorts during 2025.
All teams participating in the improvement programme have now completed the reducing stress and distress self‑evaluation tool, enabling them to assess current practice and identify priority areas for improvement. Evaluation activity is ongoing across all four cohorts, with findings informing refinements to the programme design for 2026.
Applications for a further two cohorts are now open, with 46 care homes applying within the first two weeks. Shortlisting will take place on 2 March 2026.
Early learning and childcare (ELC) improvement programme
The ELC improvement team has successfully completed cohort 12 of the programme. This concluded with a virtual celebration event where participants shared their achievements with local authority leads and peers. Feedback from the cohort has been highly positive, with participants valuing the blended approach that combines our established programme with a devolved Scottish Improvement Foundation Skills (SIF) model and nationally recognised online QI modules. Cohort 13 is already underway, maintaining strong momentum.
The programme has collaborated with colleagues in the SSSC to produce and publish a new ‘bitesize’ recording, now available on the hub. This resource provides an accessible overview of recent changes to SSSC registration requirements for all day care of children registrants.
In addition, colleagues from the safe staffing improvement programme supported a well‑attended peer support session for former ELC programme participants. Attendees explored the implications of the Act and reflected on its impact on their services, contributing to shared learning and sector readiness.
Launching a new coaching approach to sector collaboration
A new quality improvement collaborative programme is forming with residential care homes for adults with learning disabilities and mental health. Two senior improvement advisors are developing an innovative ‘coaching and critical friend’ relationship to supporting and collaborating with service providers. The aim of the programme is to support service providers with the implementation of their own recently designed ambitious improvement framework and action plans. The programme is starting with a large national service provider and rolling out across other services over the next 8-10 months.
The senior improvement advisors will support the service managers within the national provider, to introduce an overarching self-evaluation approach to reflecting, coaching and advising on the work as well as building confidence around quality improvement, Appreciative Inquiry and using tools and practice examples from our quality frameworks.
Find out more about our work at www.careinspectorate.com
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