National Care Service Charter of Rights: equality impact assessment

Background

This impact assessment covers the publication of the National Care Service (NCS) Charter of Rights (‘the Charter’). The Charter aims to improve information about, and awareness of, people’s rights when accessing social care, social work and community health support.

The Charter was developed in response to the Independent Review of Adult Social Care which recommended that people should better understand their rights to social care and supports.

The Charter sets out people’s care-specific rights and what people should expect when they access support. It provides clear information about how to make a complaint if people’s rights are not upheld and provides information about support services which can help people to claim their rights.

The rights set out in the Charter exist in law. The Charter does not create any new rights or alter any existing ones.

The Charter is for people across Scotland who are accessing or waiting to access social work, social care or community health services, including unpaid carers.

The Charter aims to be a valuable tool that contributes towards improving delivery of rights-based care in Scotland. Intended impacts include:

• people know and understand their care-specific rights
• people who face the most barriers to realising their rights feel more empowered and able to claim their rights

The Charter has been developed through co‑design and engagement involving more than 700 people over a period of more than three years. This included individuals with lived experience of accessing care and support, unpaid carers, members of the health and social care workforce, and a wide range of stakeholder organisations. Content was iteratively developed and tested to ensure it is clear, relevant and accessible.