The Codes of Practice are changing, join the conversation

Feedback as part of this phase of the review is now closed.

We last revised the worker and employer Codes of Practice in 2016 and are now reviewing them to make sure they are fit for the future.

Why now?

Since the Codes were published the workforce has changed. We have welcomed new groups on to our Register and the way care is delivered has changed too. This is also an opportunity to make sure the Codes align with the Health and Social Care Standards, so they work better together.

Over the past six years we have gained learning and recommendations from national reviews. The development of the National Care Service and delivering The Promise are just two areas that will support our review of the Codes and how they can best support the workforce and employers.

The Codes review is part of our wider Future Proofing Programme, which includes proposed changes to our Register and qualifications for registration.  

Getting involved in the Codes review is your opportunity to have your say and to help reshape the Codes.

How long will the review take?

What can you do to influence the development of new Codes?

Before we draft new Codes of Practice, we are gathering views and feedback from employers, workers and people with experience of care on what you think of the current Codes, how you use them and what might improve them.

We’d like to hear your ideas of what the new Codes should look like and what they should say, so we can make sure the Codes meet your needs, support good practice and clearly set out the behaviours and values expected of social service workers and their employers. We also need to make sure they are not seen as a barrier to providing high quality care and support. 

Why is it important to get involved?

We asked some of our key partners why they think reviewing the Codes now is important and why workers, employers and people with experience of using services should get involved to tell us what they think.

Listen to what they had to say in our video.

We’d like you to hold your own Codes Conversation

We want to hear opinions on the current Codes of Practice and have three questions we’d like you to consider and answer.

1. What do you like about the Codes of Practice?
2. How could the Codes better support good practice?
3. How could we make the Codes work better alongside the Health and Social Care Standards?

To help your conversation, you might like to think of examples of how the Codes have influenced your practice. How did the Codes make a difference? This can be good or bad. You should keep these examples anonymous.

Capture the key discussion points during your Codes Conversation to help you identify themes or common points. This will help you provide us with your top three pieces of feedback for each question afterwards.

Remember your Codes Conversation can count towards your continuous professional learning (CPL), helping you reflect on the Codes and how you use them in your practice.

Get the conversation started

Here are some ideas to help you get the conversation started in a way that works for your team or workplace.

• Schedule some time for a conversation within a regular team meeting.
• Put the three questions on a staff noticeboard with post-it notes to gather colleagues’ thoughts.
• Use your online chat forum if you have one, for example, a Teams channel.
• Have a conversation at your one-to-one supervisions.

Share your feedback

Feedback on this phase of the review is now closed.

Social media

We’d like to see photos of how you gathered views, opinions and ideas – this could be a photo of your group in conversation, sticky notes or posts-its with feedback or some key thoughts you’ve captured. Please post your conversation photos and feedback using the hashtag #CodesConversation. We’ll assume we can reshare or re-use posts using the #CodesConversation hashtag.

Read how SOSCN’s Codes Conversation went

The Scottish Out of School Care Network (SOSCN) held their own Codes Conversations on 14 and 15 September. SOSCN’s Policy and Research Manager, Andrew Shoolbread, tells us how they went.

‘We held the conversations online on Zoom and used the whiteboard and chat functions. There was also the option to talk. About 40 people participated in the two events and an hour was sufficient to cover everything.

‘The format on the SSSC’s Codes Conversation page worked well and the video was a good introduction. Before we talked about the SSSC's three questions I started with three of our own to gauge how and if people were using the Codes as a living document - not just with individual workers but also in terms of overall service delivery/quality improvement and how they use them to promote their own professional status.

• How (often) do you refer to the Codes of Practice in terms of staff development/appraisal?
• How (often) do you use the Codes of Practice to ensure you are meeting them as an employer?
• How do you promote the Codes to service users and other professional colleagues?

‘We received some interesting results. In fact, the conversation has inspired some people to be more proactive in the way they use the Codes in their service.’ 

Join our Codes review events

All our events are now passed.

We’re holding a series of events this autumn as part of our Codes review to gather information and views to help us reshape the Codes.

These sessions are open to anyone working in the sector, employers and people using services their families and carers.  

There will be two types of events and both will include small group discussions.

Online Codes Conversations

During these one hour sessions you’ll have the opportunity to find out more about the review and consider times the Codes have supported your work or when they’ve been a barrier to day-to-day work.

There are two online Codes Conversations, get full details and register below.

• 28 September, 10-11am (bookings closed)
• 28 September, 2-3pm (bookings closed)

Codes focus groups

These two hour sessions will allow more in depth conversation about the Codes and we’ll focus on three key themes:

• relationship based practice
• the employer Codes
• rights and risk enablement.

You’ll also be able to consider the questions posed in the Codes Conversation.

We plan to host online and in person focus groups. Get full details and book your place below.

In person Codes focus groups

• Edinburgh – 4 October, 1.30-3.30pm (bookings closed)
• Glasgow – 5 October, 1.30-3.30pm (bookings closed)
• Dundee – 1 November, 1.30-3.30pm (bookings closed)
• Aberdeen – 2 November, 1.30-3.30pm (bookings closed)

Online Codes focus groups

• 26 October, 10am-12pm (bookings closed)
• 9 November, 10am-12pm (bookings closed)

What next?

All the feedback submitted from your Codes Conversations will help inform the draft of the new Codes of Practice. We plan to formally consult on the revised Codes of Practice in 2023. We’ll let you know when the consultation opens through our newsletters and website.

Thank you for your interest in holding your own #CodesConversation.

If you have any questions about the Codes Conversation or the review, please email Codes@sssc.uk.com

You can get a print version of this Codes Conversation information on the right hand side of this page (pdf file).