Complaints About Care Services Scotland (CACSS)
Measures describe a question asked to a participant during a survey or an item of information requested from a manager when they fill out a data return. For example, ‘Who do you live with?’ is a measure and the possible responses might be, mother, father, brother, sister etc.
| Question/Data item wording | Response scale wording | Need OR provision OR receipt | Description of measure | Start Year | Age of interest | Age from | Age to | Informant | Multiple rater | Reporting term | Sweep title | Standard instrument | Notes | Physical health measures | Dataset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of services with complaints upheld, enforcements and requirements for 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 to date |
Number of services registered is given for: Then for each of these categories the number of complaints is given under: For each of the above data can be filtered by Sum, Count, Average, Max, Min, Product, Count Numbers, StdDev, StdDevp, Var, Varp |
Provision; | No. services with complaints upheld/enforcements/requirements | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
Number of services with inspection reports published in the last 6 months |
Totals given for: |
Provision; | No. services with inspection reports published last 6 months | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past 6 months | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
Number of services whose lowest grade has improved or declined since last month |
Numbers given for: Improved, Declined, Same and Grand Total under the following: |
Provision; | No. services lowest grade improved/declined past month | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past month | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
Number of services with minimum grades 1-6 across all assessed Key Questions (KQs) |
Numbers given for grades 1,2,3,4,5,6 (plus Grand Total) under the following: |
Provision; | No. services with grades 1-6 across assessed Key Qs | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
Number of services with ‘Good’ or better grades across all assessed Key Questions (KQs) |
Numbers submitted for: These figures are given for the following: |
Provision; | No. services with 'Good' or better across assessed Key Qs | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
Number of services by grade spread across all assessed Key Questions (KQs) |
Numbers submitted for: These figures are given for the following: |
Provision; | No. services by grade across assessed Key Qs | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
KQ How well do we support people’s wellbeing? |
This is given for the following care services: And figures and percentages given under grades: |
Provision; | How well support people’s wellbeing | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
KQ How well is our care and support planned? |
This is given for the following care services: And figures and percentages given under grades: |
Provision; | How well care and support planned | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
KQ How good is our setting? |
This is given for the following care services: And figures and percentages given under grades: |
Provision; | How good is setting | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
KQ How good is our staff team? |
This is given for the following care services: And figures and percentages given under grades: |
Provision; | How good is staff team | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
KQ How good is our leadership? |
This is given for the following care services: And figures and percentages given under grades: |
Provision; | How good is leadership | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | CACSS | ||||
KQ How good is our care, play and learning? |
This is given for the following care services: And figures and percentages given under grades: |
Provision; | How good is care/play/learning | 2022 | 0-120 | 0 | 120 | Data manager | No | Past year | Datastore (as at 31 March 2025) Excel with Pivots | No | CACSS |
Overview
Aims
To provide statistics on complaints received and investigated about registered care services across Scotland, and to make underlying service‑level data available for analysis. The aim is to support scrutiny, regulation and improvement by showing volumes, sources and outcomes of complaints, alongside service characteristics, via an annual statistical bulletin and regularly updated Datastore.
Institution
Care Inspectorate
Geographic coverage - Nations
Scotland;
Start date
2019
Minimum age at recruitment
0
Sample Size
5,303
Sample
Study design
Administrative dataset
Sample details
Comprises complaints submitted to the Care Inspectorate about any registered care service (e.g., care homes, care at home, housing support, daycare of children, childminding). Complainants include people who experience care, their relatives or visitors, employees/ex‑employees, and members of the public; complainants may remain anonymous or confidential.
Sex
All
Sample Characteristics
Complaints about registered care services (not individual people)
Sample size at most recent sweep
In 2024/25, the Care Inspectorate received 5,303 complaints about registered care services.
Data
Individual data available (e.g. upon special request)?
No
Data Access Level
Fully open source
Data Access
https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/statistics-and-analysis/data-and-analysis
https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/statistics-and-analysis/data-and-analysis
Regional variable present?
Yes
Local Authority variable present?
Yes
Complementary Data
Care Inspectorate inspection data
COVID‑19 related CI reporting
Public Health Scotland – Care Home Census
SOURCE social care (PHS)
Genetic Data Collected
Linked Data
HDR UK Innovation Gateway
Additional information
Website
Notes
Related Measures
Study Code
CACSS
Reference paper(s)
Bach‑Mortensen, A.M. & Montgomery, P. (2019). “Does sector matter for the quality of care services? A secondary analysis of social care services regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Scotland.” BMJ Open, 9:e022975.