Guide · Health Care

Complaints and notifiable events for the Care Inspectorate.

Scottish care services have two distinct duties: handle complaints properly, and notify the Care Inspectorate of certain events. Both turn on recording what happened, when, promptly and accurately. Here is why timely capture matters, and exactly where a tool like Quickler helps and where it stops.

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The point

Both duties turn on the record.

A complaint handled well and a notifiable event managed properly both depend on the same thing: an accurate, dated record of what happened, made close to when it happened. Memory fades and details drift. Capture the facts at the point they are known and both the complaints response and any notification rest on solid ground. This page is about keeping that evidence current. It is not the Care Inspectorate's process, which you must follow directly.

Two duties

Related, but not the same.

Complaints

Handle complaints properly

Record the complaint, respond within your procedure, and evidence what you did. People can also complain directly to the Care Inspectorate.

 Notifications

Notify certain events

Certain events must be notified to the Care Inspectorate, in the way and time its guidance sets out. Refer to the current notifiable events guidance for the list.

 Evidence

Capture on the day

Both rest on a prompt, accurate record. Capture the incident and its evidence when it is fresh, not reconstructed later.

Capture the incident on the day

Record what happened while it is fresh.

Quickler records that an incident occurred and captures the evidence over WhatsApp, at the point you observe it. It is not a case-management or notification-submission system; you follow the Care Inspectorate's process. £20 per active user per month with a £20 monthly minimum, plus a free tier of 20 reports a month, extra dormant users always free

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Scottish care services carry two related but distinct duties around things going wrong: handling complaints properly, and making notifications to the Care Inspectorate about certain events. They are not the same duty, and it is worth keeping them separate in your own systems. What they share is that both stand or fall on the record: an accurate account of what happened, captured promptly, close to when it happened.

The exact list of notifiable events, and the way and time in which they must be notified, are set by the Care Inspectorate and updated from time to time. This page does not reproduce that list. Always refer to the Care Inspectorate's current notifiable events guidance, and follow its process directly. Treat this page as general information, not regulatory advice.

The short version

  • Complaints handling and notifiable events are two distinct duties, both important to the Care Inspectorate.
  • Complaints must be recorded and handled through your procedure; people can also complain directly to the Care Inspectorate.
  • Certain events must be notified to the Care Inspectorate in the way and time its guidance sets out; the exact list changes, so refer to the current notifiable events guidance.
  • Both duties turn on a prompt, accurate, dated record of what happened, captured when it is fresh rather than reconstructed later.
  • Quickler records that an incident occurred and captures the evidence at the point of work.
  • Quickler is NOT an incident case-management or statutory-notification submission system. Services must follow the Care Inspectorate's own notification process.

Duty one

Handling complaints

A care service should have a clear complaints procedure, record every complaint it receives, respond within the timescales its procedure sets, and be able to evidence what it did and what changed as a result. Complaints are a source of improvement, not just a risk to manage, and an inspector will look at how well a service listens and acts. People using a service, and their families, can also complain directly to the Care Inspectorate, so a service's own handling and the regulator's route sit alongside each other.

The record matters throughout. A complaint captured accurately at the point it is raised, with dates and the actions taken logged as they happen, gives a clear, defensible account. A complaint reconstructed weeks later from memory does not. The value of good capture is that the response and its evidence rest on facts recorded while they were fresh.

Duty two

Notifiable events

Separately from complaints, the Care Inspectorate requires services to notify it of certain events. The point of notification is that the regulator learns promptly about things that matter to people's safety and wellbeing, so it can respond and, where needed, act. Timeliness is part of the duty: a notification is only useful if it is made in the way and within the time the guidance sets.

The exact events that must be notified, and how and when, are defined by the Care Inspectorate and change over time. This page deliberately does not list them, because a stale list is worse than none. Refer to the Care Inspectorate's current notifiable events guidance for what must be notified and by when, and make the notification through its own process. What a service can control on its side is that the underlying incident is recorded accurately and promptly, so the notification, when made, is grounded in a solid record.

Scope, honestly

Exactly what Quickler does and does not do

Be clear on the boundary, because it matters here more than anywhere. Quickler records that an incident occurred and captures the evidence around it: what happened, when, who observed it, and photos where relevant, over WhatsApp, at the point of work. That gives a service a prompt, dated, searchable record to draw on when handling a complaint or preparing a notification, and a live dashboard for a manager overseeing several services.

Quickler is not an incident case-management system, and it is not a statutory-notification submission system. It does not manage a complaint through to resolution as a case tool would, it does not send notifications to the Care Inspectorate, and it is not a care record, an eMAR or a clinical record. Services must follow the Care Inspectorate's own notification process, and must handle complaints through their own procedure. Quickler captures the evidence; the duties, and the submissions, remain with the service. Quickler is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Care Inspectorate, and whether your evidence satisfies an inspection is a judgement for you and your inspector.

Questions, answered

What must be notified to the Care Inspectorate?

The Care Inspectorate requires services to notify it of certain events relating to people's safety and wellbeing, in the way and within the time its guidance sets out. The exact list is defined by the Care Inspectorate and changes from time to time, so always refer to its current notifiable events guidance for what must be notified and by when, and make the notification through its own process. Treat this page as general information, not regulatory advice.

Is complaints handling the same as making a notification?

No. They are two distinct duties. Complaints handling is your procedure for recording and responding to complaints, and people can also complain directly to the Care Inspectorate. Notifications are separate: the Care Inspectorate requires you to notify it of certain events. Keep them separate in your systems, even though both depend on an accurate, prompt record of what happened.

Why does timely recording matter so much?

Because both duties rest on the record. A complaint response and a notification are only as reliable as the account behind them. Facts captured at the point an incident is known, with dates and photos, give a clear and defensible record. Facts reconstructed weeks later from memory do not. Prompt capture is the single most useful thing a service controls on its own side.

Does Quickler send notifications to the Care Inspectorate?

No. Quickler records that an incident occurred and captures the evidence, but it is not a case-management or statutory-notification submission system. It does not send notifications and it does not manage a complaint to resolution. You must follow the Care Inspectorate's own notification process and your own complaints procedure. Quickler is £20 per active user per month, with a £20 minimum. An active user is someone who completed at least two workflows that month, so dormant users are free and you only pay for who actually works. There is a free tier of 20 reports per month with up to 10 photos per report. Quickler is not a care record or care management system.

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