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Care Inspectorate self-evaluation template for Scotland.

A free, printable self-evaluation template a Scottish care service can copy or print. It walks the adult-care key questions the Care Inspectorate uses, and for each one gives you an evidence prompt, a self-grade and an improvement action to fill in.

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A free reference resource. Copy it, print it, or run it over WhatsApp.

How to use this template

Copy it, walk the service, be honest.

Print this template or copy it into your own document. Take it round the service and, for each key question, note the evidence you can actually see, grade yourself honestly on the six-point scale, and write the one action that would move the grade. The value is not the grade you give yourself. It is the gap you find while there is still time to close it. Work from the Care Inspectorate's current published quality framework and the Health and Social Care Standards, as the exact indicator wording is updated from time to time.

The key questions

What the template covers.

Care and support

How good is our care and support?

The key question most weighted at inspection: are people's wellbeing, choices and outcomes at the centre of the support they receive?

 Setting

How good is our setting?

Is the environment safe, clean, suitable and welcoming, and does it support people's wellbeing and independence?

 Staff team

How good is our staff team?

Is the team recruited safely, skilled, supported and deployed in the numbers people's needs require?

 Leadership

How good is our leadership?

Is leadership visionary and accountable, with self-evaluation, improvement and quality assurance that genuinely work?

Run the template over WhatsApp

The same template, no clipboard.

Quickler can run this same self-evaluation template as a WhatsApp workflow. The manager or quality lead walks the service and answers each prompt with text, a voice note or a photo. The report and improvement plan build themselves. £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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This is a free Care Inspectorate self-evaluation template for a Scottish care service. It is structured around the adult-care key questions the Care Inspectorate uses, so the judgements you make here map to what an inspector assesses. Copy it into your own document, print it, or run it as a live workflow. The template is deliberately simple: for each key question you record the evidence you can see, grade yourself on the six-point scale, and write the action that would move the grade.

The exact quality indicator wording changes from time to time, so always work from the Care Inspectorate's current published quality framework and the Health and Social Care Standards. Treat this as general information, not regulatory advice.

The short version

  • This template covers the four adult-care key questions: care and support, setting, staff team, and leadership.
  • For each, it prompts the quality indicator area, the evidence to gather, a self-grade on the six-point scale, and an improvement action.
  • Grade yourself honestly. A candid weak grade with a clear action reads better than a generous grade you cannot evidence.
  • Work from the Care Inspectorate's current published framework and standards, as the exact indicator strings are updated over time.
  • Quickler can run this same template as a WhatsApp workflow, capturing evidence at the point you observe it.
  • Quickler is not a care record, an eMAR or a care management system. It is the evaluation and evidence layer around them.

Key question 1

How good is our care and support?

The key question most weighted at inspection. Work from the current published quality indicators for this key question and record honest evidence against each row.

Quality indicator areaEvidence to gatherSelf-grade (1 to 6)Improvement action
People experience compassion, dignity and respectObserved interactions; residents' and families' own words; complaints and how they were resolved  
Care and support is right for each personPersonal plans reviewed and current; outcomes tracked; choices recorded and honoured  
Health and wellbeing benefit from care and supportNutrition, activity, mental wellbeing evidence; input from health professionals; how deterioration is spotted and acted on  
People are safe and protected from harmSafeguarding records; risk assessments current; medication handling; accident and incident trends  

Key question 2

How good is our setting?

Whether the environment supports people's wellbeing, safety and independence. Photograph what you can and note what a visitor would notice.

Quality indicator areaEvidence to gatherSelf-grade (1 to 6)Improvement action
The setting is safe, clean and well maintainedCleanliness walkround; maintenance and repair log; infection prevention measures in place  
The setting supports wellbeing and independenceSignage, lighting, quiet and social spaces; access to outdoors; personalisation of rooms  
Equipment and premises are suitableEquipment servicing records; adaptations meet needs; environment risk assessments current  

Key question 3

How good is our staff team?

Whether the team is recruited safely, skilled, supported and deployed in the numbers people need.

Quality indicator areaEvidence to gatherSelf-grade (1 to 6)Improvement action
Staff are recruited and inducted safelySafer recruitment checks; PVG scheme records; induction completed and evidenced  
Staff have the right skills and are supportedTraining matrix current; supervision and appraisal records; registration with the SSSC where required  
Staffing levels meet people's needsDependency assessments; rotas against need; how gaps and absence are covered  

Key question 4

How good is our leadership?

Often where grades turn. Whether leadership is visionary, accountable, and drives its own improvement.

Quality indicator areaEvidence to gatherSelf-grade (1 to 6)Improvement action
Vision, values and culture are strongHow values are lived day to day; staff and resident views; how concerns are raised and heard  
Quality assurance and improvement workThis self-evaluation itself; audit programme; improvement plan with owners and dates; action taken on findings  
Leadership is accountable and developingGovernance and oversight; how the manager develops the team; response to previous inspection findings  

After you fill it in

Turn the grades into an improvement plan

A completed self-evaluation is only worth the action behind it. Once every row has an honest grade, take every row you graded three or below and turn its improvement action into a task with an owner and a date. That is the improvement plan an inspector wants to see, and it is what raises a grade over time. Filing the completed template and doing nothing changes nothing.

If you run this template as a Quickler WhatsApp workflow, each low self-grade becomes a flagged action automatically, so the walk turns straight into the plan. The self-evaluation stays the manager's honest judgement; the tool just removes the clipboard and the retyping.

Questions, answered

Is there an official Care Inspectorate self-evaluation template?

The Care Inspectorate publishes its quality framework and supporting self-evaluation materials, and these are updated from time to time. This page gives a free, general template structured around the adult-care key questions so you can start today, but you should always work from the Care Inspectorate's current published framework and standards for the exact indicator wording. Treat this template as general information, not regulatory advice.

How do the self-grades work?

Scottish care services are graded on a six-point scale, from one for unsatisfactory up to six for excellent. Grade each row honestly against the current published quality indicators. A candid low grade with a clear improvement action is worth more than a generous grade you cannot evidence.

Can I print this template or copy it?

Yes. It is free to copy into your own document or print and take round the service. There is no sign-up needed to use it. If you would rather run it without a clipboard, Quickler can deliver the same template as a WhatsApp workflow.

How much does Quickler cost if I want to run this as a workflow?

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, so you can run this self-evaluation without paying anything. Quickler is not a care record or care management system; it is the evaluation and evidence layer around them.

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