I continually receive many questions around the Scottish Social Services Council. Here I thought I would attempt to encapsulate the aims of the SSSC.
Regulatory
It was set up to regulate the social care workforce in Scotland. Both employees and employers have responsibilities under a code of practice which sets out the behaviours and values expected of social service workers and their employers.
Most social care staff must register with the SSSC and attain the required qualification commensurate with their role within 5 years of registering.
Information can be found here on the various roles that must register. If the worker is already registered with another regulatory body such as the NMC, there is no need to register with the SSSC. There is a fee to register and an ongoing annual fee (the fee is dependent on the role). If the employee fails to register/re-register, then they must not work in the role until they are registered.
There are approximately 200,000 people working in social care in Scotland, meaning roughly 1 person in 13 work in social care.
Registration
First you need to set up your MySSSC account. You can do this on your smartphone, PC or tablet.
To set up your account you need:
- A secure, personal email address
- Your National Insurance number
After you have set up your account, you will be sent an email to validate your account. Click on the link in the email; you can then log in and begin your application.
Make sure you have the following details ready before you start, to make the process quick and easy:
- Your personal email address where we can contact you about your application
- Your National Insurance number
- The Register part(s) you are applying for
- The care service number or postcode of where you work
- The name of the organisation you work for if you are a supply worker
- Any relevant qualifications as well as the award certificates (you will also need to send a copy of these to the SSSC)
- Any criminal offences. You only need to tell the SSSC about any relevant criminal convictions not all criminal convictions. Please see the Criminal Conviction Guidance to see what you should tell the SSSC. Please make sure you read and understand the information from Disclosure Scotland
- Any disciplinary matters
- Any health matters you need to tell the SSSC about (see our guidance document)
Your application must be endorsed by your employer countersigning it. When submitting your form, you also need to pay the correct fee. If you do not pay the fee, it will not be processed.
It can take up to three months to approve an application. You will be contacted if you have missed out any information and it may take longer for them to approve your application.
Educational
There are some excellent resources for all to use and these are free, always current and responsive to the many changes that occur during this pandemic.
The workforce is supported by resources below:
As well as many resources, there is an informative newsletter which keeps individuals up to date with Scottish Government initiatives, such as funding for digital resources in care homes and wellbeing webinars for health and social care staff.
Have a look on their site; it is easy to navigate and use. Good Luck.
