Near Me is a video consulting service that enables people to have health and social care appointments from home or wherever is convenient. All you need is a device for making video calls like a smartphone and an internet connection.
This enables our inspectors to call services and see inside care homes while we do not physically visit with shielding arrangements currently in place due to the risk of COVID-19. We are currently in the process of calling all care homes – so far we have called over 200 – to help them use Near Me. Find out more at www.nearme.scot
Near Me is a secure form of video consulting approved for use by the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland. Guidance is available for care homes, residential homes, housing associations and hospices.
Guidance on using Near Me
Visit the Near Me website and watch a demo on YouTube to find out how you can use it.
The NHS Attend Anywhere website tells all you need to know to set up including advice on browsers, bandwidth and more.
The Scottish Government Digital Health and Care Directorate’s Technology Enabled Care’s website has lots of useful information including guidance on gaining consent from young people and guardians to use Near Me, infection control of equipment, and implementation guidance including for care homes, and for police custody, which may be useful for secure units.
Further guidance is also available for implementing Near Me in:
Using Near Me in residential child care settings
We are encouraging residential care providers for children and young people to become familiar with the video consulting tool Near Me as we may use it to engage with care providers and see inside services during these times when a physical visit is not appropriate. If you would like to find out more or try a test call, please email senior improvement adviser Yvonne Leathley at improvementsupport@careinspectorate.gov.scot
