Adult Social Care Insights, Governance & Quality Improvement

I'm on holiday in Greece, answering emails and taking calls, despite being my own boss! Why is switching off so difficult for care managers, even when nobody has actually asked us to stay available?

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing looks at the latest Skills for Care workforce findings, delegated healthcare activities, a National Patient Safety Alert on blood ketone testing, and recent CQC findings on staffing, leadership and assurance.

Some of the people who make the biggest difference in a care home are not always the ones delivering direct care. This blog reflects on the everyday relationships built by kitchen, domestic, maintenance, laundry and reception teams, and why those ordinary human connections matter so much.

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing covers new dementia research investment, Skills for Care workforce training, developments in AI regulation, telecare safety guidance and CQC inspection findings, with practical implications for adult social care providers.

How safe is safe enough? In Episode 3 of Beyond the Audit, I explore positive risk-taking in adult social care, the assumptions we make about people’s abilities, and how keeping people safe can quietly become stopping them living.

I once worked in a dementia service that had a workshop, with tools and practical activities. When we were going through the registration process, I was asked whether that was really safe considering the client group. I remember being so irritated by the question, because it seemed to start from the assumption that dementia somehow made the whole idea questionable! The person who asked me with real shock, did not know if the people who would use the space had been working wit

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing covers the government’s plans for a National Care Service, new adult social care workforce measures, DHSC guidance on digital care and AI, delayed national data releases, and new MHRA clinical safety advice.

A service can improve quickly when everyone is watching. The harder test is whether those changes last once the extra scrutiny, support and pressure begin to step back. This is a reflection on what sustainable improvement really looks like and a lesson I learned the hard way.

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing covers the 30 September Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag deadline, the Independent Commission’s new Public Panel on Care, and forthcoming national adult social care activity and finance data. Practical updates for providers, with the key actions and dates leaders need to have on their radar.

Episode 2 of Beyond the Audit explores how poor practice can gradually become normalised through shortcuts, workarounds and small compromises and why good governance means understanding what actually happens when things get busy.

Person-centred care is about far more than adding someone's name to a care plan. I look at what care records actually tell us about the person, their choices and independence, and why poor mental capacity assessments can undermine genuinely person-centred care.

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing covers the new MHRA hoist and sling safety alert, adult social care transformation funding, the 2026 workforce survey and the latest ADASS funding position, with practical actions for providers.

Moving to digital care records can improve care planning, oversight and access to information, but technology won’t fix poor records or weak governance. Using real CQC findings, I look at what can go right, what can go wrong and what providers should check before and after go-live.

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing covers the Health Bill’s move to the House of Lords, recent CQC inspection findings and the Government’s new AI Risk Management Toolkit, with practical actions for managers and senior leaders across older people’s services.

What happens when managing a difficult situation turns into treating someone badly? A look at suspension, isolation, workplace culture and the impact on staff, residents and families.

Issue 010 | 3 September 2026 A weekly briefing highlighting significant developments affecting leaders of adult social care services for older people in England, with a focus on what providers need to know and what they should be considering in practice. This Week’s Headline DBS Publishes New Eligibility Guidance for Adult Social Care Roles The Disclosure and Barring Service published new eligibility guidance on 1 September 2026, alongside an updated version of its guidance s

How does poor practice become “just how we do things here”? A look at how everyday pressures, shortcuts and workplace culture can gradually shape care, and why good governance needs to spot the patterns before they become the norm.

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing covers the new UKHSA infection resource for adult social care, the next stage of the Fair Pay Agreement and the latest developments around hospital discharge. Practical actions and considerations for care home leaders.

Saying sorry after something has gone wrong does not necessarily mean admitting fault. This article explores Duty of Candour, why apologies cause so much uncertainty, and how we can balance regulation, professional judgement and the very human need to acknowledge what someone has experienced.

This week’s Adult Social Care Briefing looks at NICE’s new consultation on aggressive behaviour in people receiving NHS or social care, alongside CQC’s latest local authority assessments. Key themes include restrictive practice, risk management, safe transitions, system pressures and what these developments mean in practice for care-home leaders.