Adult Social Care Insights, Governance & Quality Improvement

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.

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.

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.

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.

When too much knowledge, judgement and follow-through sits with one person, a service can look strong while still being surprisingly fragile. Succession planning is not just about who might take over next; it is about developing people, sharing judgement and building enough leadership depth before you actually need it.

What happens in the first 24 hours after a significant incident can shape everything that follows. This article explores leadership, governance, Duty of Candour and why good organisations put people first when it matters most.

Different providers. Different services. Different inspectors. Yet the same themes continue to appear. Why do medicines, care planning, oversight and record keeping remain recurring findings in Requires Improvement reports?