Adult Social Care Briefing
Issue 012 | 18 September 2026
This weekly briefing highlights significant developments affecting home managers, registered managers and senior leaders of adult social care services for older people in England, with a focus on what has changed, why it matters and what providers should be considering in practice.
This Week’s Headline
National Patient Safety Alert Issued on Hoists and Slings
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a National Patient Safety Alert on 16 September 2026 covering all types of patient hoists and slings.
The alert applies to those responsible for the use, purchase or maintenance of patient hoists across acute and community healthcare organisations, care homes, nursing homes and care services supporting people in their own homes, as well as equipment providers.
What Has Changed?
MHRA has reviewed serious incidents involving people falling from hoists or slings during transfers and repositioning.
Between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2025, MHRA received 22 reports of incidents with a fatal outcome involving patient hoists during routine transfers. These incidents occurred across hospitals, care homes and people's own homes and were not associated with a single manufacturer, model or care setting.
The alert identifies recurring factors including:
damaged, worn, missing or incorrectly assembled attachments;
incompatible hoist and sling combinations;
damaged or incorrectly seated sling loops;
ineffective pre-use checks;
inadequate or overdue maintenance, servicing or examination under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER);
use of the wrong size or type of sling;
insufficient staff training and competency assessment; and
failure to follow manufacturers' instructions for use.
All actions within the alert must be completed by 16 September 2027. MHRA requires organisations to address pre-use checks, compatibility of equipment, equipment management and maintenance, and staff training and competency.
Why It Matters
This is a formal National Patient Safety Alert, rather than general moving and handling guidance.
MHRA states that implementation should be coordinated by an executive leader or, in organisations without an executive board, an equivalent senior accountable person such as a registered manager or responsible individual.
One particularly important area is compatibility. Providers need to know that the particular sling being used is suitable for the hoist and attachment system rather than assuming that because both pieces of equipment are individually maintained they are safe to use together.
The alert also requires effective pre-use checks and specifically addresses secure attachment before the person is fully lifted.
Actions for Providers
Identify who is accountable for implementing the alert and monitoring completion.
Review all hoists and slings currently in use, including equipment used by staff supporting people in their own homes.
Confirm and document which hoists and slings are compatible, using manufacturers' instructions for use.
Check that equipment inventories identify maintenance, servicing, LOLER examination and replacement arrangements.
Review arrangements for removing equipment from use when defects, overdue examinations or other safety concerns are identified.
Check that pre-use procedures reflect the MHRA alert, including confirming attachment points are secure before a person is fully lifted.
Review moving and handling training and competency assessment against the actual hoists and sling types staff use.
Make sure staff know when to stop using equipment, escalate concerns and report incidents and near misses.
Commissioning and Market Development
£91 Million Fund Includes Adult Social Care Transformation Projects
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced £91 million on 15 September 2026 for transformation projects across 14 councils in England that are already receiving Exceptional Financial Support.
The funding is intended to support councils to transform high-cost services, including adult social care. £41 million is allocated across 2026/27 and £50 million across 2027/28.
What Has Changed?
This is targeted funding for specified councils and projects. It is not a national adult social care funding allocation.
Examples with direct adult social care relevance include:
Redbridge, where funding will support home-based technology intended to identify and prevent falls and help people remain independent; and
Brighton & Hove, where work includes closer integration between reablement and NHS services, aimed at supporting people home sooner and reducing the need for higher levels of care.
The Government says the programme is intended to modernise high-cost services and help councils move towards more sustainable arrangements.
Why It Matters
The funding itself is limited to the councils named in the announcement, but the types of projects being supported may provide useful commissioning intelligence for providers.
They reflect continued interest in areas such as prevention, independence, technology-enabled support, reablement and closer working between health and social care.
For providers, this may become relevant when demonstrating the value and outcomes of services to commissioners.
Actions for Providers
If you operate in one of the funded areas, monitor local commissioning and partnership opportunities arising from the projects.
Review whether your quality and performance information demonstrates outcomes as well as activity.
Consider how clearly you can evidence maintaining independence, preventing deterioration and supporting timely discharge.
Where technology-enabled care is introduced, ensure governance covers consent, information governance, escalation arrangements, equipment failure and evaluation of effectiveness.
Use evidence of outcomes and service impact in commissioning and fee discussions where relevant.
Workforce
Adult Social Care Workforce Survey 2026
Skills for Care and DHSC are encouraging people working in adult social care in England to take part in the 2026 Adult Social Care Workforce Survey.
The survey is being conducted by Ipsos, in partnership with Skills for Care and the University of Kent, on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. It is open to people working in care-related roles across adult social care in England, including people working in residential and domiciliary care, managers and regulated professionals.
What Has Changed?
On 16 September 2026, Oonagh Smyth, Chief Executive of Skills for Care, published a call for people working in adult social care to participate in the survey.
The survey asks about:
pay and employment conditions;
workload and wellbeing;
workplace experience;
training and career development;
what encourages people to remain in adult social care; and
what may make people consider leaving.
Managers and employers are being encouraged to share the survey with staff and allow time for them to complete it during working hours.
Voluntary responses are confidential and are not shared with individual employers or workplaces.
Why It Matters
The survey is intended to provide evidence about the experience of the adult social care workforce and inform future decisions about workforce support, including areas such as pay, training and career development.
For providers, the areas covered are also useful prompts for internal workforce assurance. Vacancy and turnover figures tell part of the story, but they do not necessarily explain why staff stay, leave or struggle.
Actions for Providers
Make staff aware of the survey and provide reasonable opportunity to participate without directing or influencing responses.
Review whether your own workforce information goes beyond vacancy and turnover figures.
Look collectively at exit interviews, supervision themes, sickness, agency use and staff feedback.
Check whether development opportunities described in workforce plans are accessible to frontline staff.
Use recurring workforce themes to inform retention, supervision and development planning.
Funding Watch
ADASS Publishes Autumn Budget Submission
ADASS published its submission to HM Treasury's Autumn Budget 2026 call for evidence, with the publication last updated on 17 September 2026.
ADASS says the submission covers areas where it believes government could stabilise and invest in adult social care ahead of the independent commission on adult social care led by Baroness Louise Casey.
What Has Changed?
This is an ADASS submission to government, not a government funding announcement and not confirmation that any of the proposals will be adopted.
Its relevance is that Directors of Adult Social Services are formally setting out their position on adult social care funding ahead of the Autumn Budget.
Why It Matters
Providers with significant local authority-funded business remain exposed to councils' financial position, commissioning decisions and fee-setting arrangements.
The ADASS submission is therefore useful context for understanding the funding debate ahead of the Budget, but providers should distinguish clearly between sector representations and confirmed government policy.
Actions for Providers
Continue to model workforce and operating cost pressures ahead of 2027/28 fee discussions.
Understand the proportion of organisational income dependent on local authority-funded placements or packages.
Maintain clear evidence of actual service costs and sustainability pressures for commissioning and fee discussions.
Avoid building unconfirmed funding proposals into budgets until government decisions are announced.
Leadership Reflection
This week's most immediate operational development is the MHRA hoist and sling alert.
The alert is useful because it goes beyond having a moving and handling policy or current LOLER documentation. Providers need assurance that the specific equipment being used together is compatible, that pre-use checks are effective and that staff competency reflects the equipment they actually use.
The wider commissioning, workforce and funding developments point to another continuing theme: providers increasingly need good evidence about outcomes, workforce stability and sustainability, rather than relying only on activity or compliance data.
Five Things I'd Be Thinking About This Week
Can we evidence that the hoist and sling combinations currently in use have been checked for compatibility?
Do our pre-use hoist checks reflect the new MHRA National Patient Safety Alert?
Are staff assessed as competent with the actual equipment they use in practice?
Can we demonstrate outcomes such as maintaining independence, prevention and reduced escalation rather than simply recording activity?
Do we understand why staff stay with us and why they leave?
Sources
National Patient Safety Alert: Patient hoists and slings (all types): risk of death and serious harm from falls (NatPSA/2026/005/MHRA)Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Published and issued 16 September 2026 https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/national-patient-safety-alert-patient-hoists-and-slings-all-types-risk-of-death-and-serious-harm-from-falls-natpsa-slash-2026-slash-005-slash-mhra
National Patient Safety Alert Supporting Information. Patient hoists and slings: incidents and case examples. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Published 16 September 2026 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-patient-safety-alert-supporting-information-patient-hoists-and-slings-incidents-and-case-examples/national-patient-safety-alert-supporting-information-patient-hoists-and-slings-incidents-and-case-examples
Councils' high-cost services to be transformed through £91m fund Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Published 15 September 2026 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/councils-high-cost-services-to-be-transformed-through-91m-fund
Have Your Say: Shape the Future of Working in Adult Social Care Department of Health and Social Care Social Care Blog — Oonagh Smyth CBE, Chief Executive, Skills for Care Published 16 September 2026 https://socialcare.blog.gov.uk/2026/09/16/have-your-say-shape-the-future-of-working-in-adult-social-care/
Adult social care workforce survey 2026Skills for Care Current survey page, accessed 18 September 2026 https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Get-involved/Adult-social-care-workforce-survey-2026.aspx
ADASS submission to the Autumn Budget 2026Association of Directors of Adult Social Services Last updated 17 September 2026 https://www.adass.org.uk/documents/adass-submission-to-the-autumn-budget-2026/
Winter planning 2026/27 – expectations and assurance NHS England Published 17 July 2026; publication page updated 22 July 2026 https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/winter-planning-2026-27-expectations-and-assurance/
Editorial Note
This briefing covers material developments reviewed between 11 and 18 September 2026.
The MHRA hoist and sling alert is a formal National Patient Safety Alert and contains actions for organisations within scope to complete by 16 September 2027.
The £91 million local government funding announcement relates to 14 specified councils and should not be interpreted as a general adult social care funding settlement.
The Adult Social Care Workforce Survey is voluntary and does not introduce a new provider reporting requirement.
The ADASS Budget submission represents the position of ADASS and is not government policy, confirmed funding or an agreed Budget measure.
The Why It Matters, Actions for Providers, Leadership Reflection and Five Things I'd Be Thinking About This Week sections contain professional interpretation and practical considerations based on the verified source material.
Looking Ahead
30 September — Winter Planning Assurance
NHS England's Winter planning 2026/27 – expectations and assurance was originally published in July. It is included here because the 30 September 2026 assurance deadline is now approaching, rather than because it is a new publication this week.
NHS England requires ICBs and NHS providers to submit board assurance statements by 30 September. The guidance says local winter plans should be developed jointly across NHS services, local authorities, social care and the third sector and includes expectations around sufficient social care and intermediate-care capacity, discharge arrangements and infection prevention and control in care homes and the wider care sector. This does not create an NHS board-return requirement for individual care providers. However, providers should understand their local winter escalation, discharge, capacity and infection-control arrangements and know how concerns will be escalated when local pathways are under pressure.
If there is a regulatory update, guidance document or sector issue you would like featured in a future edition of the Adult Social Care Briefing, I'd be pleased to hear from you.
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