Adult Social Care Briefing
Issue 019 | 5 November 2026
This week's briefing examines the latest evidence about people's experiences of adult social care, new government guidance on making better use of digital care records, CQC findings concerning clinical oversight and positive risk-taking, and an MHRA medication recall relevant to care services.
The Adult Social Care Survey is particularly interesting. Although satisfaction with care remains high, fewer than half of respondents reported having as much social contact as they wanted, while more than a quarter said they never leave their home.
There is also a useful development for providers already investing in digital systems. DHSC's new guidance encourages organisations to make better use of the functionality they already have, rather than treating digital transformation as a continuous process of buying something else.
This Week's Headline
Adult Social Care Survey 2025/26: Satisfaction Remains High, but Quality-of-Life Findings Deserve Attention
Published: 29 October 2026
What Has Changed?
The Department of Health and Social Care has published the Adult Social Care Survey Report, England: 2025 to 2026, examining the experiences of adults receiving long-term care and support provided or commissioned by local authorities.
The survey received 56,835 completed questionnaires from an eligible population of 659,155 people. Responses were received from 152 of England's 153 local authorities, with an overall response rate of 23%.
The national findings show:
88.4% of people were satisfied with the care and support they received, including 64.8% who were very or extremely satisfied.
46% reported having as much social contact as they wanted.
6.7% reported having little social contact and feeling socially isolated.
70.5% felt as safe as they wanted.
32.4% described their quality of life as very good or as good as it could be.
27.9% reported that they never leave their home.
29.8% felt able to get to all the places in their local area that they wanted to visit.
Most of these measures showed little change from the previous year.
The results are weighted estimates for people receiving long-term support arranged or commissioned by local authorities. They should not be interpreted as representing everyone receiving adult social care, including all self-funders.
Why It Matters
The findings provide an interesting contrast between people's satisfaction with the care they receive and their wider experiences of daily life.
It is entirely possible for someone to be satisfied with the support provided by care staff while experiencing loneliness, limited independence or difficulty maintaining relationships and interests.
These outcomes are influenced by many factors, including health, mobility, housing, personal circumstances and access to community services. They cannot automatically be attributed to the quality of an individual care provider.
However, the findings should encourage organisations to consider whether their approach to quality assurance adequately reflects the things people value.
In care homes, this may include opportunities to maintain relationships, make everyday decisions, participate in community life and continue pursuing personal interests.
For homecare providers, it may involve considering how care arrangements support people to maintain independence and their usual routines, particularly where commissioned visits concentrate heavily on essential personal care tasks.
The survey also raises questions about the outcomes commissioners expect services to achieve and whether the time and resources available are sufficient to support them.
Actions for Providers
I would use these findings to examine how people's experiences influence care planning and service improvement.
Satisfaction surveys are useful, but they should be considered alongside individual conversations, observations and evidence of whether people are achieving outcomes that are important to them.
Where someone experiences social isolation or limited opportunities to leave their home, the response needs to reflect their wishes and circumstances.
Not everyone wants a busy social calendar, and participation should never become another task to complete.
For organisations delivering several services, there is also an opportunity to consider how information about people's experiences is presented at provider and board level, alongside more familiar measures of safety, staffing and clinical outcomes.
My view
We have become increasingly sophisticated at measuring care delivery, yet the national findings suggest there is still considerable work to do in understanding people's wider experiences.
Someone can have an excellent care plan, receive their medication safely and have every clinical risk appropriately assessed, while still spending much of their day feeling isolated.
Good care involves more than the absence of harm. It should also support people to live in ways that are meaningful to them.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care, Adult Social Care Survey Report, England: 2025 to 2026, published 29 October 2026.
Digital Care and Clinical Governance
DHSC Publishes Guidance on Making Better Use of Digital Social Care Records
Published: 3 November 2026
What Has Changed?
The Department of Health and Social Care has published Digital Social Care Records: How to Get More From Your System.
The guidance is aimed at providers, registered managers and deputy managers who already use digital social care records.
Rather than concentrating on selecting or implementing a system, it examines how organisations can improve the way existing technology is used.
It identifies functions that providers may not be using fully, including:
Digital handovers and task management.
Alerts and escalation flags.
Reporting dashboards.
Voice-to-text recording.
Incident and concern management workflows.
Family communication portals.
Offline working.
Access to relevant health information, where available and appropriately authorised.
The guidance also discusses staff confidence, device availability, connectivity and the importance of consistent recording practices.
Why It Matters
Digital care records are increasingly central to care delivery and governance, but the benefits depend on how effectively systems are configured and used.
An organisation may have moved away from paper records while retaining duplicated documentation, inconsistent recording and separate reporting arrangements.
This can be particularly problematic for providers operating multiple services.
If individual homes record similar incidents or clinical outcomes differently, comparing performance becomes difficult. Even where dashboards are available, their usefulness depends on the quality and consistency of the information entered.
There is also an important distinction between recording information and responding to it.
An alert indicating repeated weight loss, low fluid intake or increasing falls is only useful if someone reviews the information, considers the clinical implications and ensures appropriate action follows.
The new guidance encourages providers to examine how digital systems support everyday practice, rather than assuming that further investment is always the answer.
Actions for Providers
I would begin by reviewing the functionality already available within the organisation's digital care system.
In particular, consider whether managers are using reporting functions effectively, whether clinical alerts reach the appropriate people and whether staff are recording information consistently.
It may also be worth discussing unused functionality with system suppliers, especially where organisations are maintaining additional processes that could potentially be managed within existing software.
Any changes should be supported by appropriate staff training, access controls and clear expectations about recording and escalation.
The objective should be to improve care delivery and management oversight while reducing unnecessary duplication.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care, Digital Social Care Records: How to Get More From Your System, published 3 November 2026.
Regulation and Clinical Safety
CQC Inspection Identifies Serious Failures in the Oversight of Delegated Healthcare Activities
Published: 30 October 2026
What Has Changed?
CQC has rated Ideal Care Services, a domiciliary care provider in Tunbridge Wells, Inadequate and placed it in special measures.
Inspectors identified breaches of six regulations, with concerns involving safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, person-centred care and governance.
Of particular significance were findings concerning clinical interventions being undertaken without appropriate organisational oversight.
Inspectors found that staff were administering insulin despite the provider's understanding that they were not carrying out this activity.
The service had not established adequate arrangements for clinical guidance, competency assurance and professional oversight.
CQC also identified concerns involving epilepsy management, including insufficient guidance about emergency medication and recording of seizures.
Other findings related to pressure injury risk management, equipment guidance and safeguarding concerns documented in care notes that had not been appropriately escalated.
Why It Matters
The insulin finding is particularly concerning because it suggests a gap between the care being delivered and the organisation's understanding of its own practice.
As more people with complex health needs receive care in community settings, care workers may be involved in delegated healthcare activities.
These arrangements require clarity about the clinical intervention, the registered healthcare professional responsible for delegation, the person's individual needs and the competence of the worker undertaking the activity.
The provider must also understand what is happening within its services and have effective arrangements for supervision, escalation and review.
The findings concerning safeguarding information recorded in daily notes raise a related issue.
Care documentation may contain important evidence of deterioration, injury or possible abuse, but recording the information does not guarantee that appropriate action follows.
Actions for Providers
For services supporting people with complex clinical needs, I would consider whether organisational leaders have a clear understanding of all healthcare activities being undertaken by care workers.
This includes activities that may have developed gradually as people's needs have changed.
There should be evidence of appropriate delegation, individual clinical guidance, competency assessment, ongoing supervision and clear escalation arrangements.
It is also worth examining how information recorded in daily care notes is reviewed, particularly where concerns are repeated or may require safeguarding or clinical intervention.
The purpose is to establish whether the organisation's understanding of care delivery reflects what is actually happening.
Source: Care Quality Commission, Ideal Care Services – Inspection Findings, published 30 October 2026.
Person-Centred Care and Positive Risk-Taking
CQC Awards Outstanding Rating to Shropshire Nursing Home
Published: 30 October 2026
What Has Changed?
CQC has rated Woodside Place, a nursing home in Telford operated by Exemplar Health Care, Outstanding following its first inspection.
The service supports adults with complex care needs and was rated Outstanding for Caring, Responsive and Well-led, and Good for Safe and Effective.
Inspectors highlighted an approach that actively supported people's independence, individual goals and positive risk-taking.
Examples included supporting people to develop confidence using public transport, learn practical skills and plan activities that were important to them.
CQC also identified effective communication between staff, families and healthcare professionals, alongside management arrangements supporting the monitoring of people's health and wellbeing.
Why It Matters
The findings offer a useful example of how clinical safety and personal independence can be considered together.
People receiving nursing care may have significant physical disabilities, complex health conditions or other needs requiring substantial professional support.
However, those needs should not automatically determine the extent to which someone can participate in ordinary life or pursue personal ambitions.
Positive risk-taking requires professional judgement, appropriate assessment and collaborative planning. It also requires staff to understand that supporting independence may involve accepting reasonable and proportionate risks.
Actions for Providers
I would consider how consistently care planning reflects people's own goals and aspirations, particularly where there are complex clinical needs.
Risk assessments should support informed decisions about how activities can be undertaken safely, rather than becoming reasons for restricting them without sufficient consideration.
There is also value in examining how services recognise successful outcomes involving independence, confidence and personal achievement.
These experiences can provide important evidence of person-centred care that is not always reflected in traditional quality reports.
Source: Care Quality Commission, CQC Rates Shropshire Care Home as Outstanding in First Inspection, published 30 October 2026.
Medicines and Patient Safety
MHRA Issues Recall Following Incorrect-Strength Lercanidipine Packaging
Published: 29 October 2026
What Has Changed?
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has issued a Class 2 medicines recall concerning one batch of Accord-UK Lercanidipine Hydrochloride 10mg Film-Coated Tablets.
The recall follows a report that a sealed carton labelled as containing 10mg tablets included one blister strip of the correct strength and another containing 20mg tablets.
The affected product details are:
Medicine: Lercanidipine Hydrochloride 10mg Film-Coated Tablets Manufacturer: Accord-UK Ltd Batch: M2510877Expiry: November 2028Pack size: 28 tablets MHRA reference: EL(26)A/45
The recall is directed at pharmacies and wholesalers rather than being a general patient-level recall.
However, the MHRA has advised that people with affected packs should check the blister strips and contact their pharmacy if an incorrect strength is identified.
Taking an unintended higher dose could increase the risk of adverse effects, including dizziness, headache, flushing, palpitations and low blood pressure.
Why It Matters
Lercanidipine is used to treat hypertension and may be prescribed to people receiving residential, nursing or community care.
The alert is relevant to medication management because it involves a discrepancy between the labelled strength on the outer packaging and the contents of an individual blister strip.
It reinforces the importance of checking medication against the prescription and the information on the immediate packaging, rather than relying solely on the outer carton.
Actions for Providers
Medication leads should be aware of the alert and ensure that any concerns about affected packs are discussed with the supplying pharmacy.
Where a discrepancy is identified, the incorrect medication should not be administered and advice should be obtained from the pharmacist or prescriber.
If there is concern that someone may already have received the incorrect strength, appropriate clinical advice should be sought, particularly where symptoms of hypotension or other adverse effects are present.
Providers should follow the MHRA's published instructions and avoid introducing unnecessary blanket actions for unaffected stock.
Source: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Class 2 Medicines Recall: Accord-UK Ltd, Lercanidipine Hydrochloride 10mg Film-Coated Tablets, EL(26)A/45, published 29 October 2026.
Leadership Reflection
Good Information Is Only Useful When It Changes Something
There is an interesting connection between this week's Adult Social Care Survey, the new digital records guidance and CQC's inspection findings.
Each provides a different perspective on how organisations understand the care they deliver.
The national survey gives us information about people's experiences, including satisfaction, independence and social contact.
Digital care records provide opportunities to recognise changes in people's needs and improve clinical oversight.
CQC's findings demonstrate what can happen when organisational leaders do not have a sufficiently accurate understanding of the care being delivered.
For me, the question is how effectively these different sources of information influence decisions.
It is possible to have comprehensive care records, extensive reporting arrangements and regular governance meetings without necessarily improving outcomes.
Equally, a service may have relatively simple systems but use them effectively because staff and managers understand the people they support, recognise concerns and respond appropriately.
The findings from Woodside Place provide a reminder that good care also involves supporting people to achieve things that are important to them.
We should be interested in clinical outcomes, safeguarding, medication safety and regulatory compliance. But we should also understand whether people are maintaining relationships, making choices and enjoying their lives.
I would be interested in how often those conversations feature in organisational quality reports.
There is plenty of room for clinical data and personal outcomes within the same governance framework. We simply need to make sure one does not disappear behind the other.
Five Things I'd Be Thinking About This Week
People's experiences: Are we using feedback to understand independence, relationships and quality of life, alongside satisfaction with care?
Digital systems: Are we using the reporting and alerting functions already available within our care records, and is the information supporting timely decisions?
Clinical delegation: Do we know which healthcare activities are being undertaken across our services, and can we demonstrate appropriate competence and professional oversight?
Positive risk-taking: Are care plans and risk assessments helping people achieve personal goals, particularly where they have complex health needs?
Medication safety: Are our arrangements for receiving, checking and administering medication sufficiently robust to identify discrepancies between packaging, prescriptions and the medication supplied?
Looking Ahead
November 2026 – Safeguarding Adults Statistics
The Department of Health and Social Care is expected to publish the Safeguarding Adults, England: 2025 to 2026 statistical report during November.
The publication will provide updated national information about safeguarding concerns, enquiries and outcomes.
It will be useful for examining changes in safeguarding activity and the wider context in which local safeguarding arrangements operate.
November 2026 – Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Statistics
The annual Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards statistical release is also scheduled for November.
Following CQC's recent findings about delays and outstanding applications, the updated figures will provide further evidence about demand, assessment times and authorisation arrangements.
19 November 2026 – UK Covid-19 Inquiry
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is expected to publish its report examining Test, Trace and Isolate arrangements.
Following the October publication of its care sector report, the findings may provide additional evidence relevant to emergency planning, infection management and workforce protection.
Source for scheduled DHSC publications:
Sources
All principal sources below are original publications from government departments or statutory regulators.
Department of Health and Social Care (29 October 2026). Adult Social Care Survey Report, England: 2025 to 2026.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/adult-social-care-survey-report-england-2025-to-2026
Department of Health and Social Care (29 October 2026). Adult Social Care Survey Report: Commentary.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/adult-social-care-survey-report-england-2025-to-2026/adult-social-care-survey-report-england-2025-to-2026-commentary
Department of Health and Social Care (3 November 2026). Digital Social Care Records: How to Get More From Your System.https://www.gov.uk/guidance/digital-social-care-records-how-to-get-more-from-your-system
Care Quality Commission (30 October 2026). Ideal Care Services – Inspection Report.https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-19891348756/reports/AP28387/overall
Care Quality Commission (30 October 2026). CQC Rates Shropshire Care Home as Outstanding in First Inspection.https://www.cqc.org.uk/press-release/cqc-rates-shropshire-care-home-outstanding-first-inspection
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (29 October 2026). Class 2 Medicines Recall: Accord-UK Ltd, Lercanidipine Hydrochloride 10mg Film-Coated Tablets, EL(26)A/45.https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-accord-uk-ltd-lercanidipine-hydrochloride-10mg-film-coated-tablets-el-26-a-slash-45
Department of Health and Social Care. Adult Social Care Data Collection: 2026 Notice.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-data-collection-2026-notice/adult-social-care-data-collection-2026-notice
Editorial Note
This briefing reviews selected developments published between 29 October and the morning of 5 November 2026, with particular emphasis on their relevance to adult social care providers in England.
The information has been checked against original publications from the Department of Health and Social Care, Care Quality Commission and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The national survey findings describe the experiences of adults receiving long-term care and support arranged or commissioned by local authorities. They should not be interpreted as representing the entire adult social care population.
CQC inspection findings relate to the individual services concerned, although they provide examples of issues relevant to wider professional practice.
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 cited evidence.
If there's a particular issue, development or area of adult social care you'd like me to cover in a future briefing, please get in touch. I'm always interested in hearing what's happening across the sector and the issues that matter to those delivering and leading care services.
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