A sector facing sustained cost increases Running a care home has always required balancing high-quality care with financial sustainability. For many providers today, however, that balance is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Across the adult social care sector, operating costs are rising across multiple areas at the same time. Staffing costs continue to increase as…
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A spotlight on specialist care home settings Following a review of recent Inadequate-rated CQC assessment reports published for care homes specialising in dementia care, several clear and recurring themes have emerged. While the details differed from service to service, the wider patterns were consistent: weak oversight, poor governance, ineffective risk management and a failure to…
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Recent analysis from The King’s Fund highlights the continuing pressures facing the adult social care workforce in England. Although vacancy rates have improved slightly, the sector still faces well over 100,000 vacancies, and many providers continue to rely heavily on international recruitment to maintain staffing levels. For those working closely with care providers, these findings…
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has recently announced proposals to introduce sector-specific frameworks for assessing health and social care services. The proposed changes, outlined in the regulator’s latest update, are intended to make inspections clearer, more consistent and more relevant to different areas of care while continuing to focus on the CQC’s five core questions:…
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CQC enforcement action is one of the most serious regulatory situations a care provider can face. It indicates that the Care Quality Commission has identified significant concerns about safety, quality or leadership and no longer believes that improvement can be managed through routine oversight alone. While some providers attempt to manage enforcement action internally, experience…
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Community Integrated Care has released the fifth edition of its Unfair to Care report, highlighting ongoing workforce inequalities and mounting financial pressures across the adult social care sector. The latest report, Unfair to Care 2026 – Signs of Change, examines pay disparities between adult social care support workers and equivalent NHS roles, alongside the wider…
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Training compliance remains a core element of regulatory expectations, but it does not in itself demonstrate competence. Attendance at training does not guarantee safe or consistent practice. CQC inspections increasingly focus on whether staff are demonstrably capable of meeting people’s needs, rather than whether training has been delivered. At Fulcrum Care, we frequently support providers…
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Applying for CQC registration is one of the most significant regulatory steps a care provider will take. For many organisations, it is also where avoidable delays, refusals or conditions first arise. Despite this, CQC registration is still widely misunderstood. Too often, applications are approached as a compliance exercise rather than what they actually are: an…
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A good CQC mock inspection should do more than confirm you have policies in place. It should test whether your service can evidence safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in the way the CQC now assesses services, and whether your leaders have a clear line of sight from records to day-to-day practice. Done properly,…
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Applying for CQC registration is one of the most significant regulatory steps a care provider will take. For many organisations, it is also where avoidable delays, refusals or conditions first arise. Despite this, CQC registration is still widely misunderstood. Too often, applications are approached as a compliance exercise rather than what they actually are: an…
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