What adult social care providers need to know about the Mental Health Act 2025 : what's changed, what's coming, and what to act on now.

If you're trying to predict what CQC inspectors ask in 2026, the honest answer is that there's no fixed script. What inspectors actually do is gather evidence across six set categories, then check whether what staff say lines up with what they observe and what the records show. Understanding those categories tells you far more about a 2026 assessment than any list of predicted questions ever will. Why this matters now CQC has said it is ahead of its target to publish 9,000 as

Social care rarely leads the national conversation. Right now, it does. Andy Burnham became Prime Minister in July 2026, and he has been explicit that social care reform sits at the centre of his agenda, not as a side issue to the NHS, but as the condition for fixing it. Alongside this, the government has brought forward the final report of Baroness Louise Casey's independent review of adult social care, moving publication from 2028 to summer 2027. For registered managers, pr

The Dementia Training Standards Framework sets out three tiers. Tier 1 is dementia awareness for everyone working in health and social care. Tier 2 is for staff who regularly work directly with people living with dementia. Tier 3 is for supervisors, managers and leaders. The framework was updated in February 2026. That last sentence is the reason to read the rest. The framework has been the national reference for dementia training since 2015, and a refreshed version landed in

Face-to-face training earns its cost when the skill is a performance rather than a body of knowledge. Dementia care, distressed behaviour and de-escalation sit in that group, and NICE recommends face-to-face training and mentoring for staff supporting people living with dementia. For factual and procedural content, eLearning is usually the better spend. Most services do not have a training budget problem. They have an allocation problem. The trainer’s day rate is the small nu

An honest guide to the rating process review Every provider rated Requires Improvement or Inadequate asks the same question in the first week. Can we fight this? The honest answer is: sometimes, but far less often than people hope, and only on one specific ground. This article sets out exactly when the answer is yes, so you can stop wondering and put your energy where it will actually change your rating. Start here: which situation are you in? Read these three before anything

If you believe your CQC report contains errors, you have three formal routes open to you: a factual accuracy challenge on the draft report (within 10 working days), a ratings review after publication (within 15 working days), and, in rare cases, judicial review. Each has a different purpose, a different deadline and a different standard of evidence. This guide walks through all three. Why this matters now CQC has significantly increased its pace of inspection activity through

A Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) sets out, in specific and measurable terms, what a provider will change, by when, and how it will prove the change has happened. Whether CQC has asked for one under Regulation 17(3) or a provider is building one proactively, the same discipline applies: evidence the problem, set a SMART action, name an owner, and show closure with data, not intention. What CQC actually means by an improvement plan CQC doesn't mandate a single document called a

Duty of candour is not a form you complete after something goes wrong. It is a fundamental standard, one of the areas CQC pays particular attention to, and it sits at the heart of how inspectors judge whether a service is genuinely open and safe. For registered managers, that means duty of candour has to work as a live operational process, not a policy document that only gets read after an incident. This guide sets out what the law requires, how to recognise when the duty app

By Manu Thomas, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, CQC Specialist Advisor, NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow, NICE Associate

By Manu Thomas, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, CQC Specialist Advisor, NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow, NICE Associate | Last updated: [Date]

PSIRF is the NHS framework for responding to patient safety incidents. It is mandatory under the NHS Standard Contract, not for adult social care providers directly. But its four principles, proportionate, learning-led and compassionate response, increasingly shape what CQC expects to see in how your service handles incidents. Why this matters CQC is back in the field. The regulator completed over 50% more inspections in November 2025 than the year before and is targeting 9,0

You’ve finished your shift. You’re in the car, on the bus, or walking through your front door — but part of you is still on the ward. You’re replaying a conversation with a distressed family member. Thinking about the resident who had a bad night. Running ove r whether you handled that incident the right way. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone — and you’re not doing anything wrong. Care work involves a level of emotional investment that doesn’t switch off cleanly when yo

If you've been following the news, you'll have seen the headlines: NHS England is being abolished. It's the kind of announcement that can send a wave of anxiety through anyone working in health or social care — especially when the language used is dramatic and the details are thin. So let's cut through the noise. This blog explains what has actually happened, what it means in practice, and — most importantly — what it means for you as a care professional. The short answer: fo

If you work in health or social care, chances are you've been taught — explicitly or not — that putting others first is the job. That going the extra mile, staying a little longer, and saying yes when you really mean no is just what good carers do. But here's what nobody tells you early enough: boundaries aren't barriers to good care. They're what make good care sustainable. And the guilt you feel when you enforce them? That's worth examining — because it's often the very th

What Does DoLS Stand For? DoLS stands for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards . It is the procedure prescribed in law when it is necessary to deprive a person of their liberty, a resident or patient who lacks the mental capacity to consent to their care and treatment, in order to keep them safe from harm. The legal foundation sits within the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and is underpinned by Article 5 of the Human Rights Act, which establishes that everyone has the right to libert

What Good Dementia Care Actually Looks Like (And Why It Matters in 2026)

If you work with lifting equipment in any capacity, understanding the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) is not optional. It is a legal requirement. Whether you are an employer, manager, or operative working in construction, care, logistics, or manufacturing, LOLER compliance directly affects workplace safety and your organisation's legal standing. Our online LOLER course at CareLearner is designed to give you a thorough, accessible, and CPD-ac

We have some exciting news to share. Pentafold, the company behind CareLearner, has been officially welcomed into the NVIDIA Inception Programme , a global initiative that supports startups pushing the boundaries of AI, data science, and cutting-edge technology. For our team, this is more than a badge. It is recognition that the problem we are solving matters, and that the approach we are taking to solve it is the right one. What Is the NVIDIA Inception Programme? NVIDIA Ince

Hundreds of thousands of patients are receiving faster NHS care through new partnerships with independent healthcare providers. This approach aims to tackle waiting lists, increase treatment capacity, and uphold the NHS principle of care that remains free at the point of use. Overview of the Partnership The Department of Health and Social Care announced in October 2025 that 6.15 million NHS appointments, tests and operations were delivered by independent providers over the p