Care home providers will have to regularly monitor managers, says White Paper

Care home providers will have to regularly monitor and supervise registered managers, according to a proposal in the White Paper.

The White Paper wants the National Skills Academy for Social Care to work with a new Leadership Forum, drawing on expertise from across the sector, to build more support for registered managers.

The 'Caring for our Future' White Paper says 'through the work of the Forum and the National Skills Academy for Social Care we will explore how best to ensure that registered managers get the support they need, and will work to ensure that care providers offer regular mentoring and supervision.'

Registered managers are commonly the lead professionals in care homes, but a nationwide survey of managers commissioned by the Academy, to be published shortly, shows their development and support needs often go unmet.

Debbie Sorkin, acting chief executive of the National Skills Academy for Social Care said: “We welcome the particular attention drawn in the White Paper to the position facing registered managers. Our work with managers has given us clear insights into the kinds of support they need.

“We look forward to working in partnership with the Leadership Forum and other partners to build this support. At the same time, our programmes based around the Leadership Qualities Framework will enable individuals and organisations alike to assess their leadership strengths and weaknesses, so that we can build the leadership capacity of their workforce. We believe it is only thorough investing in leadership development that organisations can meet and move beyond compliance requirements towards excellence.”

Jo Cleary, chair of the Skills Academy, said: “We are pleased that the Government has recognised that leadership is crucially important to the quality of care. We have worked since our inception to build leadership in the sector, in order to change the culture of care. Our goal is to develop leadership capacity throughout the social care workforce.”

The National Skills Academy for Social Care carried out a survey last year which found 94 per cent believe there is a direct link between quality of leadership and quality of care services.

The Skills Academy has been commissioned by the Department of Health to develop the Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) for all staff within the adult social care workforce.

Image: Debbie Sorkin, head of membership and engagement, National Skills Academy for Social Care