Final report in Care England and Cornerstone’s Restructuring Social Care Services now available

As financial pressures intensify and regulatory demands escalate, care providers are navigating an increasingly precarious operating environment. Workforce shortages, rising costs—including adjustments to Employers’ National Insurance Contributions—and the ever-changing compliance landscape are placing considerable strain on the adult social care sector.

Amidst this turbulence, Care England has commissioned Cornerstone Care Solutions to produce a series of reports titled Restructuring Social Care Services. This series explores the root causes of care home failures and offers proactive strategies to ensure long-term sustainability.

Today marks the release of the final report in this three part series, tying together key insights from previous instalments and offers practical tools, such as the Risk Matrix, Risk Management Framework, and Business Continuity Plan, to help care homes identify, assess, and mitigate the aforementioned risks effectively.

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, commented:

“Effective risk management is essential to the success and sustainability of care homes. This final report provides the tangible tools needed to restructure services, enhance resilience, and ensure the safety and well-being of those in our care. By adopting these frameworks, care providers will be better equipped to navigate current challenges, respond to emerging risks, and continue to deliver high-quality care while maintaining operations. These resources will be invaluable for care providers seeking to future-proof their services and maintain compliance in an increasingly complex environment.”

This third report essentially seals the Restructuring Social Care Services series, which examined financial viability, workforce stability, operational efficiency, and developing a culture of continuous improvement via data-driven decision making. Now and finally, the spotlight is on how to adopt a comprehensive approach to governance through critical documents to ensure health and safety policies, incident reporting procedures, and up-to-date resident care plans. As such. these documents play a crucial role in enabling care homes to effectively manage risks, preserve as well as enhance services, thus deliver the highest standards of care.

To explore these findings further, Care England will host a webinar on 4 March 2025, offering practical guidance on navigating quality and governance in care homes. To register, click here.

The full report, The Importance of Risk Management Systems in Care Homes, is available here.