Mock Inspections, Consultancy and Credibility: How Can Providers Assure Quality?

Preparing for inspection has become a core part of modern adult social care governance. Many providers now commission external consultants to deliver mock inspections, audits and quality assurance. Yet across the sector there remains a fundamental challenge: how can providers be confident that the consultancy support they are buying is credible, consistent and genuinely aligned with regulatory expectations?

This webinar builds on the recent Care England article by Professor Martin Green OBE, which explores the growing reliance on external consultancy, the risks of inconsistency in the current marketplace, and the emerging conversation around professionalising this space.

The session will examine what good mock inspections should look like, the common pitfalls providers report when commissioning support, and how leadership teams can better assure themselves that external advice is robust, evidence-based and reflective of real regulatory practice.

Luke Rothwell, who developed the Care Consultant Accreditation Framework (C-CAF), will join the session to reflect on the issues raised in the article, discuss the challenges consultants and providers face, and explore how structured approaches may help bring greater transparency and consistency into the consultancy landscape.

This is not a sales session. It is a sector conversation about standards, assurance and credibility.

Key themes the webinar will explore

• Why mock inspections and external consultancy have become so prevalent in social care
• What meaningful quality assurance should look like in practice
• Common risks when commissioning consultants and how providers can mitigate them
• The importance of evidence-based reporting and regulatory alignment
• How boards, owners and senior leaders can strengthen assurance around external advice
• The wider question of professionalising consultancy in adult social care

Who should attend

This session will be particularly relevant for:

• Care providers and senior leadership teams
• Owners, boards and trustees
• Quality, governance and compliance leads
• Registered managers
• Commissioners and system partners with an interest in provider assurance
• Consultants working in adult social care who want to engage in the wider conversation about standards

What attendees will gain

By the end of the session, attendees will:

• Have a clearer understanding of what credible mock inspection practice should involve
• Be better equipped to ask the right questions when commissioning consultants
• Understand the risks of poorly aligned external advice and how to avoid them
• Gain insight into emerging approaches that seek to improve consistency and transparency
• Be able to reflect on how their own organisation assures the quality of external support