News Article

In March, the Care England conference in Westminster, which kicked off in spectacular fashion with a performance by the Baked Bean Choir from The Baked Bean Charity which set the tone for the day beautifully.

The theme for the day was “Stand by me”, the core principle that people are at the heart of the sector, and enhancing the quality of life of those who need care and support is the goal. Quote of the day came from Nuno Santos Lopes, Director of Research, Innovation and Community Engagement, Nightingale Hammerson: “Social Care is not about men in suits, it’s about people that sing in choirs”.

There was a lot of good content from some exceptional speakers which will take some time to digest. Expect a full report next week, not least a full breakdown of the well-received presentation from Chris Badger, Care Quality Commission Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care who gave a disarmingly, refreshingly honest assessment of where the CQC finds itself today, where it hopes to be, and how it plans to get there.

His promise of a “common sense approach” with a greater emphasis on observing good work being done and less on looking to find fault in the paperwork went down well, as did his desire for the CQC to be a collaborative regulator.

Many thanks also to the morning speakers including a candid and thoroughly entertaining and informative reflection on leadership from Samantha Crawley (ANLP) 💚 from EQ Care Group Ltd, and an inciteful working age panel comprising Rebekah Cresswell from Priory, Holly Spiers from Walsingham Support, Tim Davies from ivolve care & support and Peter Kinsey from Iris Care Group.

Sadly, scheduling made it impossible to go to all the afternoon sessions, but special mention should go to the Sensio team Lisa Delaney and Annthea Corry alongside Cinnamon Care Collection’s Rob Burcher and Gavin Pathmarajan for the content – and the KitKats!

From the Candesic cohort who attended (Senior Partner Michelle Tempest and Director of Content David Farbrother) well done and thanks to all the Care England team including Prof Martin Green, Antonella Corby, Fraser Myles Rickatson, and chair Angela Boxall 💚 for a highly enjoyable day.