Social Care Institute for Excellence

10/09/2026

We are excited to announce that SCIE will be exhibiting at the Care Show Birmingham in October⭐.

We will be joining thousands of fellow care professionals to share practical examples of SCIE’s impact and outline how we can work with care providers to anticipate and manage safeguarding risks through tailored, co-produced solutions.

📅7 and 8 October 2026

📌 NEC Birmingham, Exhibition Stand N43

The Care Show Birmingham is free for all care professionals across the sector. Find out more and register👉 https://www.careshow.co.uk/

09/09/2026

CQC Inspections Digital Conference

📅Thursday 24 September 2026, 09:30 AM until 15:00 PM

📍Online

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is moving away from the Single Assessment Framework and introducing sector-specific assessment frameworks. This conference will address what organisations need to do now, and what the shift to sector-specific frameworks will mean.

Eleanor Haworth, Head of Social Care Transformation and Innovation at SCIE, will be taking part in a live Q&A with Jon Wilks, CEO and Director at Institute of Health & Social Care Management 💚💙🏳️‍🌈, that will explore:

💡What is changing across adult social care, mental health, hospitals, and primary and community care

💡What inspectors will expect to see in practice

💡How judgements will be made

💡How cross-sector working will be assessed

💡And leadership, governance and workforce engagement

Book now🔗 https://www.westminsterinsight.com/conferences-and-events/cqc-inspections-digital-conference/

08/09/2026

During the 2026 Labour Party Conference, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Centre for Care are bringing together parliamentarians and sector experts to discuss how evidence can help tackle inequity and drive fairer reform across adult social care.

The panel, ‘Placing care equity at the centre of adult social care reform’, will examine the inequities that continue to shape people’s experiences of social care in England and consider how stronger use of evidence can support fairer policy, practice and reform.

Chaired by Baroness Glenys Thornton, Chair of SCIE, the panel will include Kate Hamblin, Professor of Social Policy at The University of Sheffield and Director of the Centre for Care; Phil Holmes, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS); Sojan Joseph MP; and Anna Dixon MP. Alison McGovern MP, Minister for Care, has also been invited to join the discussion.

The discussion comes at an important point for adult social care reform. As work continues towards a National Care Service, questions of fairness, consistency and equity are increasingly important.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026
⏰ 6:30 - 7:30pm
📍 Hilton Liverpool City Centre, Albert Suite 4

This is outside the secure zone, so a conference pass is not required.

SCIE and Centre for Care host a Labour Conference panel on embedding care equity within a National Care Service.

03/09/2026

The Supreme Court’s recent Deprivation of Liberty judgment changed the landscape for everyone working across health and social care.

In a new article for Care Management Matters (CMM), SCIE's Interim Chief Executive, Gerard Crofton-Martin, reflects on the judgment and the opportunities it presents, including a recommitment to the fundamental principles of the Mental Capacity Act.

Gerard Crofton-Martin, Interim Chief Executive at the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), argues that the Supreme Court’s revised approach to deprivation of liberty should refocus adult social care on strong Mental Capacity Act (MCA) practice, rights-based decision-making, workforce suppo...

01/09/2026

We are hiring!

For the role of Senior People and Culture Partner (Part-Time).

Lead People & Culture into its next chapter. A senior role with real influence, autonomy and scope to make it your own. Bring your experience, your ideas and your ambition - and help define what great People & Culture looks like here.

Please apply via the link below:

Apply now for Senior People and Culture Partner (Part-Time). , £52,943 per year (FTE), pro rata salary for 21 hours £31,765, find a career with meaning today

25/08/2026

“The research reinforced how complex the route to a more equitable social care system can be, and the value of developing solutions with people who experience the system every day.”

Social care should enable people to live safely, independently and with dignity. However, people’s experiences of care are not equal.

Last month, SCIE published a rare, in-depth qualitative study of how people drawing on care and support, and unpaid carers, experience inequities in social care in England. Commissioned by SCIE and conducted by Thinks Insight & Strategy, it builds on SCIE’s wider work on care equity, including the Care Equity Evidence Hub.

In this blog, Aleena Numaan, Senior Research Executive at Thinks Insight and Strategy, explains the approach behind the study, the positive impact it had on participants, and what it revealed about inequity: https://scie.info/Thinks-Blog-Facebook

24/08/2026

⭐Strengths-based leadership CPD-accredited training⭐

There are only a few days left of our discount!

Strengths-based (or asset-based) approaches focus on individuals’ strengths (including personal strengths and social and community networks) and not on their deficits.

Strengths-based practice requires effective leadership at all levels. This programme will support health and social care leaders through engaging with academic insights and critically reflecting on their own leadership.

It will run from October 2026 to January 2027. Find out more and register on our website.

Six-month leadership programme for children's and adults' social care practitioners — discounts available for individuals and groups.

21/08/2026

The Prime Minister has established social care as a key government priority. He has described previous failure to reform as “a major dereliction of public duty”, and called for “more problem solving, less point scoring” and cross-party collaboration.

The challenge now is ensuring that people experience policy ambitions in their everyday lives. Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) has shared what it hopes this will look like on its website: https://thinklocalactpersonal.org.uk/news/reflections-on-the-future-of-adult-social-care/

19/08/2026

On 2 June 2026, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment that made two significant changes to the test for deprivation of liberty in care settings.

Both changes carry immediate and far-reaching implications for health and social care practitioners who must ensure protection for the liberty rights of people who draw on care and support across the UK.

The National Mental Capacity Forum and the Essex Autonomy Project recently delivered two webinars addressing the judgment. In this blog, Peter Tsoukkas, Research Officer at Essex Autonomy Project, University of Essex, uses insights from registrants’ responses to explore the challenges and opportunities in detail.

New Supreme Court research reveals how frontline health and social care staff view the AGNI deprivation of liberty ruling.

18/08/2026

SCIE is pleased to announce the appointment of three new trustees to our Board.

Sudha Bharadia brings over 20 years of experience across investment management, private credit and impact investing, including over a decade focused on global impact investing.

Adele Leighton has worked in the charity sector for over 25 years and is currently Director of Operations at Autism Initiatives.

Dean Okereke is a healthcare transformation leader with over a decade of experience spanning the NHS, central government and healthcare consulting.

SCIE’s trustees play a vital role in guiding our strategy, upholding our values and ensuring that everything we do drives progress towards our vision for a society which enables people who draw on social care to live fulfilling lives. We warmly welcome Sudha, Adele and Dean and look forward to the perspective and experience they will bring.

Find out more about our Board of Trustees on our website.

Profiles on SCIE's Board of Trustees. Read about the background and values of those who help shape our mission to improve the lives of those who draw on care and support.