Welcome back to The Sector’s Friend, your source of real-world intelligence, regulatory updates, and leadership insight for the care sector. This week, we’re highlighting three critical issues that could catch even the most experienced providers off guard.
Insurance Blind Spots You Can’t Afford to Miss
Many care providers are unknowingly underinsured or holding policies that don’t match their risk exposure, especially in group environments or services offering complex care.
Key issues we've seen:
- Wrong indemnity levels for group structures
- No cover for allegations of abuse, cyber-attacks or regulatory breach
- Misunderstood Claims Made vs. Claims Occurring terms (this matters at renewal!)
What to do now:
- Ask your broker for a full policy audit with risk mapping
- Make sure Directors & Officers cover is fit for today's governance risks
- Review retroactive dates and liability continuity for historical issues
Need a second opinion on your cover? Quality Care Group offers a free, no-obligation policy health check.
CQC’s “Always-On” Evidence Expectation - Are You Ready?
With the full transition to the new CQC assessment framework, inspections are no longer an event, they’re continuous. That means your ability to provide real-time, accessible evidence is now mission critical.
Top 3 evidence areas to prioritise:
- Workforce culture Retention, development, and well-being
- Digital recordkeeping Risk assessments, MAR charts, care plans
- Leadership visibility Documented decisions, staff comms, and incident response
Quick win:
Set a monthly internal audit rhythm aligned to each of the new quality statements. That way, you're never scrambling when the call comes.
Autumn Budget 2025 - What Care Leaders Should Expect
While the Autumn Statement is still weeks away, early Treasury signals suggest:
- Local authority funding will remain under pressure
- Social care workforce support may see modest apprenticeship funding boosts
- No immediate resolution on long-term care funding reform
Actionable insight:
- Start scenario planning now for static fee uplifts or delayed funding
- Secure early dialogues with commissioners, especially around complex placements
- Strengthen your value proposition with commissioners by demonstrating measurable outcomes
The Sector’s Friend Tip of the Week:
Insurance isn’t just a policy, it’s a strategy.
The right cover supports resilience, leadership, and peace of mind. The wrong cover? That’s a boardroom headache waiting to happen.
📢 Coming Next Month:
- Preparing for workforce registration: what your HR team should be doing today
- The latest tech tools CQC are praising (and the ones they’re questioning)
- New legal case could change how you handle medication errors – we break it down
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