Strategic Leadership and Governance in Care Services Programme
The programme is aligned to the statutory and regulatory frameworks governing both sectors, including:
- Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015
- Care Standards Act 2000
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- Care Act 2014
- Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023)
- CQC Fundamental Standards & Well-Led Framework
- Ofsted SCCIF Framework
It is designed to support senior leaders to demonstrate active oversight, strong governance, and safeguarding leadership, moving beyond compliance to deliver defensible, evidence-based decision-making that withstands inspection, audit, and enforcement scrutiny.
Delivered across 10 structured full-day modules, this programme integrates:
- Strategic leadership theory (aligned to CMI Level 7 standards)
- Regulatory interpretation across adult and children’s care
- Inspection intelligence from CQC and Ofsted
- Real-world governance and safeguarding scenarios
- Practical tools, audit frameworks, and reflective leadership activities
This programme is not operational management training. It is designed to strengthen corporate accountability, senior decision-making, and governance assurance in regulated care environments.
At a glance
Learning Outcomes
It is designed to support senior leaders to demonstrate active oversight, strong governance, and safeguarding leadership, moving beyond compliance to deliver defensible, evidence-based decision-making that withstands inspection, audit, and enforcement scrutiny.
Delivered across 8 structured full-day modules, this programme integrates:
- Strategic leadership theory (aligned to CMI Level 7 standards)
- Regulatory interpretation across adult and children’s care
- Inspection intelligence from CQC and Ofsted
- Real-world governance and safeguarding scenarios
- Practical tools, audit frameworks, and reflective leadership activities
This programme is not operational management training. It is designed to strengthen corporate accountability, senior decision-making, and governance assurance in regulated care environments.
Participants will complete the programme with the ability to:
- Strengthen safeguarding practices and embed reflective practice to build a culture of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Enhance oversight and supervision of Registered Managers to support high performance and effective leadership.
- Confidently meet and exceed regulatory body requirements.
- Develop leadership capability across organisations to drive cultural improvement and sustainable outcomes.
- Establish a model of continuing professional development (CPD) that supports staff retention, maintains high standards, and promotes regulatory excellence.
- Access a pathway towards Chartered Manager Status and a Master’s-level qualification.
Accreditation & Progression
CMI Senior Executive Leadership Programme Accreditation
(An Accelerated Pathway to CMI Fellowship Status)
Between the eight virtual classroom modules, delegates are encouraged to reflect on the key insights gained from each session and identify practical actions that can be implemented within their organisations to enhance leadership effectiveness and strengthen governance systems.
Following completion of the taught modules, delegates undertake a 20-minute recorded Professional Conversation, which serves as the programme’s sole formal assessment component.
This assessment approach enables participants to develop robust leadership and governance systems through practical, incremental implementation within their professional context. It also provides a more accessible and applied alternative to the traditional written assignments commonly used within accredited leadership development frameworks.
One day a week. Live, tutor-led. Applied directly to your organisation.
Each module is structured around a series of workshops, action learning sets and facilitated reflections-so you're not only learning about leadership, you're practising it in the room, with peers who understand exactly the environment you're operating in.
Agenda
Most senior leaders in regulated care became Responsible Individuals because they were exceptional practitioners. But the role demands something different - and the gap between operational expert and strategic leader is where governance failures begin. This week is about making that shift deliberately, not by accident. You'll examine your leadership identity under pressure, reconnect with your values, and commit to one specific behaviour change before we meet again.
You'll leave knowing exactly what kind of leader you need to become - and what's been stopping you.
CQC. Ofsted. Workforce shortages. Fee pressures. Legislative change. The forces bearing down on regulated care are relentless - and most senior leaders are so embedded in the day-to-day that they can't see them clearly until they become a crisis. This week teaches you to read those forces strategically, so you're positioning your organisation ahead of them rather than reacting when it's too late.
You'll leave with a strategic picture of your organisation that most of your peers don't have.
In regulated care, strategy isn't just about growth - it's about survival, sustainability and staying on the right side of your regulator while still running a viable business. This session applies strategic frameworks directly to your organisation and exposes whether your direction, culture and positioning are genuinely aligned - or just on paper.
You'll leave with one strategic question you weren't asking before - and probably should have been.
Culture is what happens when you're not in the room. In regulated care, that matters more than almost anywhere else - because poor culture doesn't just affect performance, it shows up in safeguarding failures, inspection judgements and regulatory enforcement. This week unpacks what it actually takes to build a high-performance culture in a sector defined by complexity, emotional labour and constant scrutiny.
You'll leave with a clear picture of the gap between the culture you have and the one you need.
Every senior leader in care is trying to change something - a struggling service, a workforce that won't shift, a culture that's become defensive. Most change efforts fail not because the idea was wrong, but because the leadership of it wasn't right. This week gives you the frameworks and the conviction to lead change that actually lands in an environment where people are tired, stretched and sceptical.
You'll leave with a credible, practical change proposal for your organisation.
Regulated care is a sector where resources are perpetually constrained and every investment has to be justified. This week focuses on your Strategic Impact Project - building the business case, managing the risk, and demonstrating the ROI in a way that stands up to scrutiny from commissioners, boards and regulators alike. This is where the programme pays for itself.
You'll leave with a project your organisation will actually feel.
Inspection is, at its core, an evidence exercise. So is Chartered Manager status. This week brings together your portfolio, your reflections and your proof of impact - and prepares you to articulate your leadership credibility in a Professional Discussion with the same confidence you'd need in a CQC or Ofsted inspection.
You'll leave certain of the case you're making.
Your Chartered Manager status confirmed. And an honest, grounded plan for what strategic leadership looks like in your organisation from this point on - not as an aspiration, but as a daily practice in one of the most demanding leadership environments in the country.
You'll leave as a Chartered Manager - and you'll know exactly what to do next and onwards.