Safety monitoring: a call for a shared vision

For more than a decade, Care Campaign for the Vulnerable has stood beside families, residents, and care staff who want one thing above all: safe, consistent, dignified care for vulnerable people. Our work, grounded in real experiences shared by thousands of families across the country, has shown that safety concerns in care settings are rarely the result of one issue alone. Rather, they are usually a combination of culture, staffing pressures, systems, communication, and a lack of clear oversight when things go wrong.

At the centre of this conversation sits the Care Quality Commission — the regulator responsible for ensuring standards across adult social care. The CQC's role is pivotal. When regulation works well, it provides confidence, consistency, and accountability. When it falls behind, becomes fragmented, or is perceived as reactive rather than proactive, the impact is felt by residents, families, and care staff in ways that cannot be ignored.

CCFTV has long wanted to engage openly and constructively with the CQC. We believe that collaboration, not conflict, is the only sustainable path to improving safety in care homes. But for that to happen, we need a regulatory system willing to look ahead, listen to the lived realities, and adapt its approach to modern-day care challenges.