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Welcome to our weekly updates
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Safeguarding adults – sharing best practice with managers and providers of social care
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- The Importance of Post-Incident Debriefing
Incidents involving restraint can be challenging and distressing for everyone involved – both the person receiving support and the staff providing care. While restrictive interventions should always be used only as a last resort, the actions taken after an incident are just as important as those taken in the moment.
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Post-incident debriefing is a vital part of good safeguarding and quality practice. When carried out effectively, it provides space for reflection, supports the emotional wellbeing of staff and individuals, and helps services learn from what happened. Most importantly, it creates opportunities to identify triggers, improve support strategies, and reduce the likelihood of similar incidents in the future.
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In this feature, colleagues from Respect Training highlight why structured debriefing is such an important part of restraint reduction and safer care, and how providers can embed this practice into everyday service delivery.
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- Post-Incident Safeguarding Reviews: Debriefs, Learning and Preventing Repeat Harm
When a safeguarding incident appears “resolved”, the risk of repeat harm is often highest if learning is not captured and embedded. Providers must move from immediate action to structured review: what happened, why it happened, what controls failed and what must change. Effective incident response and escalation practice includes post-incident processes that are disciplined, evidence-led and accountable. The review must reflect the type of harm or abuse involved, because learning and prevention strategies vary significantly across neglect, exploitation, organisational abuse and incidents involving violence or coercion. This article sets out how to run post-incident safeguarding reviews that stand up to commissioner and regulatory scrutiny.
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- Introducing the SHARE Debrief Tool
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The SHARE debrief tool provides a structured way for health and social care teams to reflect on incidents and strengthen learning across services. It helps teams review the findings from learning responses—such as incident investigations, multidisciplinary reviews, or swarm huddles—and work collaboratively to identify areas for improvement.
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By involving staff in the discussion and development of safety actions, the tool supports shared understanding, prioritises practical improvements, and ensures learning leads to meaningful change. It can also be used after a learning response to reflect on how effectively the process engaged staff and how it could be improved in future.
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Look out in future editions for three more Guidance & Support Resources as part of our Safeguarding Support Offer, complete our survey and better still, join us Wednesday 15th April at our symposium in Eastbourne.
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Last chance to give your views - Closes 18th March 5pm
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The survey will take just a few minutes to complete and focuses on your experience of adult safeguarding over the past 18 months. It also enables us to compare results with the 2024 survey to understand what has changed.
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There are 15 short questions covering these topics:
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- Volume and types of safeguarding activity
- Overall provider support within local safeguarding systems
- Confidence in recognising safeguarding thresholds
- Experiences of working with safeguarding teams
- System pressures affecting safeguarding practice
- Learning, outcomes, and feedback following safeguarding concerns
A summary of the findings will be shared with speakers ahead of the Safeguarding Symposium in April, ensuring that care manager and provider experiences directly inform the event programme and discussion.
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Joining the event is Philip Boyce, Senior Specialist Advisor, Safeguarding and closed cultures at CQC.
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Philip has worked in Health & Social Care since 1984 working in various roles both as a learning disability nurse and as a manager. In the past Philip has been involved in a variety of quality improvements within the NHS including national leadership development and sees staff development as a key part of any service development. Philip has always had an interest in safeguarding and worked within a local authority making safeguarding decisions on concerns raised with the authority.
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Thank you for taking the time to contribute — your insight genuinely helps shape the conversation.
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Please click HERE to complete the survey
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Energy Market Update for Businesses – 6th March 2026
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As many of you may be aware from the news, we have seen significant volatility in the energy markets over since Monday 2nd March 2026, following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
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Maximeyes can appreciate this is a worrying time for all, particularly for those businesses with energy renewals due in Spring 2026.
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At the highest peak this week, we saw front end gas pricing rise by 88% for April 2026, and 71% for summer months. Power has also seen sharp increases, albeit not to the extent of the gas market. Although pricing has softened slightly as the week progressed, commodity prices remain much higher than we have seen over the past year.
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Longer term energy pricing is not seeing as high increases as the short term, indicating that the conflict may be shorter term than we expect.
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What Does This Mean for Businesses?
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Whenever there is uncertainty in the markets, it can easy to rush to agree renewal contracts. It is important to ensure that business owners act accordingly to the market situation and their renewal dates:
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• Review of current energy supply contracts
• Understand any risks within the current agreements
• Assess potential risks upon renewals
• Remain calm and listen to expert guidance
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If your business renewal is due in April 2026 and not yet agreed, review options available carefully, and weigh up risk potentials of agreeing anything long term.
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Maximeyes are here to support both current clients and businesses who do not yet utilize our services to guide them through this uncertainty. Maximeyes are offering impartial advice and reviews of any potential supply contracts business owners are looking to agree to ensure it meets business needs and provide market updates.
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Borderless Update: Smart document upload + a complete view of every sponsored individual
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Our system automatically identifies document types, matches them to the right employees, and flags anything that needs your attention — all before a single file is saved. No more repetitive, one-by-one uploads.
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📑 The New Individuals View
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Get a complete 360° view of every sponsored individual in your organisation — including those named on sponsor licences and COS requests. See compliance status, documents, and key details in one place.
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- Hours saved: Batch-upload documents instead of processing them individually
- Fewer errors: Automated matching and a review step before anything is committed
- Full visibility: One view for every sponsored individual's compliance status
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CareLineLive, the all-in-one home care management platform rated 4.8★ Excellent on Trustpilot and an NHS Assured Digital Social Care Record supplier, now includes expert-led compliance from MOA Benchmarking, at no additional cost within the same contract.
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At a time when providers are balancing quality, growth and regulatory pressure, this brings together operational efficiency and structured compliance support in one place.
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By combining trusted care management software with a proven quality improvement framework, CareLineLive helps services to:
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• Expand capacity with confidence
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• Embed compliance into daily operations
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• Continuously strengthen CQC and CIW ratings
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• Free up more time for truly person-centred care
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Rather than compliance being a once-a-year scramble, MOA Benchmarking makes it manageable, consistent and part of everyday practice, whether you’re a single service or a multi-branch organisation.
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As Katie Latham, Quality and Improvement Manager at Choices Homecare, shares:
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“Before systems like this, audits would fall behind simply because there wasn’t time. MOA Benchmarking has easily cut that workload in half.”
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One platform. Complete care management. Confident compliance.
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If you’re reviewing your systems or thinking about how to make compliance more sustainable, this may be well worth exploring and we invite you to get in touch with CareLineLive.
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To show you exactly what this means for your service, you are invited to join a live webinar, “Making compliance part of everyday care” for a demonstration of MOA Benchmarking and how it now works alongside CareLineLive within one contract.
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🎯 Webinar: CareLineLive + MOA Benchmarking, Making compliance part of everyday care
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🗓️ When: Thursday 19th March, 1pm (Live + Q&A)
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March 2026 Newsletter: The journey to calling for a moment of reckoning on adult social care
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The Casey Commission has published its March 2026 newsletter, reflecting on its first year of work examining the future of adult social care in England.
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The update includes highlights from the Commission’s recent engagement across the sector, insights from evidence sessions and visits, and reflections following Baroness Louise Casey’s speech at the Nuffield Trust Summit calling for a national “moment of reckoning” on adult social care.
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Read the full newsletter to learn more about the Commission’s progress and ongoing conversations across the care sector.
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Ethical Sponsorship Programme Workshop
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Making the Most of Your Sponsorship - FREE Webinar for ANY provider
Free Webinar for adult social care providers sponsoring internationally recruited staff under the UK Skilled Worker visa route.
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When: Wednesday 18th March 2026 - 10:00AM - 12:00PM
This practical session is designed to support providers with any compliance challenges, reduce the risk of avoidable issues, and provide clear, up-to-date guidance on:
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- Identifying and addressing sponsorship compliance risks
- Reducing the risk of license suspension or revocation
- Applying supplementary working rules correctly
- Strengthening ethical sponsorship practices
The webinar, delivered by expert advisors in immigration and employment law will include time to ask questions and discuss real-world scenarios relevant to care providers.
The session is suitable for providers who want reassurance, clarity, or to strengthen their understanding of sponsorship responsibilities.
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Final Reminder: Closing Date for Current Funding Arrangements
The current funding offer (25-26) will close on Friday 20th March.
To be eligible for funding for a successful recruitment, three things must happen on or before that date:
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- The worker must be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship
- The provider must notify the scheme that an offer has been made and accepted, AND
- The provider must submit a grant application including the correct information via the online 25-26 application form
Applications submitted on or before 20th March will be processed in the following weeks and those which meet the scheme criteria will be paid before the end of April.
For those applications, providers will still be invited to submit claims for the second part of the grant if they meet the eligibility criteria.
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If a job offer has been made and accepted before 20th March but a COS is not assigned until after that date (including in cases where the provider is waiting for COSs to assign) then the match will be eligible for any funding available through the 26-27 scheme. Please be aware that the value of any grants available will be subject to the amount of funding and to the guidance from DHSC for the 26-27 scheme. We are currently waiting for this information to be published.
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We continue to encourage all of our assured providers to consider workers in the SE pool for current vacancies, particularly in the light of the probable increase in the minimum pay requirements for sponsored care workers expected in April.
We can confirm that the current team will remain in place during April to support providers with recruitment needs.
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FREE EVENTS FOR SUSSEX CARE PROVIDERS
With so much going on, why not follow our eventbrite page to be notified as soon as we launch a new event
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Now is the ideal time to book fully funded Security Awareness Training for your staff
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Care Quality Commission will reject applications if they do not include key policies including consent and data governance. Click to read more
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Workforce Development
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Connect to Work: A Smarter Way to Recruit
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Finding the right people for your business doesn’t need to be time-consuming or expensive. Connect to Work is a free, voluntary recruitment scheme that helps employers access a diverse, motivated workforce, while supporting people who may need a little extra help to find the right role.
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As a voluntary scheme, our candidates are genuinely motivated and keen to secure meaningful work. For employers, this means access to committed individuals who bring valuable skills, fresh perspectives, and long-term loyalty.
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What sets Connect to Work apart is its tailored, fully funded support for both employers and employees, helping placements settle, succeed, and grow. This support improves retention, boosts capabilities and help to resolve any challenges early on.
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By sharing your vacancies and requirements with Connect to Work, you can reduce recruitment costs and save time. Our team matches roles with suitable candidates and confirms initial interest within 48 hours and will work with you throughout the recruitment process. Best of all, the service is completely free.
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Connect to Work will support over 3000 participants to find work, with 230 currently on the programme in East Sussex and the Care sector being a target for a large number of participants. If you’re looking for an efficient, inclusive and cost-effective way to recruit, Connect to Work could be the solution.
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Calling all Social Care Nurses: NIHR Researcher Development Programme
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The NIHR Researcher Development Programme for Social Care Nurses supports registered nurses working in social care to develop their research skills and foster a research-friendly culture within their organisations.
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Applications for the second cohort will open in spring 2026, and successful interns will begin the programme in October 2026.
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Four webinars will be held for prospective applicants and their employers to learn more about the programme. The webinar dates are as follows:
For Prospective Applicants:
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- Tuesday 24th March 2026: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
- Friday 17th April 2026: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
For Managers and Employers:
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- Wednesday 15th April 2026: 9:00am – 10:00am
- Monday 20th April 2026: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
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Join the Conversation: Shaping CQC’s New Assessment Frameworks
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Care Quality Commission (CQC) is inviting providers and partners to take part in spring engagement events to help shape its new assessment frameworks.
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These sessions offer a valuable opportunity to hear the latest updates, share your views on the draft frameworks, and help ensure they support quality improvement, transparency, and fairness across health and adult social care.
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If you’re interested in attending, please submit your expression of interest by 20 March (confirmation by 24th March).
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Your insight and experience will help shape the future approach.
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With local elections back on, anyone who wants to vote must make sure they are registered in time. Elections for East Sussex County Council and half the elected members at Hastings Borough Council will take place on 7 May.
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Research shows that some groups, including young people, students and those who have recently moved, are less likely to be registered than others. The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 20 April and it takes just five minutes to register online.
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Once registered, voters have a range of options – they can vote in person, by post or by appointing someone they trust to vote on their behalf, known as a proxy vote.
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Voters going to a polling station will need to show photo ID. The most common forms or accepted ID are:
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Driving licence (including provisional license)
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Certain concessionary travel cards
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Identity card with PASS mark (Proof of Age Standards Scheme)
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You will only need to show one form of photo ID, but it needs to be the original version and not a photocopy. The name on your ID must be the same name you used to register to vote. Check out the full list of accepted ID on the GOV.UK website.
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If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID
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The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate for use at the 7 May local elections in England is 5pm Tuesday 28 April.
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FREE Guide: An introduction to tendering in the care sector
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Winning contracts in the care sector can be challenging. From understanding frameworks to meeting commissioner requirements, many providers miss opportunities simply because they’re unsure how the tendering process works.
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That’s why our Partner, Citation, has created a FREE guide to tendering in care, designed specifically for care providers.
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This guide will help you:
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• Understand how tendering works in the care sector
• Identify the right contract opportunities for your organisation
• Prepare compliant and competitive submissions
• Improve your chances of securing local authority or NHS contracts
• Avoid common mistakes when bidding for care contracts
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Citation supports thousands of UK organisations with compliance, HR, Health & Safety, and procurement support.
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Call 0345 844 1111 or click here to find out how Citation can help your organisation grow. Don’t forget to mention ‘RCA East Sussex, Brighton & Hove’ to access your preferential partner support.
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- Webinar three: 17 March – Workforce and TUPE issues in merger and acquisition transactions
Led by employment law associate Julia Gray.
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Click here to view our new and updated website with all our Sponsors!
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