From ambition to delivery – what does ‘Good’ really look like in adult social care?

How can we collectively build adult social care systems that are both sustainable and deliver genuinely good lives for people?

That question brought together ASC leaders from across the country for a recent shared learning event hosted by IMPOWER. This was a chance to pause, reflect and explore what’s working, what’s not, and leaders’ priorities for setting the right ambition for their services that will enable delivery of high quality and affordable outcomes.

Learning from CQC: What is the right ambition for Good and Outstanding

IMPOWER’s analysis of key themes from CQC reports has identified seven themes consistently present in the strongest-rated areas:

1. Effective leadership and governance, with political support, data-informed decisions, and a learning culture.
2. Strong partnership working with the NHS, VCSE and people with lived experience.
3. Preventative, strengths-based approaches that enable independence.
4. Better reach, support and voice for carers, including hidden carers.
5. A clear focus on inequalities and proactive action to increase equity.
6. Active management of the care market and workforce.
7. Stronger safeguarding practice, with clarity, pace, and collaboration.

Chris Badger, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC, opened the session by reflecting on what the regulator is learning from the first wave of assurance assessments. His message was clear: leadership matters most. Good and outstanding systems have a clear ambition, communicated by their leaders, and nurture and energise their workforce. However, too often, short-term financial pressures and leadership churn make this difficult to achieve.

Chris reminded us that although outcomes can sometimes feel like a buzzword, good outcomes do not happen by accident, they happen by design. Good outcomes are the result of clear, consistent methods.

This is backed up in IMPOWER’s analysis which shows no clear link between demography, deprivation and financial position and CQC performance. Some of the most financially constrained councils are delivering  the strongest outcomes; demonstrating that ambition, leadership, method, and consistency are the clearest factors in delivering quality services.

Good lives, not just good systems – Implementing strategies for quality delivery

Phil Holmes, Director of Adults, Wellbeing and Culture at Doncaster and ADASS Vice-President, explored what strong leadership in financially challenging times can look like.  He described three critical “spaces” for leaders:

• The enabling space, where conditions for success are set.
• The in-the-work space, where leaders get alongside practice.
• The learning space, where reflection and improvement happen.

His reflections reinforced that leadership in adult social care isn’t about control, it’s about creating the right spaces for good work to happen under the right ambition.

Clenton Farquharson CBE brought the discussion back to the human core of social care. “Good starts with good lives,” he said. Social care isn’t just a set of services; it’s the glue that holds our communities together. He challenged us to move away from key performance indicators and towards key human indicators, ensuring that delivery oversight measures not just what we do, but what people can do and be.

Towards a more capable, learning system

Across every contribution ran a common thread: capability. Not just the capacity to deliver services, but the ability to do the right things, consistently and collaboratively. Building capability means investing in people, leadership, and long-term learning, not just surviving year to year.

At IMPOWER, we believe that the best adult social care systems are those that combine compassion with control, head with heart. They should be data-informed, partnership-driven, and relentlessly focused on what matters to people.

This event reinforced that the sector is full of innovation, insight, and shared purpose. But it also highlighted the need for continued collaboration, to learn together, challenge assumptions, and build the systems that truly enable good lives.

We are continuing this conversation through analysis, our networks and are leading on work with Social Care Future and the Time to Act group) to develop approaches to measuring ASC performance that are more meaningful to people drawing on support.

If you would like to be part of this ongoing dialogue, please get in touch to find out more.