Leader in adult care standards and benchmarks
- Holly S
- Mar 14
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 15
Unlock Your Leadership Potential by using the National Occupational Standards for Leaders in Adult Care in England to benchmark and update your knowledge, skills, and behaviors for consistent performance.
Use the Leader in Adult Care standards to learn about the required knowledge, skills, and behaviours.
Evaluate, benchmark, and improve your performance to consistently deliver outstanding leadership and management activities and ensure that the service provided by your care organisation is always safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs, and well-led.
Leader in Adult Care job role National Occupational Standards for England
Role Expectations of the Leader in Adult Care include:
Personal Attributes and Behaviours
Demonstrating the required Knowledge and Understanding Standards
Demonstrating the required Skills and Competence Standards in a real job in a real care setting in England,
Personal Attributes and Behaviours for the Leader in Adult Care
While carrying out their job role, the Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate the following personal attributes and behaviours including:
Care means caring consistently and enough about individuals to make a positive difference to their lives.
Compassion means delivering care and support with kindness, consideration, dignity, empathy and respect.
Courage means doing the right thing for people and speaking up if the individual they support is at risk.
Communication means ensuring that good communication is delivered as it is central to successful caring relationships and effective team working.
Competence means competently applying knowledge and skills to provide high quality care and support
Commitment means committing to improving the experience of people who need care and support ensuring that the care support is person centred on the needs of the recipient of care.
Leadership and Management Development checklists for the Leader in Adult Care
The Leader in Adult Care standards were developed by Sector Skills Council for Social Care in England, Skills For Care, and sets out the minimum leadership and management performance that must be demonstrated by Registered Managers, Nominated Individuals, Directors of care organisations, and anyone working in similar job roles.
Leader in Adult Care Knowledge and Understanding Level 5 Standards
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate Knowledge and Understanding in the following areas:
Leadership
Tasks and responsibilities
Dignity and human rights
Communication
Safeguarding
Health and wellbeing
Professional development
Leader in Adult Care Skills and Competence Level 5 Standards
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following skills and competence in a real job in a real care setting in England;
Leadership
Tasks and responsibilities
Dignity and human rights
Communication
Safeguarding
Health and wellbeing
Professional development
Leadership Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Know and understand the theories of management and leadership and their application to adult care
Know and understand the features of effective team performance
Leadership Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Consistently demonstrate a well-developed sense of their own behaviour and the impact on others modelling a values-based culture.
The leader in adult care must actively create a supportive culture in their workplace, that values initiative and innovation and recognises the variety of skills of all within the service, supporting both care workers and the individuals being supported.
The leader in adult care must consistently adopt a team approach as appropriate, recognising contributions of team members, and must be able to lead a team where required.
Tasks and Responsibilities Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Statutory frameworks, standards, guidance and Codes of Practice which underpin practice in relation to the safe delivery of services
Systems and processes needed to ensure compliance with regulations and organisational policies and procedures including health and safety and risk management
Principles of risk management, assessment and outcome based practice
Principles and underpinning theories of change management including approaches, tools and techniques that support the change process
Legislative and regulatory frameworks which inform quality standards
Theories and models that underpin performance and appraisal including disciplinary procedures
Tasks and Responsibilities Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Develop and apply systems and processes needed to ensure compliance with regulations and organisational policies and procedures
Implement strategies to support others to manage the risks presented when balancing individual rights and professional duty of care
Develop and apply systems and processes that monitor and sustain quality of the service, including assessments, care plans and service delivery
Lead and support others to work in a person centred way and to ensure active participation which enhances the well-being and quality of life of individuals
Encourage and enable both staff and people who access care and support to be involved in the co-production of how the service operates
Manage all resources in delivering complex care and support efficiently and effectively
Dignity and Human Rights Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Legislation and policy initiatives on the promotion of diversity, equality and inclusion in services they lead
Dignity and Human Rights Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Develop and lead implementation of organisational practices to create and sustain a culture that actively champions dignity and respects diversity, inclusion and fairness in the workplace
Develop and lead a culture that values courage in working in ways that may challenge workers’ own cultural and belief systems
Communication Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Legal and ethical frameworks in relation to confidentiality and sharing information
Range of tools and strategies to enhance communication including technology
Communication Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Develop and implement organisational processes to ensure that records and reports are written clearly and concisely and to keep information safe and preserve confidentiality
Translate policy and guidance into understandable information for a range of audiences including people who access care and support, carers and families and other colleagues
Safeguarding Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Legislation, national and local solutions for the safeguarding of adults and children including reporting requirements
The elements needed to create a culture that supports whistleblowing in the organisation
Safeguarding Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Implement systems to train and support work colleagues to enable them to recognise and respond to potential signs of abuse and or unsafe practices, following organisational policies and procedures
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of organisational policies, systems and processes for safeguarding
Health and Wellbeing Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Models of monitoring, reporting and responding to changes in health and wellbeing
Health and Wellbeing Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Lead the implementation of policies, procedures and practices to manage health, safety and risk to individuals and others in health and social care to ensure compliance with legislation, standards and guidance
Implement health and safety and risk management policies, procedures and practices to create a culture that values health and well-being in the organisation
Monitor, evaluate and improve health, safety and risk management policies and practices in the service
Professional Development Knowledge Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must consistently demonstrate the following Level 5 Knowledge Standards:
Principles of professional development
Goals and aspirations that support own professional development and how to access available opportunities
Elements needed to create a culture that values learning, professional development, reflective practice and evidence based practice
Systems and processes necessary to ensure professional development opportunities are identified, planned, sourced, evaluated and recorded for workers
Professional Development Skills Requirements
The Leader in Adult Care must demonstrate Level 5 Skills Standards and consistent competent practical performance, in the following work aspects:
Apply evaluated research and evidence-based practice in own setting
Take initiative to research and disseminate current drivers in the adult care landscape
Embed systems to improve performance of self and/or work colleagues through supervision, reflective practice and learning and development opportunities
Formal learning and development in leadership and management for health and social care organisations
Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care (RQF) (England) is the Ofqual-recognised qualification that delivers all aspects of the Leader in Adult Care National Occupational Standards.
The Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care (RQF) (England) is the current qualification that is approved by CQC and Skills For Care as the required qualification for Registered Managers, Directors, Owners, Nominated Individuals, and other types of senior leaders and managers of care services.
For more information and to enrol to study the qualification, click through the link
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