Developing business awareness of the wider health and care system and identifying development opportunities for your service

This microcredential will enhance your managerial and leadership skills to make a positive impact within your organisation and broader society. Over ten weeks, you’ll explore how an organisation’s structure and culture shape the actions and behaviours of its employees and how you can become a manager equipped with critical skills to lead progressive change, empower your workforce, increase productivity, create efficiencies and adapt to change in the modern business landscape.

Information on commissioning across NHS services.

Launched by The Careers & Enterprise Company in 2023, the Employer Standards offer a clear framework to help businesses understand what effective careers education outreach looks like.

By self-assessing against the Standards, you can:

• Plan and structure your engagement with schools and colleges
• Identify strengths and areas for development
• Connect with peers and share expertise
• Benchmark your approach and access tailored resources

The Careers and Enterprise Company also offers a free self-assessment tool, based on the Employer Standards framework. It allows employers to:

• Review the quality of their careers engagement activities (e.g. workplace visits, open days)
• Learn from examples of best practice
• Track progress over time with a personalised report and updated resources
• See how their results compare with similar organisations, by size, sector, and region.

This can be a helpful way for care providers with limited time to reflect on current activities and identify practical ways to strengthen links with schools and colleges. Results are confidential and not shared publicly.

This development series is based on insights and experience drawn from work with a number of Integrated Care Systems across England. It will explore what partnership working looks like across teams and organisations. What does this mean for leaders? It is co-designed with input from with the NHSLA and local representatives to understand their current challenges and opportunities. 6 modules in topics including Leading alongside your local communities and Improving the health of our local communities

It’s important to continually respond to and learn from what is going well, and what isn’t going so well. This enables you to make improvements to your service and offer that benefit everyone – especially those accessing care and support.

The module is aligned to Standard 10 of the Manager Induction Standards and will cover the following 3 topics:

• Comments and complaints
• Continuous improvement
• Creating change

The purpose of this free online course is to provide learners with knowledge and understanding of business improvement techniques, which can be applied across many different sectors and job roles.

New care organisations should be carefully planned to ensure the business is sustainable and able to deliver high standards of care.

Skills for Care provides guidance and advice to help those considering opening a new adult social care organisation. It includes recommendations, a checklist and insight from owners and managers that have successfully established new businesses.

Published 15th October 2025, Skills for Care’s report features key trends in filled posts, pay, recruitment and demographics.

Access Social Care’s 2025 State of the Nation Report reveals a sharp 45.6% rise in safeguarding concerns during Labour’s first year in government, highlighting continued pressure on an overstretched social care system. 

While there have been some positive signs, including fewer people on waiting lists and a dip in staff vacancies, the sector continues to face workforce shortages, local inequalities, and underfunding that hasn’t kept pace with rising need.