Transforming care and support locally

Adult social care faces unprecedented challenges. However, there is also a real opportunity to reimagine social care.

We work in collaboration with local authorities, and the communities you serve, to transform care.

We recognise that local areas have different starting points and we will work closely and flexibly with you to tailor our support appropriately.

Quality

SCIE’s tried and tested diagnostic approach enables you to identify gaps and challenges as well as what is working well:

Improvement

Access capacity and capabilities to fully embed your transformation and change strategy:

SCIE: Influencing better policy and practice nationally

SCIE provides evidence and insights to inform decision-making and to influence, develop and evaluate policy to improve practice and outcomes.

New report: ‘Towards a National Care Service: raising national standards of care’

We have launched a new report, ‘Towards a National Care Service: raising national standards of care’, which sets out how national standards could help deliver greater consistency, fairness and quality in adult social care across England. The Government has committed to reform adult social care through creating a National Care Service, underpinned by national standards of care. Beyond this commitment, we know very little about what national standards of care will look like, how they will be delivered or what they are aimed at achieving.

SCIE, with support from The Access Group, has therefore hosted a series of roundtables to help define national standards of care and shape the government’s reforms.

Drawing on evidence from SCIE-led policy roundtables and lived experience, our report proposes a practical framework for translating shared values into clear, outcome-focused expectations for a future National Care Service.

Roundtable series on national standards of care: Appendices

The purpose of the roundtables was to co-produce the practical framework mentioned above that will support consistency, personalisation and quality across the country. These roundtables brought together policymakers, commissioners, people who draw on care and support, unpaid carers, providers and researchers to debate the principles, key opportunities and levers for change. 

The following appendices share insights from each roundtable discussion.

National standards of care: Articles

This collection of blogs and press releases brings together key insights from a series of cross-sector discussions led by SCIE in partnership with The Access Group. Drawing on perspectives from social care, health, government, regulation and lived experience, it examines accountability, trust and how national standards can genuinely improve people’s lives.

SCIE and The Access Group lead sector drive to define national standards of care

Towards a National Care Service – By Kathryn Marsden OBE, SCIE Chief Executive Officer

Taking first steps towards a National Care Service – exploring how we raise standards of care – By Kathryn Marsden OBE, SCIE Chief Executive Officer

Navigating the digital frontier: building infrastructure and empowering people through technology in social care – By Deborah Rozansky, SCIE Director of Policy, Research and Information and Martin Lowthian, The Access Group Quality and Compliance Specialist

Integration must start with people’s lives, not system structures – By Ian McCreath, Think Local, Act Personal (TLAP) Director

Who owns standards of care—and how do we make them work? – By George Appleton, Head of External Affairs, SCIE

A workforce strategy for social care: Expectations from across the social care sector

This report brings together insights from four sector roundtables held in autumn 2023 to set out shared expectations for a future social care workforce strategy—focusing on pay and reward, international recruitment, training and retention to support a growing workforce under increasing pressure.

Read report

Innovation

Work with SCIE to help identify, spread and scale innovation at local and national levels.

Expert facilitator

SCIE brings together sector leaders, harnessing the expertise and power of others to test and learn.

Policy into practice

We work with Government to find solutions that help them to translate policy into practice – capturing insights.

Types and indicators of abuse

At a glance 69
Published: January 2015
Last reviewed: December 2020

Talk to us about safeguarding support

Key messages

Signs of abuse can often be difficult to detect. This page aims to help people who come into contact with people with care and support needs to identify abuse and recognise possible indicators. Many forms of abuse are also criminal offences and should be treated that way.

What are the ten different types of abuse?

The Care and support statutory guidance identifies ten types of abuse, these are:

Different forms of abuse and the signs

Evidence of any one indicator from the following lists should not be taken on its own as proof that abuse is occurring. However, it should alert practitioners to make further assessments and to consider other associated factors. The lists of possible indicators and examples of behaviour are not exhaustive and people may be subject to a number of abuse types at the same time.

Download this full resource

Types of physical abuse

  • Assault, hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, hair-pulling, biting, pushing
  • Rough handling
  • Scalding and burning
  • Physical punishments
  • Inappropriate or unlawful use of restraint
  • Making someone purposefully uncomfortable (e.g. opening a window and removing blankets)
  • Involuntary isolation or confinement
  • Misuse of medication (e.g. over-sedation)
  • Forcible feeding or withholding food
  • Unauthorised restraint, restricting movement (e.g. tying someone to a chair)

  • No explanation for injuries or inconsistency with the account of what happened
  • Injuries are inconsistent with the person’s lifestyle
  • Bruising, cuts, welts, burns and/or marks on the body or loss of hair in clumps
  • Frequent injuries
  • Unexplained falls
  • Subdued or changed behaviour in the presence of a particular person
  • Signs of malnutrition
  • Failure to seek medical treatment or frequent changes of GP

Types of domestic violence or abuse

Domestic violence or abuse can be characterised by any of the indicators of abuse outlined in this briefing relating to:

  • psychological
  • physical
  • sexual
  • financial
  • emotional.

See guidance about:

  • Low self-esteem
  • Feeling that the abuse is their fault when it is not
  • Physical evidence of violence such as bruising, cuts, broken bones
  • Verbal abuse and humiliation in front of others
  • Fear of outside intervention
  • Damage to home or property
  • Isolation – not seeing friends and family
  • Limited access to money
Domestic violence and abuse includes any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. It also includes so called ‘honour’ -based violence, female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Coercive or controlling behaviour is a core part of domestic violence. Coercive behaviour can include:
  • acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation
  • harming, punishing, or frightening the person
  • isolating the person from sources of support
  • exploitation of resources or money
  • preventing the person from escaping abuse
  • regulating everyday behaviour.

Types of sexual abuse

  • Rape, attempted rape or sexual assault
  • Inappropriate touch anywhere
  • Non- consensual masturbation of either or both persons
  • Non- consensual sexual penetration or attempted penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth
  • Any sexual activity that the person lacks the capacity to consent to
  • Inappropriate looking, sexual teasing or innuendo or sexual harassment
  • Sexual photography or forced use of pornography or witnessing of sexual acts
  • Indecent exposure

  • Bruising, particularly to the thighs, buttocks and upper arms and marks on the neck
  • Torn, stained or bloody underclothing
  • Bleeding, pain or itching in the genital area
  • Unusual difficulty in walking or sitting
  • Foreign bodies in genital or rectal openings
  • Infections, unexplained genital discharge, or sexually transmitted diseases
  • Pregnancy in a woman who is unable to consent to sexual intercourse
  • The uncharacteristic use of explicit sexual language or significant changes in sexual behaviour or attitude
  • Incontinence not related to any medical diagnosis
  • Self-harming
  • Poor concentration, withdrawal, sleep disturbance
  • Excessive fear/apprehension of, or withdrawal from, relationships
  • Fear of receiving help with personal care
  • Reluctance to be alone with a particular person

Types of psychological or emotional abuse

  • Enforced social isolation – preventing someone accessing services, educational and social opportunities and seeing friends
  • Removing mobility or communication aids or intentionally leaving someone unattended when they need assistance
  • Preventing someone from meeting their religious and cultural needs
  • Preventing the expression of choice and opinion
  • Failure to respect privacy
  • Preventing stimulation, meaningful occupation or activities
  • Intimidation, coercion, harassment, use of threats, humiliation, bullying, swearing or verbal abuse
  • Addressing a person in a patronising or infantilising way
  • Threats of harm or abandonment
  • Cyber bullying

  • An air of silence when a particular person is present
  • Withdrawal or change in the psychological state of the person
  • Insomnia
  • Low self-esteem
  • Uncooperative and aggressive behaviour
  • A change of appetite, weight loss/gain
  • Signs of distress: tearfulness, anger
  • Apparent false claims, by someone involved with the person, to attract unnecessary treatment

Types of financial or material abuse

  • Theft of money or possessions
  • Fraud, scamming
  • Preventing a person from accessing their own money, benefits or assets
  • Employees taking a loan from a person using the service
  • Undue pressure, duress, threat or undue influence put on the person in connection with loans, wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions
  • Arranging less care than is needed to save money to maximise inheritance
  • Denying assistance to manage/monitor financial affairs
  • Denying assistance to access benefits
  • Misuse of personal allowance in a care home
  • Misuse of benefits or direct payments  in a family home
  • Someone moving into a person’s home and living rent free without agreement or under duress
  • False representation, using another person’s bank account, cards or documents
  • Exploitation of a person’s money or assets, e.g. unauthorised use of a car
  • Misuse of a power of attorney, deputy, appointeeship or other legal authority
  • Rogue trading – e.g. unnecessary or overpriced property repairs and failure to carry out agreed repairs or poor workmanship

  • Missing personal possessions
  • Unexplained lack of money or inability to maintain lifestyle
  • Unexplained withdrawal of funds from accounts
  • Power of attorney or lasting power of attorney (LPA) being obtained after the person has ceased to have mental capacity
  • Failure to register an LPA after the person has ceased to have mental capacity to manage their finances, so that it appears that they are continuing to do so
  • The person allocated to manage financial affairs is evasive or uncooperative
  • The family or others show unusual interest in the assets of the person
  • Signs of financial hardship in cases where the person’s financial affairs are being managed by a court appointed deputy, attorney or LPA
  • Recent changes in deeds or title to property
  • Rent arrears and eviction notices
  • A lack of clear financial accounts held by a care home or service
  • Failure to provide receipts for shopping or other financial transactions carried out on behalf of the person
  • Disparity between the person’s living conditions and their financial resources, e.g. insufficient food in the house
  • Unnecessary property repairs

Types of modern slavery

  • Human trafficking
  • Forced labour
  • Domestic servitude
  • Sexual exploitation, such as escort work, prostitution and pornography
  • Debt bondage – being forced to work to pay off debts that realistically they never will be able to

GOV.UK has more information on identifying and reporting modern slavery

  • Signs of physical or emotional abuse
  • Appearing to be malnourished, unkempt or withdrawn
  • Isolation from the community, seeming under the control or influence of others
  • Living in dirty, cramped or overcrowded accommodation and or living and working at the same address
  • Lack of personal effects or identification documents
  • Always wearing the same clothes
  • Avoidance of eye contact, appearing frightened or hesitant to talk to strangers
  • Fear of law enforcers

Types of discriminatory abuse

  • Unequal treatment based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation (known as ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010)
  • Verbal abuse, derogatory remarks or inappropriate use of language related to a protected characteristic
  • Denying access to communication aids, not allowing access to an interpreter, signer or lip-reader
  • Harassment or deliberate exclusion on the grounds of a protected characteristic
  • Denying basic rights to healthcare, education, employment and criminal justice relating to a protected characteristic
  • Substandard service provision relating to a protected characteristic

  • The person appears withdrawn and isolated
  • Expressions of anger, frustration, fear or anxiety
  • The support on offer does not take account of the person’s individual needs in terms of a protected characteristic

Types of organisational or institutional abuse

  • Discouraging visits or the involvement of relatives or friends
  • Run-down or overcrowded establishment
  • Authoritarian management or rigid regimes
  • Lack of leadership and supervision
  • Insufficient staff or high turnover resulting in poor quality care
  • Abusive and disrespectful attitudes towards people using the service
  • Inappropriate use of restraints
  • Lack of respect for dignity and privacy
  • Failure to manage residents with abusive behaviour
  • Not providing adequate food and drink, or assistance with eating
  • Not offering choice or promoting independence
  • Misuse of medication
  • Failure to provide care with dentures, spectacles or hearing aids
  • Not taking account of individuals’ cultural, religious or ethnic needs
  • Failure to respond to abuse appropriately
  • Interference with personal correspondence or communication
  • Failure to respond to complaints

  • Lack of flexibility and choice for people using the service
  • Inadequate staffing levels
  • People being hungry or dehydrated
  • Poor standards of care
  • Lack of personal clothing and possessions and communal use of personal items
  • Lack of adequate procedures
  • Poor record-keeping and missing documents
  • Absence of visitors
  • Few social, recreational and educational activities
  • Public discussion of personal matters
  • Unnecessary exposure during bathing or using the toilet
  • Absence of individual care plans
  • Lack of management overview and support

Types of neglect and acts of omission

  • Failure to provide or allow access to food, shelter, clothing, heating, stimulation and activity, personal or medical care
  • Providing care in a way that the person dislikes
  • Failure to administer medication as prescribed
  • Refusal of access to visitors
  • Not taking account of individuals’ cultural, religious or ethnic needs
  • Not taking account of educational, social and recreational needs
  • Ignoring or isolating the person
  • Preventing the person from making their own decisions
  • Preventing access to glasses, hearing aids, dentures, etc.
  • Failure to ensure privacy and dignity

  • Poor environment – dirty or unhygienic
  • Poor physical condition and/or personal hygiene
  • Pressure sores or ulcers
  • Malnutrition or unexplained weight loss
  • Untreated injuries and medical problems
  • Inconsistent or reluctant contact with medical and social care organisations
  • Accumulation of untaken medication
  • Uncharacteristic failure to engage in social interaction
  • Inappropriate or inadequate clothing

Types of self-neglect

  • Lack of self-care to an extent that it threatens personal health and safety
  • Neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings
  • Inability to avoid self-harm
  • Failure to seek help or access services to meet health and social care needs
  • Inability or unwillingness to manage one’s personal affairs

Also see: Self-neglect at a glance

  • Very poor personal hygiene
  • Unkempt appearance
  • Lack of essential food, clothing or shelter
  • Malnutrition and/or dehydration
  • Living in squalid or unsanitary conditions
  • Neglecting household maintenance
  • Hoarding
  • Collecting a large number of animals in inappropriate conditions
  • Non-compliance with health or care services
  • Inability or unwillingness to take medication or treat illness or injury

We hope this has been helpful. Many aspects of keeping people safe from abuse are complex, and it is important that they are fully understood. SCIE offers e-learning, bespoke training, and consultancy support, to make sure that you and your organisation are aware of good safeguarding practice and your legal duties in this area. Or if you would like to talk to our team about how we can help, please complete our enquiry form.

Further reading from SCIE

Job vacancies at SCIE

The Social Care Institute for Excellence is a national charity and improvement agency which improves the lived experience of people using social care.

We do this by working in partnership with people with lived experience, commissioners, organisations which provide care and policy makers but we are independent of any specific sector interest. We influence improved outcomes through a range of activities including consultancy, policy development, research and evaluation, audits and reviews, training and the production of evidence-based tools and resources.

To help us implement our ambitious new strategy we are looking for a number of experienced, adaptable, highly motivated and outcome-focused individuals to join our fantastic team that makes evidence-based improvements for people with lived experience of social care by achieving the following:

  • Driving improvements in social care locally, through our consultancy and improvement support offer to local authorities and other local organisations, to help local partners to develop and execute sustainable plans which improve outcomes.
  • Influencing better policy and practice nationally through our policy and influencing work
  • Supporting better safeguarding everywhere through our safeguarding audits, reviews and training so organisations are confident we have made their organisations and their services safer.

First and foremost, we are looking for the right type of individual, someone who is interested in the vision and values of the organisation and who wants to make a difference.

Chief Executive Officer

We’re looking for a senior leader to take SCIE further at a pivotal moment for social care — widening our influence, growing new commercial income, and making sure our evidence and our voice are heard wherever decisions about the future of care are being made.

We need someone commercially sharp, fluent in the politics and practicalities of health and social care, and comfortable representing SCIE in rooms that span Whitehall, local government, providers, media and people with direct experience of care. Just as important is how you do it — judgement and presence that earn trust quickly, and the ability to hold together a diverse sector under pressure.

Contract and salary

  • Permanent, full time.
  • Salary: c.£140,000 per annum.
  • Home based with national travel as required.

What we offer in return:

We offer excellent staff benefits including a competitive salary and homeworking allowance. We provide an employer pension contribution above the statutory minimum, an award-winning employee assistance programme, and an attractive holiday package which rises with length of service. Benefits of working for SCIE can be found here Work for the Social Care Institute for Excellence – SCIE

If you would like to access the application form in a different format or if would like any assistance that might help improve your experience while completing the application, please contact us.

How to apply for this role

To make an application, please go to Starfish link and click on the apply now button, with the following prepared:

  • Your CV (no more than three sides).
  • A supporting statement (no more than two sides) that sets out why you think this role is the right move for you and how you meet the knowledge and experience criteria.

We would also be grateful if you would complete the Equality and Diversity monitoring form on the online application process.ring form on the online application process.

Apply now

Guideline only. Please check the ‘How to Apply’ instructions for the specific role you are interested in, as you may be required to complete additional tasks unique to that application or use a recruitment portal.

If you want to be part of a great team that is passionate about improving social care, then please apply when there is a vacancy. For your application to be considered, you are likely to need to include the following:

  • A cover letter of no more than two pages outlining your interest in the opportunity and how you meet the essential criteria
  • Your CV
  • As part of the application process we require that you complete our diversity monitoring form.
  • If you do not have a cover letter or CV, please submit a Completed application form

Please send all applications and supporting information to recruitment@scie.org.uk

If you have any questions please contact recruitment@scie.org.uk

No agencies or consultancies – we are looking for experienced individuals.

UK resident applicants ONLY. You must already have the right to work within the UK

You may be asked to take a test as well as attend an interview, which would take place online.

Please make sure that you have enclosed all the relevant documents with your application.

We value diversity in our workforce and are committed to equal opportunities. SCIE is a Disability Confident Employer and offers a guaranteed interview to candidates with disabilities who meet all essential criteria.

Please note, that as a homeworking organisation we require the successful candidate to have a reliable Wi-Fi connection and a minimum 10Mb/s broadband.

In order to stay connected to your colleagues and the work of the wider organisation you will be required to travel to London on a monthly basis to attend meetings. You may also be required to travel to UK-based clients for meetings and events necessary for the role.

Again, please ensure you check the instructions for the role you are applying for as they may vary or require additional tasks.

Standard SCIE job application form

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Partner with us

Why choose SCIE?

As an independent charity, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) works with organisations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to deliver outstanding and mutually beneficial partnerships that deliver clear benefits. These help make a difference to adults and children with care and support needs and those that care for them across the whole social care sector.

By partnering with us you can help create lasting system change and work with a trusted expert who has extensive reach across the social care sector:

sector reach graphic

Examples of our partnerships:

The fund was launched by DHSC in October 2023 and aims to boost the quality and accessibility of adult social care by supporting innovation and scaling, and improving care and support services for unpaid carers. SCIE provides hands-on support to local areas in developing projects for the exciting £42.6 million fund.

See how SCIE is helping to shape the future of adult social care and drive change for unpaid carers through the Accelerating Reform Fund.

Learn more about our role in ARF.

Since 2023 SCIE has worked with Care Talk magazine to support their awards programme including the Great British Care Awards, Dementia Care awards and Housing with Care awards.  SCIE’s co-production steering group members have acted as judges for the co-production category in each award, selecting worthy winners from across the country.  SCIE is proud to work with Care Talk magazine to highlight the great work and best practice in co-production by care providers across the country.

Learn more about Care Talk

We are proud to be part of EquaDem Network Plus which is a new national five-year Economic and Social Research Council, Alzheimer’s Society, National Institute for Health and Care Research funded network aiming to bring together different stakeholders across England and jointly find solutions to address inequalities in dementia diagnosis and care. The network is hosted by seven Universities working alongside the Lewy Body Society, Dementia UK, Mersey Care NHS Trust, Social Care Institute for Excellence, other social care organisations, and Dementia Researcher.

<a title="Opens in a new window"href=https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/research/researchers/our-funding-schemes/Dementia-Network-Plus
target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Learn about our role in this vital network.

This continues to build on our work as a semi-finalist in the Longitude Prize on Dementia.

Find out more.

In April 2025, SCIE proudly launched our first Social Care Impact Awards which we created to identify, recognise and reward small organisations doing exceptional work in social care.  We are proud to be supporting the sector by offering free expert consultancy and training to the winning organisations.

We are very grateful for the support of the Rayne Foundation who are match funding an additional first prize for the small organisation category.

Learn more about The Rayne Foundation.

 

Each of our partnerships is unique. We want to explore the different ways we can work together perhaps through strategic partnerships, donations to projects or event sponsorships. 

As a partner you will gain increased exposure, insight and understanding to the social care sector and its’ key audiences, and have unique networking opportunities.

We look forward to working with you. Together we can help improve lives for those who draw on care and support.

Resources

Guidance and tools to support best practice, co-production and innovation.

Talk to us

Keeping people safe

Safeguarding

This collection of improvement support and resources is designed to help local authorities, health and care providers, safeguarding boards, churches and faith groups to safeguard those at risk.

Find out more

Mental Capacity Act (MCA)

Information and guidance for care and health staff to support, protect and empower people who may lack capacity.

Find out more

Dignity in care

Our guide on dignity in care – providing care that supports the self-respect of the person, recognising their capacities and ambitions, and does nothing to undermine it.

Find out more

Support for social workers

Social work

Information, guidance and resources to support social workers.

Find out more

Social care recording

This resource supports social workers and other social care staff to improve recording skills.

Find out more

Personalised and person-centred care

Resources, information and guidance on providing personalised person-centred care for care providers, managers and practitioners.

Find out more

Day care

Resources to support restarting or continuing activities in community-based day services and day centres (including specialised environments)

Find out more

Care Act

Care Act 2014

Resources to help local authorities and care providers to analyse, develop, deliver and evaluate Care Act implementation programmes.

Find out more

Assessment and eligibility

Resources to support care practitioners about assessment and determination of eligibility under the Care Act.

Find out more

Advocacy

Resources to help commissioning officers in local authorities think through their duties and understand how to comply with the requirements of the Act.

Find out more

Strengths-based approaches (SBA)

These resources describe how SBAs work in a variety of interventions and settings and provide information on how to enable and implement SBAs.

Find out more

Care system

Integrated care

Resources on integrating health, care and related services, including guides, models and evidence.

Find out more

Housing with care

Guidance and advice for housing providers on their role in health and social care including safeguarding, hoarding and integrated care.

Find out more

Co-production

Co-production resources for health and social care managers commissioners, frontline practitioners, people who use services and carers.

Find out more

Innovation

How innovative, small-scale models of health, social care and support could be scaled up to improve support to adults and children.

Find out more

Social care commissioning

Guidance and practical examples for commissioners to help them support providers in delivering good care provision.

Find out more

SCIE around the UK

Wales

SCIE supports the work of Social Care Wales by the continued provision of high quality knowledge about what works and the provision of evidence and research based services to social care leaders in Wales.

Find out more

Northern Ireland

Resources which cover Northern Ireland to inform practice and service developments.

Find out more

Training

Bespoke online or face-to-face learning and development including: safeguarding, co-production & strengths-based approaches.

SCIE is a leading provider of CPD-accredited training and consultancy in health and social care. Our courses are developed in collaboration with the sector and delivered by subject matter experts to ensure their relevance, practical application and impact.

Make an enquiry

Open access training courses for individuals

All of our courses are delivered by subject experts to ensure their relevance and practical application.

View courses

Bespoke training for your organisation or team

We offer bespoke training courses which can be delivered to your organisation or team.

View courses

SCIE E-learning courses

Improve frontline knowledge, skills and practice in health and social care with the latest e-learning courses from SCIE.

View courses

Case studies and testimonials

Why train with SCIE?

How our training can help you:

Consultancy

We are your not-for-profit partner, working with you to identify and implement improvements. We offer customised solutions that improve quality, safety, and outcomes in social care.

We have a track record in transforming care and support locally, auditing and improving your Safeguarding culture, digital transformation, and influencing policy and practice.

Get in touch

How we can work with you

Our team, comprising former social care practitioners, researchers, and training experts, brings an immense passion and shared commitment to the cause.

To find out how we can support you, complete our enquiry form, or read more about our offers below.

Transforming care and support locally

Adult social care faces unprecedented challenges. However, there is also a real opportunity to reimagine social care.

We work in collaboration with local authorities, and the communities you serve, to transform care.

We recognise that local areas have different starting points and we will work closely and flexibly with you to tailor our support appropriately.

Safeguarding consultancy: audits and reviews

Learn from safeguarding incidents and assess current practice across both children and adults’ safeguarding.

Understanding your safeguarding duties and responsibilities, and developing and embedding good safeguarding practice, is key for all organisations.

Whether your organisation works with children and young people, adults, or both, we can work with you to make sure that the correct measures are in place to safeguard them from harm or neglect.

Safeguarding reviews

We undertake rapid reviews of safeguarding practice. We help you to identify where things are working less well and what the barriers are to overcoming challenges.

Rapid reviews

Safeguarding audits

SCIE’s experts can work with you to audit your safeguarding systems and culture. Our collaborative approach provides a deeper understanding of current local practice.

Safeguarding audits

Safeguarding improvement

Work with SCIE to build the capacity and capabilities to implement required changes to your safeguarding governance, processes and culture.

Talk to us

Digital transformation programme

Discover how SCIE worked with Bromley to deliver 2 million in savings, and how we could remodel your digital approaches and capabilities.

Digital change programme

Local improvement support

We work with teams across local government, care, health and housing to identify and embed new ways of working and to deliver strategic priorities.

Find out more

Safeguarding consultancy: Audits and reviews

Learn from safeguarding incidents and assess current practice across both children and adults’ safeguarding.

Find out more

Influencing better policy and practice nationally

We work with national partners to develop, embed and assess social care policy, innovation and integration.

Find out more

UK and international work

SCIE in England

We gather and analyse knowledge about what works and translate that knowledge into practical resources, learning materials and services. Our work helps to improve the knowledge and skills of those working in care services. This includes managers, frontline staff, commissioners and trainers. People who use services, and their families, also use our resources.

SCIE in Northern Ireland

We also share SCIE’s resources within Northern Ireland to inform practice and service developments. SCIE is undertaking projects to inform developments in social work and social care and we are making sure that a range of SCIE products reflect local legislation and policy context.

Find out more about SCIE‘s work in Northern Ireland.

SCIE in Wales

We support the development of social care in Wales, to improve the knowledge and skills of those working in care services.

Find out more about SCIE‘s work in Wales.

SCIE’s international work

SCIE’s work is of interest to social care researchers and practitioners from around the world. For example, we work closely with the Campbell Collaboration, the international body that maintains standards in systematic reviewing. We also have a number of projects with international partners.

SCIE in Scotland

SCIE has provided expert support on conducting significant case reviews, learning reviews and audits to improve child and adult protection practice in Scotland.

Our strategy for 2023-2027

We are an independent social care charity working with a wide range of partners and people with lived experience.

We provide innovative consultancy, expert training, extensive resources and information and evidence-based insights for the continual improvement of social care for adults and children.

Leading the way for improved social care

We seek to:

  • influence and shape national policy and practice through policy development and thought leadership
  • drive better social care practice and outcomes by producing and sharing insight, research, guidance, improvement resources and materials
  • co-produce our work with people with lived experience of the care and support system and support the adoption of co-production across social care
  • equip people working within social care and support with the leadership qualities, skills and capabilities they need to deliver better and person-centred care, through training, coaching and leadership development
  • support organisations to improve the quality and impact of care and support through evidence-based consultancy.

Core purpose

We collaborate and innovate in social care to improve lives.

Vision

A society which enables people who draw on social care to live fulfilling lives.

Mission

To support best practice, shape policy and raise awareness of the importance of social care, working together.

Values

The success of our strategy doesn’t just rely on what we do, but how we do it. This is where our values come in. We are committed to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation and living up to our values in everything we do.

We are ambitious about building the leadership and culture we need to enable our people to work at their best. We will develop a behavioural framework that ensures we are all living our values and are holding each other to account for continual improvement.

The values we have signed up to

Progressive

Always learning and developing

Inclusive

Working together for equality, diversity and fairness

Credible

Evidence-based, robust and reliable

Transparent

Open and honest

Committed

Focused on making a difference to people’s lives

Our role

Over the last 20 years we have worked across the social care sector gaining an invaluable insight into the issues that have affected people. We know what works in terms of good social care and support as well as why it works and how engaged and supportive communities can make a difference.

It is no longer sufficient nor appropriate to rely on platitudes or statements of intent when addressing the question of inequality in our society.

The inequalities in health and social care exposed by the COVID-19 crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement have shown us that this is no longer enough. To uphold the right for people to be treated equally, no matter their background, requires more.

SCIE’s role must be to challenge the structural inequalities in our society as it relates to social care.

To do so, it will hold itself to account in recruitment, and how it supports and develops its staff; people who represent the diverse society in which we live. They will be talented and confident in the knowledge that they will be judged by their ability alone.

In addition, SCIE will ensure that the voices of those it represents will always include those most disadvantaged by the structures of discrimination in our society, and hold its partners to account, as well. SCIE believes that co-production, both inclusive and transparent, presents the best opportunity to achieve this.

We have worked with knowledgeable and skilled partners to research and evidence the best examples of good social care and we will now focus our resources around three strategic intentions, where we believe we can achieve the greatest impact.

We recognise that the policy and operating context is different across the four countries of the UK, and different again between children’s and adult social care. We bring perspectives and learning from working with services for people of all ages, families and communities across the life course.

This means we bring insight from different parts of the system, building on the best available evidence and learning from practice and policy in both children’s and adult services. An example of this being when SCIE established the What Works for Children’s Social Care centre and led on stakeholder engagement.

Through our work, research and evidence, from both an academic perspective and from evidence gained through the lived experience of people accessing care and support, we will reflect on the differences in inequalities in social care, as a part of our drive to improve on these areas.

We always seek to ensure that our priorities, how we deploy our expertise, and our ways of working reflects these differences.

Our key principles

In order to deliver our strategy, we have established five key principles which will run across everything we do. These will enable us to continue to grow and strengthen our internal capabilities, and consolidate how we work with partners and people who access care and support. These are:

Co-production

  • We will work alongside people who access care and support to co-produce and design improved social care for today and for the future.
  • We will provide a channel for the voice of people within the community and those who access care and support so that they have a more powerful influence over policy and practice.

Innovation

  • We will draw on our experience of leading the Social Care Innovation Network to encourage local authorities, partner organisations, providers and citizens to develop and grow innovative approaches to care
  • We will explore the potential for digital technology to enhance practice and create care services which enhance people’s wellbeing and independence

Evidence and practice informed

  • We will keep abreast of emerging and innovative practice, research and thinking in social care and the wider community sector, to ensure we can provide thought leadership and understand where we can best contribute
  • We will harness the power of data science to inform better decisions that in turn increase independence

Partnership work

  • We will collaborate, convening and harnessing the expertise, experience and influence of the wider sector, to explore and adopt new approaches to high-quality, person- and community-centred models of support
  • We will work with partners to raise awareness of the importance of social work and social care including through events, webinars, writing and broadcasts

A sustainable and secure SCIE

  • We will operate effectively and cohesively, to make the most of our resources and further our charitable aims
  • We will clearly define our brand and commercial offer to ensure financial security, increasing our reach and impact and actively marketing our offer to the charity, public and education sectors
  • We will invest in our people to retain our sector-leading expertise and ensure we are a great place to work

Our strategic objectives

Embed co-production and the full contribution of people with lived experience in our work, the design and delivery of care and support services and in policy and research to better meet peoples’ needs.

This means we want to place co-production at the heart of research, policy, design and delivery of care and support services.

What we believe

Co-production is about collaboration and autonomy. It brings people, family members, carers, organisations and commissioners together to share influence, skills and experience. This leads to the design, delivery and monitoring of services and projects where people are treated as equals. In this way, co-production is a powerful tool in addressing inequality, as it ensures equality, diversity and inclusion.

The voice, insights and experience of people with lived experience should be embedded within research, policy, and the design and delivery of care and support services. SCIE is committed to developing understanding, increasing confidence and encouraging the application of co-production internally and across the entire social care sector.

What we want to achieve

More co-production through collaboration between commissioners and people delivering care and support, and those with lived experience of accessing those services.

How we will deliver

Year 1: We will co-produce (with SCIE’s Co-production Steering Group) a vision and strategy for co-production in SCIE and a co-production evaluation tool.

Year 2: By implementing our co-production strategy, we will start to deliver our vision for co-production.

Year 3: We will develop and deliver our offer to support the wider sector in adopting co-production.

How we will evaluate our impact

SCIE will use the % of SCIE staff across all teams who are confident in defining co-production and underpinning principles as a key metric.

SCIE will undertake benchmarking and annual evaluation of the experiences of staff and people drawing on care and support in relation to how well SCIE is working in coproduction and seek to demonstrate year on year progress.

Drive innovation and improvement in social care to deliver better outcomes for children and adults who need care and support.

This means we will champion new and better ways of providing care and support.  

What we believe

Care and support needs to be person-centred, preventative and strengths-based. Delivering this, particularly in the face of increasing demand for services, limited budgets, workforce challenges and widening health inequalities demands working in new and better ways. A key driver for innovation and improvement is SCIE’s commitment to addressing systematic inequalities and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion.

SCIE is committed to supporting the delivery of outcomes for children and adults who need care and support. We will do this by increasing the confidence of people delivering social care and commissioners to identify and adopt the most effective approaches.

What we want to achieve

Leaders in health and care working jointly and confidently to ensure best practices in care and support are adopted by commissioners and providers of services.

How we will deliver

Year 1: We will build our capacity and capability and develop new support offers in innovation, integration and children’s services which keep the person accessing care at their heart.

Year 2: Our new offer, embodying a person-centred approach, will be tested and implemented.

Year 3: We will seek out opportunities to be a partner in national programmes to spearhead improvement and innovation.  

How we will evaluate our impact

SCIE will use the % of respondents that advise us they have changed their practice or approach as a result of the service improvement support we provide as a key metric.

Influence and support implementation and delivery of better policy to improve the lives of people accessing care and support.

This means we will contribute to better policy which achieves true integration and improves lives.

What we believe

For people accessing health and social care support, meaningful integration which extends across not only health and care services but also into housing and education could transform their lives.

SCIE is committed to conducting the research, providing the evidence and influencing policy to make this integration a reality.

What we want to achieve

A direct link between SCIE’s research evidence and more effective and compassionate social care policy emerging.

How we will deliver

Year 1: We will develop a plan to influence national governments and secure better social care policy which is evidence-based, reflects best practice and improves lives.

Year 2: This influencing plan will be rolled out – ensuring the expertise and voice of SCIE is central in the national conversation about social care reform.

Year 3: We will deliver projects based on our innovation and improvement research.

How we will evaluate our impact

SCIE will track the reference or use of our research and policy recommendations in government programmes or plans as a key metric.

Improve safeguarding skills, knowledge and practice to keep children and adults safe and support their social wellbeing.

This means we will drive improvement in safeguarding to protect adults, children, and their social wellbeing.

What we believe

Safeguarding means protecting children and adults from harm, abuse, and neglect. It is essential in all environments, vital in ensuring people feel safe and important for social wellbeing.

SCIE is committed to ensuring effective safeguarding processes are in place across all settings.

What we want to achieve

Effective safeguarding processes across all settings.

How we will deliver

Year 1: We will review current safeguarding approaches and begin developing new tools and programmes for safeguarding audits and compliance in particular environments.

Year 2: Selected new person-centred tools and programmes will be tested and implemented in different settings. We will evaluate which approaches could be transferrable to other sectors.

Year 3: We will seek out opportunities to be the safeguarding partner for national programmes to spearhead improved safeguarding.

How we will evaluate our impact

SCIE will use the % of respondents that advise us they have changed their safeguarding practice or approach as a result of the support we provide as a key metric.

How did we develop this strategy?

To ensure our strategy was fit for purpose, inclusive and comprehensive, SCIE undertook a period of detailed research. This included interviewing experts and analysing the context in which SCIE operates – politically, economically, socially and technologically.  

This research informed the development of initial strategic objectives. We then shaped these through workshops and testing with SCIE staff, the Board of Trustees (including a dedicated Task and Finish Group) and SCIE’s Co-production Steering Group of people with lived experience of social care.

Implementation planning then determined how we would bring each finalised objective to life through key projects and activities.

What influenced this strategy?

SCIE’s vision is:

“A society where care and support maximises people’s choices, removes social inequality and enables people to live fulfilling, safe and healthy lives.”

It is a mission to reform society, and therefore a strategy to pursue it must be developed in response to the challenges of today and tomorrow. To be effective, it must be constructed to meet demands presented by political, economic, social and technological factors. To be actionable, it must acknowledge relevant elements of internal and external context.

This strategy has been developed with consideration of relevant challenges and opportunities, including:

  • The UK’s population is ageing. Care and support services are experiencing increasing demand in terms of both volume and complexity.
  • The social care sector is experiencing significant workforce and budgetary pressures and is exploring ways to address this through the use of technology.
  • The social care reform agenda is driving towards integration across health and social care.
  • A general election is expected in 2024.

How will we deliver it?

SCIE has identified that collaboration will be vital to successfully delivering its four strategic objectives. SCIE will:

  • Create an inclusive culture, which attracts and retains a diverse workforce with the right skills and behaviours.
  • Invest in and maintain the robust systems, processes and management required to support the organisation.
  • Articulate SCIE’s role and unique value through effective communications, engagement, marketing and brand.
  • Deliver within budget and grow revenue, ensuring investment in this strategy is sustainable and appropriate funds are available for key activities.

A member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) has been identified as a lead for each activity SCIE will undertake in pursuing these objectives. The SLT and Operational Leadership Team will monitor SCIE’s progress in achieving these objectives quarterly. To do this, they will use the key metrics identified to evaluate the impact of each objective. They will report this progress to the Board on a quarterly basis. The implementation plan for each objective will be reassessed annually. The SLT will also assess risks to the delivery of this strategy and ensure they are appropriately reported and managed.

Talk to us

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To find out how we can support you, please complete an enquiry form.

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Support our work

We are an independent social care charity working with a wide range of partners and people with lived experience, to improve people’s lives.

SCIE provides world-class extensive resources, information and evidence-based insights, innovative consultancy, and expert training for the continual improvement of social care.  We work with national government including the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), local authorities, care providers, academics and charitable foundations. Read our impact report.

Using our trusted evidence and wealth of experience, we want to help create a fair and equal society, where care maximises people’s choices and removes social inequality.

If you would like to collaborate or partner with us, or support our charitable activities or events, please get in touch:

partnerships.development@scie.org.uk

We greatly appreciate individual donations to support our charitable activities. You can donate via our JustGiving page.

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Collaborating and innovating in social care to improve lives

SCIE annual report 2024/25

Chief Executive’s report

Our purpose at SCIE is to collaborate and innovate with a whole range of partners so that people can easily receive social care, and through it, live more independent, fulfilling and better lives.

That is why we exist. But we couldn’t do it without you, our partners, and our amazing staff. Our achievements in the last year are joint achievements, and are down to the collaborative and innovative efforts that I see everywhere in social care, despite the hardship and the continuing pressures that so many of you working in social care face on a daily basis. I am proud that SCIE can help to shine a positive light on all the good work you do.

This has been a year of change, bringing fresh promise with the new Government’s talk of a National Care Service. As the Casey Commission moves forward in its efforts to design a better system for the future, we look forward to working with Baroness Casey and partners across the sector – crucially including people receiving care and support, and their family carers – to create sustainable solutions that will truly improve lives.

Across our not-for-profit consultancy, insights, training and resources outputs this year, I have never more strongly seen the power of collaboration and innovation. Perhaps particularly so in our work supporting the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF). When I visited Worcestershire to understand their project better, the programme leads Kim Terry and Mel Smith were clearly passionate about what they were going to be able to achieve for unpaid carers. I spoke to carers who told me how this work was significantly transforming what had been a very difficult experience for them, helping them to feel supported and connected. The commitment and enthusiasm of staff members shone through as they showed me how innovations like assistive technology were improving lives.

We have now completed our main support role to the ARF, although we are continuing in a small way to help where we can. This was a first of its kind grant fund in England in its focus on identifying and scaling up innovations particularly for unpaid carers, whose enormous selfless contribution does much to keep the system going. Do read our independent report ‘Embracing change: scaling innovation in social care practice’, setting out invaluable key learnings for the sector and best practice so far. We hope it offers you solutions and powerful insights into how to start, sustain and scale innovation. We look forward to reporting back further on progress from this rare, interesting testbed of innovation in practice.

We have had a successful first year working with Partners in Care and Health (PCH) on a programme of sector-led improvement support for social care and public health services in councils, funded by the DHSC. Local authorities and practitioners tell us our direct support, and range of resources supplementing it, are helping them deliver improved services in areas such as digital transformation, housing, safeguarding and co-production. We’re also supporting local authorities requiring improvement post-Care Quality Commission (CQC inspection. I would like to thank all our partners, stakeholders, and supporters, along with my wonderful team at SCIE: every employee, the Board of Trustees, our Co-production Steering Group and wider network who collectively have delivered another successful year of impact to improve lives. It is only together that we can ensure everyone receives high quality care that enables choice, control and independence.

Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive, SCIE

Image of SCIE CEO Kathryn Smith

Chair’s report

Nine years of purpose, challenge, and reform

When I took on the role of Chair at the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in July 2017, I joined an organisation with a distinguished legacy and a deep sense of mission. What I couldn’t have fully appreciated then was just how much this journey would come to define my own commitment to social care reform – and how profoundly the values of co-production, evidence and partnership would shape both the direction of SCIE and the wider reform narrative.

SCIE’s story over the past nine years is one of hard-won transformation – internally, as we restructured and reimagined the organisation for resilience and impact, and externally, as we played an increasingly vital role in responding to crises, shaping policy and catalysing long-overdue change in adult social care. When I arrived, SCIE faced financial fragility. Deficits were ongoing, and though austerity-era funding cuts contributed to the cause, the real challenge ran deeper. The business model had become unsustainable, our operating systems outdated and our organisational footprint misaligned with our income. We needed to change fundamentally to survive – let alone thrive.

Together with our exceptional Board and staff – and most crucially, in partnership with Kathryn Marsden (then Smith), whom I had the privilege of appointing as Chief Executive – we delivered that change. Kathryn brought strategic discipline, clarity of vision, and an unwavering commitment to our values. Her leadership through periods of uncertainty, including the COVID-19 pandemic, was exceptional. We transitioned SCIE into a remote-first organisation, modernised IT and finance systems, exited costly long-term liabilities such as the defined-benefit pension scheme, and diversified income streams. These changes were not easy. They required tough decisions and deep candour. But they worked. We moved from deficits to four consecutive surpluses and counting, built a meaningful reserve, and made strategic investments to create an organisation that is both financially resilient and fit for the future. These internal reforms matter not just for their own sake, but because they have strengthened SCIE’s role as part of the sector’s critical infrastructure – trusted to translate policy into practice, to convene diverse voices, and to deliver meaningful change.

Throughout my tenure, SCIE has remained close to the pulse of the sector. During the pandemic, we launched the National COVID Hub in record time, providing timely guidance and safeguarding resources accessed by hundreds of thousands. We supported local authorities and providers in adapting to fast[1]changing demands, showing SCIE at its agile best – anchored in purpose, driven by need.

But SCIE’s role has extended far beyond crisis response. We have consistently influenced national policy – co-chairing the Commission on the Role of Housing in the Future of Care and Support, embedding Think Local Act Personal (TLAP)’s ‘Making it Real’ framework in CQC’s new assurance model, contributing to the Adult Social Care White Paper, and shaping innovation through the ARF and sector-led improvement programmes. Among these, I am particularly proud of SCIE’s work in 2024/25 supporting the DHSC’s ARF. By helping local systems innovate for unpaid carers, SCIE demonstrated how lived experience and local insight can drive practical solutions with national relevance. This work exemplified the best of SCIE – strategic, people-centred, and grounded in the urgent realities of the system.

SCIE has actively contributed to key system reviews and reform agendas – most recently through our work to support the Casey Commission. These interventions are not merely consultative; they are part of how we embed reform. From parliamentary scrutiny to national design efforts, SCIE has become a bridge between people’s experience and policy ambition. SCIE Annual Report 2025 | 4 The thread that runs through it all is the unfinished business of the Care Act 2014 – a law I had the privilege of helping shape as Care Services Minister. That legislation was a watershed moment: it consolidated decades of fragmented policy, placed wellbeing at the heart of care, strengthened rights for carers and promised a lifetime cap on care costs. It was, and remains, the most coherent blueprint for modern social care this country has produced.

But the promise of the Care Act has too often been betrayed by a lack of delivery. The cap, initially due in 2016, was deferred repeatedly before being finally abandoned in 2024. Local authorities, under increasing financial strain, continue to ration services. Millions of older people and working-age disabled adults remain unsupported. And unpaid carers – around 1.5 million providing more than 50 hours of care a week – shoulder a burden valued at £184 billion annually, often at enormous personal cost.

This is not just a policy failure. It is a moral failure – a systemic reluctance to match legislative vision with political resolve and investment. SCIE’s internal renewal over these nine years has therefore never been just about financial turnaround or operational efficiency. It has been about ensuring that our organisation was ready to meet this national moment with clarity, credibility, and impact.

That moment may now be upon us. The launch of the Casey Commission in early 2025 represents the most promising opportunity in over a decade to restart reform. With interim proposals expected in 2026 and a full vision by 2028 – including the potential creation of a National Care Service underpinned by national care standards – this is a critical juncture. The Commission has rightly warned that failure is possible without a compelling, costed, data-driven case for reform. SCIE continues to argue that reform must not begin from scratch. The Care Act provides the foundation. What’s needed now is implementation: embedding co[1]production as a form of governance, prioritising prevention investment, defining national care standards and creating enduring political consensus. We must move from aspiration to delivery—from legislation to lived experience.

As I prepare to hand over the baton, I do so with full confidence in SCIE’s future. The organisation is financially sound, strategically focused and equipped with an exceptional leadership team. It is ready not only to continue delivering impact today, but to help shape the system we will need for the decade to come: one built on equity, national consistency and meaningful accountability. The next Chair will inherit an organisation well placed to support the implementation of national standards, the evolution of assurance models and the delivery of long-term reform. Our direction is now firmly future-facing – strengthening the infrastructure of care with the same determination that once rescued it from fragility.

I want to thank everyone who has shared this journey: staff, trustees, partners and above all, the people and communities we exist to serve. SCIE has been my professional home for nearly a decade, but it has also been something more: a place where values meet action, and where reform is not just advocated, but actively built. I hope the legacy we leave is clear: an organisation that lives the values it champions, that has helped steer the sector through storm and change and that now stands ready to support the transformation our country so urgently needs. It has been an honour to serve.

Rt Hon Paul Burstow, Chair, SCIE

Image of Paul Burstow, Chair of the SCIE Board of Trustees

Annual report and financial statements 2024/25

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