Well-led · KLOE 3

Capable and compassionate leaders

Do leaders at all levels have the capability and experience to lead effectively and deliver high-quality care, with accountability, integrity and empathy?

In brief

Capable and compassionate leaders is key line of enquiry 3 under the Well-led key question in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) draft adult social care assessment framework (v9, 19 March 2026), currently published for consultation. It covers leadership competency, support and development, safe recruitment of leaders/fit and proper person requirement (fppr), compassionate and capable leaders, role expectations and personal accountability. CQC describes performance against it at four rating levels: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate. Each statement and rating characteristic quoted here is reproduced verbatim from CQC's draft; plain-English summaries are HLTH's own.

Key question: Well-led
Line of enquiry: KLOE 3 of 6 under Well-led
Rating levels: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate
Source: Adult social care assessment framework, v9 (19 March 2026)
Status: Draft, published by CQC for consultation
Reference: pp. 56–58 of the CQC draft

Scope and topic areas

What this line of enquiry covers

Scope of this key line of enquiry and topic areas include:

Leadership competency, support and development
Safe recruitment of leaders/Fit and Proper Person Requirement (FPPR)
Compassionate and capable leaders
Role expectations and personal accountability

Rating characteristics

How CQC describes each rating

The four characteristic sets for this KLOE, best to worst. Every point is CQC's wording, reproduced exactly.

Outstanding

In plain terms: Care is exceptional and consistently better than the Good standard.

Leaders model empathy, active listening, and inclusive decision-making.
There is compassionate, inclusive and effective leadership at all levels. Leadership is collaborative, supportive and people-focused, with leaders at all levels empowered to act and work together to deliver excellent and sustainable care.
Leaders make sure they are visible, accessible and responsive. They embody integrity, honesty and openness, and build strong, respectful relationships with staff and people who use services through inclusive and transparent engagement.
There is a deeply embedded system of leadership development and succession planning. It reflects the diversity of the workforce and supports staff to feel safe, speak up, and grow through learning and development opportunities.
Comprehensive and successful leadership strategies are in place to ensure and sustain delivery of care.
There is strong collaboration, team-working and support across all functions. Staff are engaged, empowered and united by shared values, with a clear sense of belonging and a common focus on improving the quality of care and people’s experiences.

Good

In plain terms: The service meets the expected standard.

Leaders have the experience, capacity, capability and integrity to ensure that the service’s vision is delivered. People say the service is well-led, with leaders who are approachable and responsive.
Leaders are visible and available. They lead by example, demonstrating integrity, modelling inclusive behaviours, and open and co-operative relationships.
Leaders are knowledgeable about issues and priorities that affect the quality of the service and have access to appropriate development in their role. They seek support or independent scrutiny where required.
High-quality leadership is sustained through safe, effective, and inclusive recruitment and succession planning.
Leaders promptly address any issues relating to poor culture that could affect the quality of people’s care or have a detrimental impact on staff.
Where required, there is a registered manager in post. They understand their responsibilities and are supported by the board, trustees or directors and other managers to deliver good, effective, high-quality care.
Leaders create a positive environment where others feel empowered to have control and make decisions. They work to reduce hierarchy in decision making at all levels, so that others are encouraged to take the lead.
Leaders use their own and people’s lived experience to make informed decisions. They ask colleagues and people using the service what they think good care should look like, so that everyone feels included and valued.
When something goes wrong, people receive a sincere and timely apology and are told about any actions being taken to prevent the same thing happening again.

Requires improvement

In plain terms: The service is not yet Good and has areas that must improve.

Leaders do not consistently demonstrate that they have the experience, knowledge or capability to make sure they are providing a quality service. People regularly say the service is not well led.
Leaders are not consistently visible or available when needed. They can be distant or inaccessible and are often not present in day-to-day workspaces. This creates barriers to effective communication and support.
Leaders do not consistently model positive behaviours, including inclusion, openness and co-operation with others.
Leaders do not consistently demonstrate empathy or understanding of people’s personal challenges. They regularly fail to respond with care during difficult periods or prioritise tasks over people, which affects how supported staff feel.
Leaders sometimes make decisions without engaging or consulting with others, including staff, people or those close to them. The impact of decisions on people is not meaningfully considered in all cases.
There are shortfalls in the required knowledge of leaders. They are not consistently clear about their responsibilities and are unaware of their limitations.
Leaders are not appropriately supported to develop in their role.
Leadership is unsustainable and inconsistent. Cover for absent managers does not ensure continuity, and there is no viable plan to secure long-term, high-quality leadership.
There is no registered manager in place, despite this being a requirement for the service. There is limited evidence of effective and timely action to recruit or secure appropriate cover.

Inadequate

In plain terms: Performance is well below the expected standard; enforcement may follow.

Leaders are out of touch with what is happening in the service and/or do not take appropriate action when needed. Leaders and others may be defensive. People say the service is poorly led.
Leaders do not demonstrate that they have the experience, knowledge or capability to provide a safe service.
Leaders are not visible. They are distant or inaccessible, rarely present in day-to-day workspaces and are difficult to approach. There are barriers to communication and support.
Leadership is weak, inconsistent, top-down or overbearing. Leaders apply rules or expectations unevenly, often favouring certain individual people or groups.
Leaders make decisions in isolation without engaging or consulting with others including staff, people or those close to them. The impact of decisions on these people is not considered.
Leaders demonstrate a lack of empathy and often dismiss the personal challenges or wellbeing of others, fail to respond with care during difficult times, or they prioritise tasks over people.
Leaders fail to acknowledge or celebrate the contributions of others. They do not create opportunities for team members to feel empowered, valued, or motivated.
There are serious shortfalls in the knowledge of leaders. This includes issues and priorities related to the service and understanding their own role and responsibilities.
There is no registered manager in place, and this may have been for some time. No effective action is being taken to resolve this.

Reading these against your own evidence is where most providers get stuck. We can walk it through with you.