The Residential Care App | Ofsted Compliance Software

Purpose: to help providers appoint an effective Registered Manager (RM) and Nominated Individual (NI), with clear accountability and evidence-ready oversight.

This is general guidance (not legal advice). Always align with your organisation’s policies and professional advice.

1) Role clarity in plain English

Registered Manager (RM)

Owns day-to-day leadership

Leads daily operations, staff practice, routines, and culture.
Makes safeguarding decisions in real time (and records actions clearly).
Ensures care planning, risk management, medication, incidents, and staff supervision happen consistently.
Maintains evidence that the home’s practice matches its policies.

Look for: calm judgement, safeguarding curiosity, coaching leadership, evidence discipline.

Nominated Individual (NI)

Owns provider oversight

Provides governance and accountability on behalf of the provider.
Ensures the home is properly resourced and monitored (audits, actions, learning).
Challenges and supports the RM with regular oversight meetings and documented follow-up.
Can clearly explain how the provider knows what is happening in the home.

Look for: consistency, ability to challenge, understanding of quality monitoring, data-led oversight.

2) What “good” looks like in interview

Safeguarding

Scenario judgement
Explains actions, timescales, escalation routes.
Balances empathy with boundaries and risk.
Can evidence learning from incidents.

Leadership

Culture & performance
Runs supervision properly and on time.
Coaches staff, tackles drift, sets standards.
Builds stable rotas and reduces agency reliance.

Evidence

Inspection readiness
Speaks confidently about audits, actions, outcomes.
Can point to examples of improvement work.
Records are consistent, timely, and child-focused.

3) A practical recruitment process

Define outcomes: what the home must improve (culture, stability, safeguarding, quality assurance, placements).
Write a values-based advert: include “how we lead” not just tasks (trauma-informed, restorative practice, safeguarding curiosity).
Screen for evidence: ask for examples of audits, supervision cadence, incident learning, improvement plans.
Run a scenario interview: safeguarding concern + staff performance + child missing episode (or similar).
Set a practical task: “review these 3 anonymised logs and identify risks, actions, and improvements.”
Verify oversight fit (for NI): confirm availability, governance rhythm, reporting, and decision authority.
Onboard with structure: 30/60/90 day plan, clear KPIs, supervision schedule, audit calendar.

Tip: require both RM and NI to describe the home’s key risks and improvement priorities — answers should align (but not sound rehearsed).

4) Responsibilities matrix (RACI)

RACI key: R = Responsible (does the work) • A = Accountable (owns the outcome) • C = Consulted • I = Informed

Area	Lead	NI	RM	Notes
Governance & accountability	NI	A	I	Sets governance framework, ensures compliance oversight; RM implements locally.
Daily operational leadership	RM	I	A/R	Leads day-to-day running of the home and staff on shift.
Safeguarding decisions (immediate)	RM	C	A/R	Acts on concerns, referrals, strategy meetings, ensures timely actions.
Safeguarding oversight & trends	NI	A	R	Monitors themes, ensures provider learning and resources.
Care planning quality	RM	I	A/R	Ensures plans are accurate, reviewed, outcomes-focused.
Quality of practice monitoring	NI	A	R	Commission/receive audits, challenge and support RM, track improvement.
Staff recruitment (home level)	RM	C	A/R	Shortlists, interviews, assesses values/competence, recommends hires.
Staff recruitment (provider controls)	NI	A/R	C	Ensures safer recruitment framework, approvals, resources.
Induction, supervision & appraisal	RM	I	A/R	Ensures supervision cadence, capability, training compliance.
Training strategy & budget	NI	A/R	C	Sets training expectations, monitors completion, funds delivery.
Reg 44 visits (independent)	External	I	I	Independent visitor completes Reg 44; RM supports access; NI monitors actions.
Reg 45 Quality of Care Review	NI	A/R	C	Provider review of quality; RM provides evidence and improvement plan.
Incident management & notifications	RM	I	A/R	Records, investigates, notifies (Ofsted/LA as required), debriefs staff.
Complaints handling (home)	RM	I	A/R	Manages complaints locally, resolves, records outcomes.
Complaints oversight (provider)	NI	A/R	C	Reviews themes, ensures independence/escalation, monitors timeliness.
Policies & procedures (provider-wide)	NI	A/R	C	Approves/updates policies; ensures version control and dissemination.
Policy implementation	RM	I	A/R	Embeds policies into practice through training, supervision, audits.
Budget & resources	NI	A/R	C	Ensures staffing levels, resources, maintenance funding.
Maintenance & environment standards	RM	I	A/R	Logs defects, ensures repairs, checks health & safety compliance.
Multi-agency relationships	RM	C	A/R	Leads professionals meetings, builds partnerships, escalates concerns.
Inspection readiness	Both	A	A	RM leads evidence at home; NI ensures oversight, governance and improvement tracking.
Data reporting & MI	NI	A/R	C	Defines KPIs and reporting; RM supplies accurate and timely data.

5) Ready-to-use templates

Weekly RM–NI oversight agenda (45 mins)

Safeguarding dashboard: referrals, missing episodes, restraints, allegations, patterns.
Incidents & learning: themes, actions, staff debrief, child impact.
Staffing: supervision completion, training gaps, recruitment, agency use.
Quality: audit findings, actions due, care plan reviews, complaints.
Placement stability: admissions/ends, key risks, MDT meetings.

30/60/90 day plan (RM)

First 30: baseline audit, safeguarding assurance check, supervision schedule, key files review.
60: implement improvements, evidence outcomes, staff coaching, refine routines.
90: embed QA rhythm, improve stability metrics, prepare inspection pack.

6) Quick red flags

Cannot explain safeguarding decision-making or timescales clearly.
Blames “staffing” for everything without a plan to coach, recruit, and stabilise.
Overconfident answers with little evidence of audits, actions, or learning.
NI is unavailable, unclear on oversight rhythm, or “delegates everything” with no monitoring.
No consistent record-keeping habits (late logs, vague actions, missing follow-up).