Care home managers are responsible for the day-to-day running of residential care homes which includes overseeing all activities within the home, supervising and training staff, and ensuring the quality of the service is maintained.

Care home managers usually specialise and work with one of the following client groups:

• older people
• people with mental health problems
• people with learning disabilities
• young adults
• the terminally ill
• people with physical disabilities
• children at risk 
• families.

A care home manager's role is likely to involve some or all of the following:

• managing employee and business performance
• developing ways to promote the rights and responsibilities of service users
• fundraising, negotiating bids and working within budgetary constraints
• providing support to clients, families and carers
• facilitating access to ordinary local services
• providing the opportunity to contribute to the local community
• developing clear policies and practices regarding quality standards, health and safety, and other relevant legislation.

Care homes and managers are required to meet a set of National Minimum Standards - these vary depending on the client group in the care home. Managers need to be aware of the specific standards appropriate to their service and residents. Standards are issued by the Department of Health and can be found on the Commission for Social Care Inspection website under Information for Service Providers; check Further Information.

Hours and Environment

Care home managers usually work 35 to 40 hours a week, which may include shifts, weekend work, and some on-call duties in the event of an emergency.

Some posts may have the requirement to live-in, as part of the employment contract.

Skills and Interests

To be a care home manager you should:

• have strong interpersonal and counselling skills
• have experience of assessing an individual's care and support needs
• have negotiating and budgetary management skills
• be able to maintain accurate records
• have knowledge of relevant legislation, services and resources
• have knowledge of specific medical conditions of service users
• be able to build effective working relationships with residents, their families, staff and other professionals.

Entry

The National Minimum Standards for all care home managers, regardless of client group, require the registered manager to be qualified, competent and experienced to run the home and meet its stated purpose, aims and objectives.

Regional inspectors assess whether a manager meets the minimum standards. Where they do not, the inspector recommends appropriate steps to be taken by the manager to help achieve the required standard.

To meet the necessary standards, a registered care home manager needs the following:

• at least two years' significant management or supervisory experience in a relevant care setting within the past five years
• NVQ Level 4 in Health and Social Care, or equivalent such as the Diploma (DipSW) or degree in Social Work, a nursing qualification (with live registration), Diploma in Occupational Therapy or Diploma in Physiotherapy 
• NVQ Level 4 in Management, or equivalent such as the Certificate or Diploma in Management Studies. New managers who do not already hold a management qualification should consider the Registered Manager Award (RMA) NVQ Level 4 as this most closely addresses the demands of this role.  

Where nursing care is provided by the home, the manager would normally possess a registered nurse qualification and NVQ Level 4 (or equivalent) in Management.

The Registered Manager Award NVQ Level 4 is available through local training providers or by distance learning. The awarding bodies for this are City and Guilds, BTEC (Edexcel), OCR, Education Development International, the Chartered Management Institute and the Open University. For contact details of the awarding bodies, see the Links section of the Skills for Care website in Further Information.

There is no upper age limit for entry to this role and maturity is seen as a positive attribute.

Training

National Minimum Standards require that 50% of staff working in a care home must hold an NVQ Level 2 in Health and Social Care, or equivalent (the registered manager or care manager are excluded from this). As a manager you can support your staff through their NVQ by undertaking NVQ assessor qualifications such as the A1, A2 and V1 awards. The former D32/D33 and D34 units would still be relevant if already held.

As a Registered Manager, you would undertake periodic professional development training to update your knowledge and skills.

Opportunities

Care home managers work in a variety of settings in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

There is a growing trend for private healthcare companies to cater for the rise in demand for care services, especially care of the elderly. As a result, there has been an increase in demand for registered managers. Increasingly, local authorities are contracting out their care home services to independent organisations, again, leading to a corresponding rise opportunities in this sector.

In terms of career development, options include:

• moving into coordination of services or management at a regional level within a larger healthcare company or charity
• moving into related areas such as company marketing or training
• consultancy work on a freelance basis 
• working as an inspector, overseeing the implementation of national standards.

Where experienced managers hold nursing, care or social work qualifications, there is the opportunity to move back into those sectors at project management level.

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Deputy managers moving into a registered manager role can expect to earn between £21,000 to £27,000 a year.
With several years' experience this may rise to between £30,000 and £40,000 a year.

Depending on the employer, a range of associated benefits may be included in a salary package including private healthcare, company car, bonus and share options.

Further information

Albion Court
5 Albion Place
Leeds
LS1 6JL
Tel: 0113 245 1716