A vision on paperis not a vision lived.

The vision that lives in a document and the one that lives in the service

Most care services have a vision statement — whether a care home, domiciliary service or supported living operation. It was written when the service registered, or updated before a previous inspection, and it describes the kind of care the service aims to deliver. It is usually in the staff handbook, possibly on the website, and may or may not appear on a wall in the building.

What CQC is interested in is not the vision statement. It is the vision itself: whether the people who work in the service share a real, lived sense of what they are trying to achieve and why. A vision that exists in a document but not in daily conversation, decision-making and staff culture is not evidence of a purposeful approach. It is evidence of a document.

The CQC report What Makes Care Outstanding (2026) identifies having a purposeful approach to making a positive difference as one of five principles of outstanding care. Understanding what this means in evidence terms, and how to build the evidence that demonstrates it, is the focus of this post.

What CQC looks for

The CQC Single Assessment Framework includes a Shared Direction and Culture quality statement under Well-Led. In CQC's own words, this is about having a shared vision, strategy and culture. That culture should be built on transparency, equity and human rights, diversity and inclusion, and real engagement with the people and communities a service serves.

Evidence for this quality statement is gathered in two main ways. The first is feedback from staff and leaders: what they say about the service's direction, values and culture. The second is processes, including business plans, equality and diversity policies, vision and strategy documents, and records of how service objectives are monitored.

The draft CQC assessment framework for adult social care identifies specific characteristics of a purposeful approach at Outstanding level. Outcomes and experiences for people who use services are excellent, with a constant drive to improve them. There is a clear vision for outstanding care and how all those responsible for care delivery can provide it. Providers are outward looking and work in partnership to meet the needs of those in their care. Effective governance, processes and systems are in place to identify and drive positive outcomes.

At Good level, the service has a clear direction, staff understand and share its values, and governance activity is connected to outcomes for the people the service supports.

What a purposeful approach looks like in practice

A purposeful approach is most visible in three places. It shows up in how decisions are made. It shows up in how staff talk about their work. And it shows up in how outcomes for people are tracked and responded to.

Decision-making that references values. When a difficult decision is made, a staffing challenge, a care planning dilemma or a complaint, does the discussion reference what the service is trying to achieve? A service with a real shared purpose makes decisions with reference to its values, not just its rules. Governance minutes that show this, where a decision is explicitly connected to the service's vision for the people it supports, are strong evidence of a purposeful culture.

Staff who can articulate the purpose. When an inspector asks a care worker what the service is trying to achieve, the response matters. A staff member who can give a specific, personal answer is demonstrating a shared purpose. This is not a recitation of the vision statement, but their own sense of what they are there to do. It is one of the clearest signals of a service where vision has moved from document to culture.

Outcomes that are tracked and responded to. A purposeful service does not just deliver care. It monitors whether the care is achieving what it set out to achieve. This means tracking outcomes for the people it supports, not just compliance metrics, but quality of life indicators, wellbeing, independence, social connection. Where outcomes are monitored and the data drives improvement decisions, the service is demonstrating the governance maturity that CQC associates with a truly purposeful approach.

How to assess the strength of your current evidence

Can your staff describe the service's purpose in their own words? Try asking three staff members, across different roles and shifts, what the service is trying to achieve. If the answers are specific, consistent and personal, your shared vision is alive. If the answers are generic or uncertain, there is a development need.

Is your vision connected to your governance activity? Review your last three governance meeting minutes. Is there any reference to the service's vision or values in the decisions made? Are outcomes for the people the service supports discussed? If governance meetings are purely administrative, compliance reports, staffing updates and financial summaries, they are not demonstrating a purposeful approach to delivering better care.

Do you track outcomes beyond compliance? What data do you collect about how the people you support are experiencing their lives? Are there records of individual goals, progress, wellbeing conversations? A service that tracks only compliance outcomes is meeting the minimum standard. A service that also tracks quality of life outcomes is demonstrating a real commitment to making a positive difference.

How AlwaysReady supports purposeful approach evidence

Upload your vision, strategy and business plan linked to Well-Led. Store your vision document, strategic plan and any service objectives directly in AlwaysReady, linked to the Strategic direction KLOE. Where these documents are reviewed and updated annually, create a chronological record of revisions. This demonstrates that your direction is actively maintained, not set once and forgotten.

Connect governance minutes to vision and values. When uploading governance meeting minutes to AlwaysReady, note in the evidence record where the meeting content connects to the service's stated values and objectives. Over time, this builds a narrative trail showing that governance activity is purposeful, driven by what the service is trying to achieve, not just what it is required to report.

Track quality of life outcomes in AlwaysReady. Where individual residents or service users have personal goals or wellbeing indicators, record progress against these in AlwaysReady and link them to the relevant Responsive and Caring KLOEs. This builds the evidence that the service tracks outcomes beyond compliance: a hallmark of a truly purposeful approach.

Use the self-assessment to connect evidence to outcomes. The AlwaysReady self-assessment framework includes outcome measures alongside compliance indicators. Completing the self-assessment thoroughly, including quality of life indicators, gives you and any inspector a complete picture of how well your service is achieving its purpose.

Download the Annual Compliance Audit Calendar to review vision and strategy annually. December's Year in Review focus is built for exactly this, reviewing the year and setting priorities for the one ahead. Working through it creates a record of active, purposeful leadership, evidence that the service is continuously asking itself whether it is achieving what it set out to achieve. Download the free calendar here.

References and regulatory sources

• Care Quality Commission (2026). What Makes Care Outstanding? Available at: cqc.org.uk
• Care Quality Commission (2023). Single Assessment Framework — Well-Led: Shared direction and culture quality statement. Available at: cqc.org.uk
• Care Quality Commission (2026). Draft assessment framework for adult social care. Published 19 March 2026. Available at: cqc.org.uk