Leading Good Care ─ The Task, Heart and Art of Managing Social Care

To lead good care, social care managers must have professional and personal authority: a clear understanding of the core task and the emotional challenges of care, and the imagination to create an organisation or team dedicated to meeting people's needs. This guide gives managers the understanding of systems of care and will inspire them to take the lead. Using the stories of four managers leading four different care services, John Burton explains the key issues and shows how, by focusing on the core task and taking the authority to lead, managers can transform social care. Furthermore, they will find their own work life-enhancing and immensely satisfying.

John Burton has worked in social care since 1965 as a practitioner at all levels, and as a manager, writer, trainer, researcher, inspector and consultant. He has campaigned to raise standards of care and has made such campaigning practical by leading the transformation of several care homes and of a voluntary organisation running homes. He is currently a member of the steering group based at the National Skills Academy (Social Care) for advancing the professional status and practice of Registered Managers. He is well known as a writer of books, chapters and hundreds of articles and columns in the social care press, and as a consultant supervising, mentoring and supporting managers to develop their services.