ORG20 CQC Key Question: WELL-LED | Making Sensory Practice a System
Well-led sensory practice depends on more than individual good staff. The organisation needs clear expectations, responsibility, information and learning.
Five things to consider
Set clear expectations
Staff should understand what good sensory practice looks like in the service.
Define responsibility
People need to know who acts on identified needs and who oversees improvement.
Make information usable
Important sensory information should reach the right people.
Check consistency
Leaders should know whether agreed practice is happening across the service.
Learn and improve
Feedback, incidents, outcomes and audits should inform service development.
Turning this into practical action
✓ Review whether sensory processes connect across assessment, care planning and delivery.
✓ Look for variation between teams, shifts or locations.
✓ Use evidence to identify system gaps rather than relying on individual champions.
✓ Turn learning into named actions and follow-up.
What this can look like in practice
Several staff understand sensory support well, but practice varies by shift because there is no consistent process. Leadership action focuses on the system, not simply another awareness session.
Question for your organisation
If your strongest sensory-aware member of staff left tomorrow, would good practice continue consistently?
Important boundary
This resource applies sensory practice to CQC’s Well-led key question. It does not reproduce CQC’s assessment framework or guarantee regulatory outcomes.
Want to take this further?
System-wide consistency is where individual good practice becomes organisational practice. If this resource has highlighted gaps in your organisation’s sensory practice, Sensory Visionaries can help, from reviewing what you currently have in place to providing a structured approach through the Sensory Compliance System.