Unit 60: Facilitate change in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

This unit is about facilitating change in health and social care (and children and young people’s settings). It focuses on why change happens, how to plan it, how to gain support, and how to implement change in a way that maintains quality and keeps people safe. Change might be a new policy, a revised care pathway, new technology, a restructure, or improvements following an inspection or incident. Whatever the driver, the way change is managed makes a real difference to staff confidence and outcomes for individuals.

You’ll explore factors that drive change, including legislation, inspection findings, complaints, safeguarding learning, workforce pressures, funding, new evidence, and feedback from people who use services. In practice, change often has more than one driver. A shift in staffing may link to a need for new rotas, which then affects continuity of care. Understanding the “why” helps you explain change clearly and avoid it feeling like change for its own sake.

The unit also covers theories and models of change management. These give you a framework for thinking about what people experience during change: uncertainty, loss of confidence, resistance, or increased stress. You do not need to turn theory into jargon. The useful part is recognising that reactions are normal, and planning support so people can adapt without quality dropping.

Facilitating shared understanding is a practical skill. People are more likely to engage when they can see the benefits and when their concerns are heard. This unit expects you to promote the benefits of change honestly, not by “selling” it. If a change will be difficult at first, acknowledge that. Then focus on how you’ll manage the impact and what support will be available.

Challenges and resistance can show up in different ways: missed deadlines, negativity, passive non-compliance, anxiety, or staff withdrawing from conversations. Resistance is not always bad. Sometimes it highlights genuine risks to individuals, unrealistic timescales, or a lack of resources. Part of facilitating change is creating safe spaces for people to express views, then using that information to adjust the plan where appropriate.

Planning is a central section of the unit. A change management plan should consider the impact on individuals who use services, staff workload, safety, training needs, communication routes and dependencies (like equipment, IT access or multi-agency coordination). It should also include criteria for evaluation so you can measure whether the change is working, not just whether it was “rolled out”.

Securing approvals is part of working within governance. This may involve management sign-off, policy review, union consultation, information governance checks, or commissioning requirements, depending on the setting. The important point is that change should be authorised and documented, not introduced informally in a way that creates inconsistency or risk.

Gaining support often requires both leadership and teamwork. This unit includes identifying others who can promote the vision for change—champions who are trusted by colleagues, or people with relevant expertise. It also covers communication strategies. One message is rarely enough. People need information more than once, in different ways, with time to ask questions and practise new procedures.

Implementation should make roles and responsibilities clear. Who is doing what, by when, and how will progress be tracked? Supporting others to carry out their roles includes coaching, making time for practice, and removing practical barriers. Plans also need flexibility. If issues arise, adapting the plan is often better than forcing a process that is clearly not working on the ground.

Maintaining quality during change is non-negotiable. The unit encourages you to consider how you will protect safe staffing, continuity, supervision, and oversight while new approaches bed in. That might mean phased implementation, extra checks, or temporary adjustments to workload. People receiving care should not feel like a “test case”.

For example, if a service introduces a new digital care planning system, staff may need training, protected time to practise, and clear guidance on what to do if the system is down. In a children’s setting, changing the behaviour policy might require staff to agree consistent language, practise scenarios, and review the impact on children who find transitions hard.

Evaluation completes the cycle. Monitoring systems might include audits, incident trends, feedback from individuals and families, staff surveys, or supervision discussions. Reviewing the plan against agreed criteria helps you identify what improved, what unintended impacts occurred, and what needs further adjustment. It also shows learning and accountability.

The links on this page take you through the unit topics in detail, from change drivers and models to planning, communication, implementation and review. Use them to build confident, people-focused change leadership that keeps quality steady and helps others feel involved rather than pushed along.

1. Understand the principles of change management in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

2. Be able to facilitate a shared understanding of the need for change in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

3. Be able to develop a change management plan in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

  • 3.1 Analyse the impact of a proposed change to the service provision
  • 3.2 Produce a change management plan that takes account of the identified impact
  • 3.3 Establish criteria against which the plan can be evaluated
  • 3.4 Secure approvals required for the change management plan

4. Be able to gain support for a proposed change in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

  • 4.1 Provide positive leadership during the change process
  • 4.2 Identify others who can promote the vision for change
  • 4.3 Use strategies that address resistance to change
  • 4.4 Implement a communication strategy to support others to understand a proposed change

5. Be able to implement approved change management plans in health and social care or children and young people’s
settings

6. Be able to evaluate the change management process in health and social care or children and young people’s settings

  • 6.1 Implement systems to monitor the effectiveness of the change management plan
  • 6.2 Work with others to review the change management plan against identified criteria
  • 6.3 Evaluate outcomes of the change

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