Independent UK care editorial Evidence · leadership · action
See the change. Examine the evidence.
Understand what it means for care.
Care Circle Network × Novaspec
Meet Carley Rawlinson and Richie O’Keeffe, the founders bringing clinical experience, practical leadership and a listening-first approach to care improvement.
Understand why they built Novaspec, how they work alongside providers and where their expertise can help with the decisions facing care services now.
Foundation edition · Published 8 November 2026
The foundation / People before the plan
Carley brings clinical depth and operational leadership. Richie begins with the conversations that help the business understand a provider and match the support. Both remain involved as the work develops.
RMN / Co-founder
Calm when it matters.
Clear on what comes next.
More than eighteen years in clinical practice and fifteen years in health and social care leadership.
Her experience spans registered manager, compliance, operations and director roles, with work supporting providers through enforcement and developing practical training materials for care staff.
Read Carley’s story
Co-founder / Provider relationships
The right conversation.
The right start.
Eleven years in health and social care, following a 21-year fitness-sector career, with a background in finance and business administration.
Richie works with owners and leaders to understand their pressures, goals and service culture, helping match the consultant to the work a provider needs.
Read Richie’s storyWhy they built Novaspec, what its values mean and what happens after a review.
Read the full foundation storyThe Novaspec approach
The founders describe a consultancy that gets to know the service, speaks honestly and helps the team put the plan into practice.
Understand the service, its strengths, the people receiving support and the team delivering it.
Discuss the findings, decide what needs attention and give each action an owner and a realistic timescale.
Connect the plan with training, mentoring, systems and the support people need to put it into practice.
Check progress together and ask whether the improvements are holding in everyday care.
Novaspec describes feedback in person before a written report, founder check-ins with the consultant and the provider, and support shaped around the service. Its subscription begins with a mock inspection and includes a monthly visit to validate the action plan.
Understand the working relationshipCurrent reporting / Evidence reviewed 8 November 2026
National developments become useful when leaders can connect them with their service, their team and the people receiving care.
23 October / CQC State of Care
The annual report puts governance and accountability in focus. We follow the finding into achievable actions, support and evidence of change.
Read the governance feature5 November / DHSC DoLS statistics
The statistics describe a period before June’s judgment. The next practical question concerns staff understanding, current records and review ownership.
Explore rights and review14 October / Skills for Care
Skills for Care’s evidence and the provider discussion put development and experienced leadership in focus. We examine the support that helps learning become practice.
Read the staff development featureDementia guidance / Continuing development
CQC is developing further guidance. We distinguish that work from published NICE guidance and examine the practical review providers can undertake now.
Follow the dementia featureFive connected features / One practical review
Begin with the founders’ story or choose the question closest to your service. Each feature brings the earlier evidence, current context and a practical next step together.
The foundation story
Carley Rawlinson and Richie O’Keeffe built Novaspec around a conviction: useful improvement begins with understanding a service and continues through the work of changing it.
Read the featureGovernance and improvement
CQC’s latest findings put leadership and accountability in focus. The next useful conversation is about how a service turns a concern into supported, demonstrable improvement.
Read the featurePeople and capability
The workforce discussion becomes more useful when leaders connect learning with supported practice, supervision and the circumstances of the people receiving care.
Read the featureRights and practical governance
November’s figures and September’s legal guidance describe different things. Providers need a clear account of current arrangements, staff understanding and the route to advice.
Read the featureDementia and lived experience
As CQC develops further guidance, providers can examine whether communication, routines, staff support and meaningful activity reflect the person receiving care.
Read the featureWhere specialist support can fit
Novaspec describes one-off work, continued support and urgent assistance. Discuss the right scope and availability directly with the team.
A supportive review, feedback in person and a prioritised plan.
Audits, accountability and oversight that help leaders understand their service.
Support for registered managers, deputies and senior staff.
Care shaped around the person, their environment and the team’s skills.
Focused help with urgent quality, safeguarding and regulatory challenges.
Support with opening a service, staff learning and changing requirements.
This programme concerns CQC-regulated care in England. The reporting supports informed preparation; individual clinical, legal and regulatory decisions require the appropriate professional input. Consultancy does not guarantee an inspection outcome.
The continuing Care Circle conversation
Earlier reporting keeps its publication dates. These connections show where the new features develop the practical questions.
26 October 2026
Continue from the national leadership findings to one supported improvement in your service.
28 October 2026
Develop the question of competence through supervision, supported practice and follow-up.
5 November 2026
Take the distinction between new statistics and the legal change into staff understanding and review ownership.
5 November 2026
Connect the person’s experience with Novaspec’s emphasis on listening before recommending change.
19 October; updated 5 November 2026
The earlier feedback deadline has passed. Continue into individual routines, communication and staff support.
27 October 2026
Ask how tailored support changes the day, the environment and the learning staff need.
16 October 2026
Ask whose voice a review might miss, including different shifts and people with communication needs.
5 November 2026
Connect the workforce picture with supported managers, useful learning and clear expectations.
10 October 2026 / Earlier background
Consider the time, knowledge and support needed by the person providing supervision.
10 October 2026 / Earlier background
Use the practical record to distinguish completing an action from learning whether it helped.
Your service / Your next conversation
Tell Novaspec about your service, its priorities and the support already in place. Ask how the team would get to know you, agree the work and stay involved as it develops.
Care Circle Network is owned and operated by Frontier Insight Group Limited. Novaspec Consultancy Limited is the quality-improvement programme partner. Care Circle leads the journalism and practical analysis. The founders’ professional details, photographs and working approach are supplied by Novaspec; source notes distinguish these from public evidence and editorial suggestions.
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