New International Standard Launched For Social Care
A new international standard aimed at transforming how care quality for older people is defined and measured, has been launched.
Published by the International Organization for Standardization on 31 March 2026, ISO 25557:2026, Ageing societies: Care quality for older persons at home and in care facilities, sets out a globally agreed framework for assessing care quality across both residential services and care delivered in people’s own homes.
The standard is intended to provide a clearer, more measurable basis for assessing quality, covering areas including person-centred care, safety and safeguarding, effectiveness, workforce capability, governance, continuous improvement and the use of data. It is designed for use across the sector by care providers, inspection and assurance bodies, commissioners, regulators and other stakeholders.
Its publication marks an important moment for adult social care, providing an internationally agreed benchmark at a time when providers and wider stakeholders are under growing pressure to demonstrate quality in a more consistent, evidence-based and defensible way.
The development of ISO 25557:2026 was led by Dr Kevin Groombridge, chief executive of Care Inspections UK, who served as project leader and worked with experts from around the world to help shape the final standard. The drafting process also drew on significant UK expertise in regulation, inspection, clinical governance and service delivery.
Dr Kevin Groombridge, said: “The publication of ISO 25557:2026 is an important step for the care sector because it brings much greater clarity to what quality actually looks like in practice.
“For too long, too much has depended on regulatory inspection alone. Regulation has an essential role, but it is primarily there to check whether minimum requirements are being met. That is not the same as a rigorous inspection model built around evidence, improvement and the delivery of the best possible outcomes for older people.
“This standard helps create a clearer and more consistent framework for assessing care quality across both care homes and care delivered at home. It gives providers, assurance bodies and wider stakeholders a benchmark that is measurable, evidence-based and internationally recognised.
“For organisations such as Care Inspections UK, first accredited by UKAS in 2016, it strengthens the case for inspection and assurance that goes beyond periodic check-ups and focuses instead on continuous improvement, accountability and better care.
“This should help move the sector towards a more consistent and more mature approach to quality, one rooted in evidence, structured assessment and a clearer understanding of what good care should deliver for older people and their families.”
Care Inspections UK will use the standard to help further strengthen its accredited inspection methodology, supporting providers, commissioners and other stakeholders with clearer, more reliable evidence of quality in practice.
