Policy Review and Governance Assurance

Strong policies protect people, guide staff and give managers confidence that practice is safe, lawful and consistent.

Innovative Pathways provides specialist policy review and governance assurance for supported living and adult social care providers.

This is not a proofreading service and it is not a generic policy pack. Each review looks at whether the policy is legally sound, able to stand up to CQC, commissioner and safeguarding scrutiny, practical for staff and suitable for real supported living services.

We review policies through a supported living lens. That means starting from the person’s own home, rights, choice, independence, consent, capacity and least restrictive support. We also look at whether the policy gives staff clear guidance on what to do, what not to do, what to record and when to escalate concerns.

What we check

Our reviews can include checks against:

CQC Fundamental Standards
CQC adult social care guidance
Mental Capacity Act 2005
Human Rights Act 1998
Care Act 2014
Safeguarding duties and local safeguarding expectations
UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018
NICE guidance where relevant
Supported living principles
Positive Behaviour Support
Trauma-informed practice
Least restrictive support
Staff training and competency requirements
Manager oversight, audit and governance
Recording and evidence expectations

Policy areas we can review

We can support with a wide range of operational policies, including:

Safeguarding
Medication
Mental Capacity Act and consent
Positive Behaviour Support
Incident reporting
Risk assessment
Delegated health tasks
Complaints
Whistleblowing
Data protection and confidentiality
Recruitment
Supervision
Health and safety
Training and competency
Equality, diversity and accessibility

What you can receive

Depending on the level of review, you can receive:

A scored policy audit
Red-flag wording check
Legal and regulatory gap analysis
Supported living practice review
Amendment log
Cross-reference check against linked policies and templates
Rewritten policy ready for approval
Staff quick guide
Manager checklist or audit tool
Board assurance summary

Our approach

We focus on policies that work in practice.

A good policy should not sit in a folder untouched. It should help staff make safe decisions, help managers evidence oversight and help providers show that practice is lawful, person-centred and well governed.

Our reviews look at the policy from different angles: what a staff member needs on shift, what a manager needs to monitor, what a director needs for assurance and what a regulator, commissioner or safeguarding reviewer may ask after an incident.

Single policy pricing

Policy Sense Check

Light review of an existing policy, obvious gaps and priority fixes

From £350 + VAT

Standard Policy Audit

Routine operational policies, scored review, red-flag wording check and amendment log

From £750 + VAT

High-Risk Policy Audit

Safeguarding, medication, MCA, PBS, incident reporting, data protection or delegated health tasks

From £1,250 + VAT

High-Risk Audit and Rewrite

Full audit plus rewritten policy ready for approval

From £1,750 + VAT

Policy Implementation Pack

Rewritten policy, staff quick guide, manager checklist or audit tool and board assurance summary

From £2,500 + VAT

Policy review packages

For providers who want several policies reviewed together, we offer wider governance assurance packages.

6 key policies reviewed and scored

From £6,000 + VAT

Operational Assurance Package

10 policies reviewed, cross-referenced and scored

From £10,000 + VAT

Full Governance Package

12–15 policies, cross-reference review, amendment log and board assurance report

From £12,000–£15,000 + VAT

Gold Standard Governance Package

Full policy suite, templates, audit tools, staff guidance, implementation support and board report

From £18,000–£25,000 + VAT

Add-on support

Staff quick guide

£250–£400 + VAT

Manager audit checklist

£350–£500 + VAT

Board assurance summary

From £500 + VAT

Staff briefing session

£750–£1,000 + VAT

Implementation support day

£750–£950 + VAT

Urgent turnaround

Plus 25% to 40%

Full governance assurance

Some providers need more than a single policy review. Where policies, templates, audits and staff guidance need to work together, we can provide a full governance assurance package.

This may include reviewing and rewriting linked policies, checking consistency across documents, creating practical staff guidance, developing audit tools and preparing a board assurance summary.

This is particularly useful where providers are preparing for inspection, opening new services, responding to concerns or strengthening governance across several locations.

Full governance assurance packages are priced depending on the number of policies, complexity, timescales and level of implementation support required.

Typical range: £12,000–£25,000 + VAT.

Get in touch

Contact Innovative Pathways to discuss a single policy review, high-risk policy rewrite or full governance assurance package.