Registered Manager: A Registered Manager is the person registered with CQC to manage a regulated activity at a specific location, and most services cannot legally operate without one in post.
They are registered in their own name, not just appointed internally, and they carry personal legal responsibility for how the service is run alongside the provider.
To be registered, a candidate has to satisfy CQC that they have the skills, competence, experience and knowledge to manage the activity, and that they are of good character and fit for the role. Recent hands-on experience in a comparable regulated service carries more weight than a qualification alone, and CQC has refused applications where the proposed manager had worked in care but never managed staff, handled safeguarding or run quality assurance.
If a Registered Manager leaves, the provider must notify CQC and act promptly to appoint a successor. Running without one for an extended period is a breach of the condition of registration.