John Burton has worked in social care since 1965 as a practitioner at all levels, and as a manager, writer, trainer, researcher, inspector and consultant. He has campaigned to raise standards of care and has made such campaigning practical by leading the transformation of several care homes and of a voluntary organisation running homes. He is currently a member of the steering group based at the National Skills Academy (Social Care) for advancing the professional status and practice of Registered Managers. He is well known as a writer of books, chapters and hundreds of articles and columns in the social care press, and as a consultant supervising, mentoring and supporting managers to develop their services.

Leading Good Care: the task, heart and art of managing social care (2015) by John Burton is an interesting read and one that I enjoyed. It is by no means a typical textbook and many readers may enjoy it all the more for that fact... It will be impossible for anyone working in residential child care to read this text and not make connections of some sort with their own work setting and these themes. The book will most likely prove useful for those already in leadership and management positions... Indeed, this last group are as likely to be engaged with one of the recurring messages that runs throughout the book, the need to rally against systems and drivers, which pull us further from our core task - the provision of high quality care tailored to the needs of our clients. It is this message which most engaged me... In a climate of unremitting financial constraints and pressure to conform to regulation, underpinned by humanity and concentrates on the core task of providing quality care. If leaders and managers across the range services associated with residential child care read and take heed of these messages we will move closer to the 'good care' mentioned in the title.

• Foreword by Debbie Sorkin. Preface. Introduction. Stories of Leading Good Care. 1. Context and integration. 2. Care, the core task. 3. Beneath the surface.: The permanent underside of care. 4. Boundary: where your service interacts with its environment (outside it) and the uses of boundaries in leading care. 5. Manager as leader. 6. Changing places: turning barriers to leadership into enablers and supporters of leadership. 7. Stepping up to leadership: And leading your social care service with courage, vision and integrity. Appendix 1. Action learning. Appendix 2. Humpty Dumpty's social care words and phrases. Books and other resources. Index.