Supervision Procedures and Guidance for Social Workers, Youth Offending Service, Parent Support Service, Care co-ordinators and Supporting Staff
  1. Introduction
  2. The aim of these procedures and practice guidance is to provide a framework for the one to one supervision of staff working with children and young people in Enfield.
  3. Supervision is complementary to the appraisal policy and procedure and supervision is closely linked to the process through which the appraisal is completed and reviewed.
  4. It is a requirement and expectation that all staff participate in one to one supervision on a regular basis. Supervision is essentially a one-to-one, face-to-face meeting with the line manager, which allows discussions relating to cases, issues, workload, areas of concern, performance and / or support.
  5. High quality, regular, reflective supervision has been highlighted in all of the recent public enquiries and is a recurring theme throughout the Munro report. In its inspections of local authorities, Ofsted will be evaluating the extent to which supervision is “effective, robust, systematic, challenging, and recorded”.
  6. In order to provide appropriate, responsive and flexible services for the most vulnerable children and families in Enfield, staff need to:
  • Understand what is expected of them
  • Have the necessary skills, knowledge, behaviours, values and attitudes necessary to carry out their role
  • Be fully supported and effectively managed.
  • Regular one to one supervision is one of the ways that this can beachieved. This guidance sets out how staff can expect to be supervised and provides managers with the guidance needed to provide effective supervision.
  • Assuring the quality of supervision provided will be a key element of the quality assurance framework.
  • In operating this procedure, supervisors must ensure compliance with the requirements of all relevant organisational policies, including equal opportunities, recording, capability and disciplinary, and data protection.
2Scope
2.1This procedure and guidance applies to all staff employed within the Schools and Children’s Services with a social care functionand the Youth Offending Service, whether employed on a temporary, (including agency staff), permanent, full time or part time basis. It covers the following areas:
  • Standards and guidance on the frequency, functions and recording of supervision.
  • Standards and guidance on the training and development requirements of those providing supervision.
  • Quality assurance mechanisms to be adopted to ensure standards are met.
3Principles
3.1The principles underpinning formal supervision are:
  • Every practitioner has the right to receive supervision and a responsibility to participate fully in that supervision. It should be a two-way process in which supervisor and supervisee recognise that there is a need to establish a productive relationship for them both through openness, honesty and the establishment of trust. This matter should be fully addressed at the point of induction and through the drawing up of a supervision agreement which should be reviewed annually.
  • Supervision should be regular, planned, uninterrupted and to an agreed agenda that covers the functions outlined in this procedure and practice guidance.
  • Supervision should be provided by a practitioner who has the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding of the supervisory process.
  • Delivering high quality provision for service users is the overriding aim.
4Supervision Methods
4.1This procedure and guidance is concerned primarily with formal supervision that takes place in private at a pre-arranged time with an agreed agenda and preparation on behalf of both parties. All staff within social care services will have access to this method of supervision.
4.2It is recognised, however, that supervision is much more than these one to one sessions; it is an on-going process that takes place in many different settings and in many different ways. The two main methods, other than formal one to one sessions, are outlined below. They have a place but cannot and should not replace planned, formal, recorded, one to one sessions.
Group Supervision and Action Learning sets
4.3This should not replace individual supervision but can be used to complement it. It will involve a group of staff all involved in the same task meeting with a supervisor to discuss issues about their work or the way they work together as a team. This may be done in the context of a regular team meeting or as a separate session to look at specific issues.
Unplanned or "ad-hoc" supervision
4.4The pace of work and change and the frequency of supervision means that staff often have to "check something out" with a supervisor, obtain a decision or gain permission to do something in between formal supervision sessions. In addition, staff who work closely with their supervisor will be communicating daily about work issues, problems arising or changes in policies or procedures.
4.5This form of supervision is, of course, a normal and acceptable part of the staff/supervisor relationship. There are three points to be borne in mind when considering unplanned or ad-hoc supervision:
a)Any decisions made with regard to a service user must be clearly recorded on the appropriate case management system, eg Liquid Logic.
b)Where supervisees and supervisors work closely together this does not negate the need for private 'one to one' time together on a regular basis. The focus of these sessions is wholly on the individual, their development, performance and any issues arising from their work that do not arise on a day to day basis.
c)It should also be noted that in some settings the day to day supervisor for a particular member of staff may change according to flexible working arrangements. The 'one to one' sessions, however, should always be carried out by the same supervisor for a particular member of staff. If a supervisee is subject to frequent changes of supervisor it is difficult for a relationship based on trust, openness and honesty to be established and trust may be, or may perceived to be, compromised.
  1. The Functions of Supervision
5.1Supervision has four main elements
  • Management and Evaluation (Competent accountable performance and safe practice)
  • Continuing professional development
  • Personal Support
  • Team and Organisational Issues
5.2The elements are interdependent and one element cannot be effective without the other. An over emphasis on one aspect e.g. management will not achieve the desired outcomes and all 4 elements must be present when delivering supervision.
5.3Management and Evaluation
This includes:
  • Workload monitoring, performance management and quality assurance. For those supervising others who manage and/or supervise staff, this will include staffing issues. It is vital that supervisors and supervisees regularly check performance against the capabilities framework.
  • Shared case discussion, including risk assessment, reflection, analysis and decision making as appropriate. This includes planning and identifying budgets/resources to achieve best outcomes. (Nb case discussion and agreed actions should be copied to the child's record in the appropriate case management system).
  • Accountability – ensuring the supervisee understands his/her role, responsibilities, boundaries and limits of their role, his/her decision making powers and the need to seek appropriate authority for actions needing management decisions.
5.4Continuing Professional Development (To encourage and assist staff in reflecting on their own performance, identifying their own learning and development needs and together identifying opportunities to address those needs)
This includes:
  • Feedback on performance by both parties.
  • Attention to reflective practice, underpinning theory, analytical skills and evidence based practice.
  • Regular review of progress toward the objectives within his/her appraisal.
5.5Personal Support (From time to time supervisees may require support to carry out their role because of personal issues or the impact of specific incidents or situations at work)
This includes:
  • Identification of support needs
  • Discussion of options and strategies to resolve issues including referral to Occupational Health services where appropriate
  • Health and Safety issues
5.6Team and Organisational issues
This may include:
  • Discussion of impact of team issues on the supervisee e.g. staffing, sickness or team dynamics.
  • Addressing any issues between the supervisee and staff in other parts of the Directorate or other agencies.
  • Sharing management information and statistics.
  • Linking policies, procedures and processes and any planned changes to an individual's practice.
5.7The personal supervision recording template (see Appendix 2) provides a framework for ensuring all the elements are addressed. The balance between the elements will be determined by the needs of the supervisee, their level of skill and experience and their role in the organisation.
  1. Frequency of Supervision
6.1This needs to be determined by:
  • The minimum requirements placed on service areas by regulations.
  • The supervisee's level of experience and competence (not necessarily linked to length of service, although staff new to a role may require more frequent supervision even if experienced in another role).
  • Good practice guidelines/requirements regarding the supervision of newly qualified social workers and ASYE social workers.
  • Particular circumstances that may require supervision to be more frequent (e.g. complex workload, high risk levels performance issues or personal difficulties).
6.2Staff working directly with children and families in a social care role and those managing or supervising those staff should be supervised for at least one and half hours at least monthly. All allocated cases must be subject to regular supervision. Staff not working directly with children should receive supervision at least every eight weeks.
6.3The frequency of supervision for each staff member should be set out within the supervision agreement (see Appendix 1) following discussion and negotiation between supervisor and supervisee. Any deviation from the recommended minimum frequency detailed above, as a long term arrangement, should be clearly recorded with reasons on the supervision agreement.
6.4If a supervisor is absent from work for a long period (over one month) the senior manager should ensure that effective arrangements are in place for the supervision of the staff in that section.
6.5All supervision meetings should be programmed in advance and should be regarded as a very high priority in the work programme of both parties. Inevitably there will be occasions when dates have to be changed but this should be avoided wherever possible and alternative dates must be set immediately to avoid any “drift”. It is often helpful to plan several meetings ahead, even for the whole year, so that if a meeting does have to be cancelled and cannot be re-arranged very quickly, the situation is not allowed to drift. Meeting on the same day and time of the week or month can be helpful.
6.6It is essential that the frequency of meetings is strictly maintained to ensure the creditability and reliability of the process.
  1. Recording
7.1The recording of supervision is the responsibility of the supervisor and should be completed using the documents in the Appendices 1, 2 and 3.
The outline structure is as follows:
  • Supervision Agreement
  • On going Record of Supervision
  • Staff Appraisal Form
  • A copy of GSCC registration (for Social Workers, including student social workers)
  • Training profile
  • Case initials of case discussions should be listed on the personal supervision but the detail should be recorded on the case supervision template.
7.2The Supervision agreement (Appendix 1) will help both to emphasise the seriousness of the activity and ensure that there is clarity of understanding of the purpose and function of supervision. The fact that the agreement involves a measure of negotiation between the parties provides a positive model of partnership. The expectations of each party are explicit and issues of confidentiality, ownership and status or records are clear to both. The Agreement provides an important benchmark against which supervision can be audited.
7.3The Agreement should cover the following areas:
  • Organisational expectations
  • Arrangements
  • How the agenda is established
  • Content and focus
  • Any 'third party' arrangements (e.g. in multidisciplinary teams) and the ground rules for these.
  • Contribution of the supervisee
  • Contribution of the supervisor
7.4The Supervision Agreement should be signed by both parties.
7.5Recordingof each supervision should cover:
  • Agreement on accuracy of previous record
  • Agenda
  • The elements specified in Functions of Supervision (see above)
  • Annual leave/TOIL/sickness
  • Any other business
  • Confirmed date of next supervision
The outcomes should be recorded on the Personal Supervision Record (Appendix 2).
7.6Recording of individual case discussions should be recorded on the Case Supervision Record(Appendix 3). This record should be uploaded to the appropriate case management system.
7.7It should be recorded on the supervision file that both parties have read and agreed the record. For paper records, this would normally be done by both parties signing and dating the record. For a computerised record the 'non recording' party should receive an electronic copy. At the beginning of the following session each party should confirm that they have read the record and agreed its accuracy. This would be noted on the record of this session.
7.8Where one party wishes to make an amendment this should be discussed, agreed formally and duly altered. Where a difference persists this should be recorded in a way that recognises the difference of view. This should be agreed as accurate at the beginning of the following session and this would be noted in the record of the session.
7.9If it is not possible to find a resolution to the differences, then the escalation process to the risk management panel should be commenced.
7.10The current year's Staff Review and Development form is an essentialcomponent of the Supervision file. The objectives for the year and the personal training plan should influence the supervision discussion and the outcomes and provide a yardstick both to measure the worker's progress and the contribution of the Directorate in enabling this.
  1. Storage
8.1Wherever possible, supervision files should be held electronically and stored by the supervisor in the secure area of the appropriate drive. Supervisees should store their copy in their secure area of the drive.
8.2There is an option where appropriate, to maintain an additional 'pocket' or folder in the supervision file to hold other information relevant to the staff member's supervision at a point in time. This might for example include correspondence with occupational health or material relevant to a grievance or complaint that is informing issues currently under consideration in supervision. This option needs to be used in a way that is informed by data protection considerations. Any additional material should.
  • only be held in the supervision file for a specific purpose and only for the time required
  • be returned to the Personnel file at the earliest possible date
  • be securely stored with access only to supervisor/supervisee
8.3The facility to hold temporary information, subject to the above restrictions, should not be considered an invitation to maintain a ‘local’ personnel file. This should be monitored as part of the regular audit of supervision files.
  1. Confidentiality and Access
9.1Whilst supervision is a private activity, it is not a confidential process. This means that the records are the property of the organisation, not the individual. From time to time supervisors will need to discuss the content of supervision sessions with others, e.g. their own line manager. Where appropriate, this will be with the knowledge of the supervisee.
9.2Access to supervision records should be controlled so that others whodo not have a legitimate right to see the records cannot access them. Paper records if needed, should be held securely in a locked cabinet, and electronic records on the limited access sites specifiedabove. Supervisees should be aware, however, that other than themselves and their supervisor, others may, from time to time, access records. These might include:
  • Senior Managers (for quality assurance or legal purposes)
  • Investigating officers (e.g. for disciplinary purposes)
  • Inspectors (e.g. OFSTED or CQC inspectors)
  • Performance staff(e.g. for audit and quality assurance purposes)
9.3It is important that the supervisor and supervisee are aware of the limitations and safeguards and that this is explicit in the supervision agreement.
9.4When a member of staff moves on to another post within Enfield Council, the supervision file should ordinarily be transferred on to the other team/service/directorate. When a staff member moves to another organisation the file should stored on the appropriate drive for a period of six years.
9.5As supervision files are organised and retained in a moresystematic way, there is the possibility of information being held and transferred on a frequent basis over the working life of a staff member. This poses a challenge for those recording supervision. This is at its clearest where 'personal issues' are perceived to be affecting the quality of the work. Here it is important that a balance is struck between providing a meaningful record and including detail that at a later point can be perceived as prejudicial.
  1. Quality Assurance
10.1In order to be effective the supervision process requires monitoring and quality arrangements. The quality assurance process should ensure that:
  • The standards of supervision as outlined in this procedure are being followed.
  • Staff are being supervised professionally and effectively
  • Supervision sessions are being recorded accurately and in appropriate levels of detail.
  • Supervision Agreements are being developed, reviewed and used.
  • The supervision process promotes equal opportunities and diversity.
10.2The quality assurance arrangements involve:
  • The auditing of a random selection of supervision files on a six monthly basis by senior managers.
  • Managers who supervise staff who themselves are supervisors checking regularly on supervision standards and practice. This may include auditing supervision files where the supervisee has an identified developmental need in providing supervision
  1. Training and Development Requirements for those providing supervision
11.1Enfield Safeguarding Children Board will ensure that there is an appropriate development programme in place which will develop the skills, understanding and knowledge of supervision for those practitioners new to the task of being supervisors. / Ref. Staff Appraisal scheme.
Ref: Equality and Diversity Policy
Ref: Capability and disciplinary procedures
Ref Recording policy
Ref: Capability and disciplinary procedures

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