1.7.1 Supervision Policy and Procedures

SCOPE

Sets out the arrangements for supervision of frontline social care and other professional staff working within Children and Young People Social Care Services and Adult Social Services (including those subject to joint agency supervision arrangements). This includes social workers, care managers, care coordinators, OTs, social care assistants, safeguarding children officers, contracts and commissioning staff, day centre workers, children rights officer, LAC nurse, Education Liaison Officers.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that supervision takes place, and that the supervision policy and procedures are followed. Supervisee is responsible for attending supervision, contributing to supervisory discussions, and making use of supervision.

LEGISLATION

Children Act 1989; Children Act 2004; NHS & Community Care Act 1990: Health Act 1999; Data Protection Act 1998; Care Standards Act 2000 s.62 Guidance: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 s.44 48-55,; London Child Protection Procedures Chapter 16, General Social Care Council Codes of Practice for both Employers of Social Care Workers and Social Care employees, CWDC Effective supervision 2007 guidance.

FORMS

Supervision Contract, Supervision Record Form.

Introduction
The Purpose of Supervision
Values and Principles Underpinning Supervision
Criteria for being a Supervisor
Responsibilities of the Team Manager/Supervisor (if a different person)
Content of Management Supervision
Content of Professional/Clinical Supervision
Use of External Agency/Off Line Supervisors
Frequency and Organisation of Supervision
Supervision Standards
Recording
Use of CF21 as a Management Tool
Supervision of Adult Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs)
Supervising Groupwork
Confidentiality within Supervision
Staff Health and Safety
Data Protection Act
Supervision of Admin Staff

Appendix 1: Supervision Agreement

1. Introduction

1.1	This policy and procedure sets out the London Borough Bexley Council's expectations and good practice requirements for the supervision of all front-line social care and other allied professional staff employed within the Council's Children and Young People's Service and Adult Social Services.
1.2	It also sets the framework for supervision good practice of social care staff and other allied professionals providing social care services on behalf of the Council under Section 31 Health Act flexibilities. This includes staff in Bexley Care Trust, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and Inspire Community Trust. These organisations will review and update their own Staff Supervision Policies to incorporate the standards outlined in this Council Policy.
1.3	This Supervision Policy and Procedure recognises that there have been considerable changes in the way social care services are delivered, in particular the growth of many multi-agency, multi-professional and integrated teams. As a consequence Team Managers may have different professional backgrounds to many of the staff for whom they are accountable. Consequently this policy and procedure clarifies the difference between management and professional clinical supervision in those teams that are multi-disciplinary or multi-agency.
1.4	It is recognised that, in addition to individual supervision sessions, there are other ways in which staff discuss and seek advice on their work and new ideas and methods of working. This might include: peer discussions team or multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings group supervision coaching mentoring specialist advice or consultation These are valuable and helpful ways in which staff can broaden their knowledge and expertise, however they must never be a substitute for formal individual supervision sessions. The team/line manager always remains accountable for the work of their staff and important or sensitive decisions and actions should not be taken without their knowledge, agreement and following relevant procedures.
1.5	Supervision is separate to the Council's staff appraisal (PDR) process, however the two processes are co-dependent and intertwined. (See separate Council Guidance on PDR for more information).

2. The Purpose of Supervision

2.1

The purpose of supervision is to establish the accountability of the worker to the organisation and to promote the worker's professional development. The process of supervision between the worker and the supervisor ensures a link between the values, policies and statutory responsibilities of the organisation and the delivery of efficient and effective services to service users and carers within available resources and eligibility frameworks.

2.2

Effective supervision is a core component for providing safe, sound and accountable social care services. It provides a management monitoring mechanism to ensure that the organisation's resources are used efficiently and effectively. It also ensures that practice is at the required standard for working with the most vulnerable members of the community.

Ensure that service users and their carers receive a quality service
Ensure the worker understands their role and responsibilities
Ensure the worker is clear about the supervisor/ manager's role and responsibilities
Ensure the worker carries out their responsibilities in accordance with the organisations policies and procedures, legislation and the Codes of Practice of the relevant professional bodies
Provide the opportunity for the worker to reflect on their practice and enhance their confidence
Provide guidance and direction on interventions with service users and their carers or families
Provide a safe environment to enable the worker to identify and discuss particular stressful or difficult areas or cases and to jointly develop strategies to manage them
Promote a culture of respect for staff and service users and ensure equalities and diversity issues are identified and addressed in the delivery of the service
Ensure service user independence and choice are respected wherever possible
Identify unmet need and where current resource allocation requires improvement
Provide regular constructive feedback to the supervisee
Assist the worker to meet core competencies, identify any skill gaps and ongoing learning needs

3. Values and Principles Underpinning Supervision

The core principle of this supervision policy is to ensure that the people for whom we provide a service are well served. In addition the whole supervision process should ensure that staff are valued and developed as individuals and professionals.

3.1

Supervision's focus should always be about promoting and maintaining good working practices and high professional standards through:

Working with service users and their carer's
Working with colleagues and partner agencies
Working within a framework of respect and professional standards

3.2

Supervision should be based on:

An honest working relationship, where there is mutual trust and respect for the individual
Effective two-way communication
Maintaining motivation
A two-way process for enabling and empowering staff
Promoting equality and diversity through Anti-Discriminatory/Oppressive Practice
Establishing ground rules about non-discriminatory language and behaviour
Developing staff competencies by open and honest feedback on performance and practice
Enabling staff to have learning opportunities to improve performance
Enabling staff to develop professional autonomy and ownership of their work

4. Criteria for being a Supervisor

The supervisor should be:

Professionally qualified and
Have two or more years post qualification experience or level 3 Social Work and
Have the Practice Teaching Award or
Have received formal training in supervision and be assessed by the Team Manager as being competent to provide supervision

5. Responsibilities of the Team Manager/Supervisor (if a different person)

5.1	The Team Manager/Coordinator is accountable for the quality of the service delivered by their staff and must ensure that the work of all their staff is regularly monitored and authorised etc in supervision. In some teams the Team Manager may delegate this management supervisory role to other senior staff within the team e.g. to a Senior Social Worker, Senior OT or Senior Nurse. For the purpose of this policy and procedure this is called management supervision. The Team Manager will themselves supervise these senior staff and ensure that proper supervision and staff management arrangements are in place and being followed for all their staff.
5.2	The person who provides or is delegated to provide management supervision takes the lead in carrying out staff PDR's, with input from others as appropriate.
5.3	Appraisal (PDR) is the main process for the key annual work objectives. This ensures individuals have clarity of focus on the areas of work and that they are clear on how they fit into wider organisational objectives. Identification of individual staff and training needs is based on the skills and knowledge needed to meet objectives. Supervision meetings can be used to ensure skills development is taking place.
5.4	The Team Manager/Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that all professionals also have regular professional/clinical supervision arrangements in place. In many cases this will be provided by the same person who provides management supervision. However, in some multi- professional and multi-agency teams the supervisor will be of a different professional background to some staff. In these cases the member of staff should also receive professional/clinical supervision from a suitably qualified senior worker (see Section 7, Content of Professional/ Clinical Supervision below for details).

6. Content of Management Supervision

This should cover the following areas:

Ensure a high quality service is provided for service users and their carers
Encourage and enable the worker to learn and develop new, improved working practices
Help the worker to gain an overview of their work and acquire fresh insights into their practice
Provide an opportunity for workers to share practice experiences
Allocation and closure of work, monitoring workload and throughput of cases
Review of existing work, professional consultation and critical reflection on work done, including case planning and evaluation of assessments
Caseload management, including prioritisation, adherence to eligibility criteria, use of resources, monitoring standards of work and the performance of the supervisee
Monitoring outcomes of client interventions
Gate-keeping resources and authorising care packages within existing resource and budget constraints
Discuss risk assessments of cases or work activity and in particular identify high risk cases and ensure appropriate risk assessment and risk management plans are in place
Identification of particularly stressful situations such as potential violence and provision of appropriate support
Ensure decision-making is clear and agreed actions are followed up within the agreed timescales
Attention to diversity issues, social inclusion and independence and choice in terms of assessments and delivery of services
Examination of casework files and attention to recording procedures. This will include Electronic Social Care Records when they are implemented
Time management
Ensure legislation, operational policies and procedures and joint protocols with other services are followed
Monitoring performance and taking any necessary action
Monitoring CF21 data is correct and up to date
HR issues e.g. annual leave, TOIL, sickness monitoring etc
Personal matters as appropriate
Professional development and training needs (linked to PDR)
Other matters by agreement e.g. personal concerns, stress experienced or conflicts in the work setting

7. Content of Professional/Clinical Supervision

7.1

As already mentioned in Section 5.4, there must be arrangements in place to carry out regular professional/ clinical supervision for all professionals in a team or unit. In many cases the same person who provides management supervision will provide this. However, in some multi- professional and multi-agency teams the supervisor will be of a different professional background to some staff. In these cases the member of staff should also receive professional / clinical supervision from a suitably qualified senior worker.

7.2

Professional/clinical supervision should cover the following areas

Ensure a high quality service for service users and their carers
Ensure the worker is appropriately professionally registered, qualified and competent to carry out their professional role e.g. GSCC registered, ASW
Ensure unqualified staff have the skills, training and are competent to carry out their role
Adherence to professional guidelines and standards
Enable professional development, continuing education and training
Discussion of cases requiring additional, specific professional expertise
Encourage and enable the worker to learn and develop new, improved working practices
Help the worker to gain an overview of their work and acquire fresh insights into their practice
Provide an opportunity for the worker to share work experiences
Foster a good professional culture for student placements

8. Use of External Agency/Off Line Supervisors

8.1	As social care teams increasingly contain a range of staff from various professional backgrounds and agencies, staff may need to receive line management and 'professional/clinical' supervision from different supervisors. In such circumstances, management accountability for staff conduct, development continues to lie with the line manager. The role of the off-line/clinical/external agency supervisor is to provide the worker with particular professional expertise, guidance and up to date knowledge, which would otherwise not be available to the member of staff.
8.2	There can be circumstances in which staff working on complex case issues require the periodic support and guidance of a consultant.
8.3	It will be essential in both the above circumstances, for the line manager, off-line supervisor /consultant and the supervisee to discuss the remit of each other's roles and responsibilities, particularly addressing safeguarding and confidentiality issues. There must be a written, signed contract established which should be reviewed every 6 months between all parties. Clear and regular communication will be needed in these circumstances and 3-way meetings should be held at least every 3 months. These meetings must be recorded in line with the usual process for recording one to one supervision arrangements (see Section 11, Recording for more details on recording)

9. Frequency and Organisation of Supervision

9.1	All members of staff should have a written supervision contract, which should be reviewed annually. This will explicitly define and record the aims and objectives of supervision. The content of the supervision contract should be agreed by the worker and supervisor and signed by them both. Appendix 1: Supervision Agreement identifies the areas to be covered in the supervision contract.
9.2	All staff must receive regular, planned formal supervision, which will be given a high priority. In Children & Young People's Services the frequency is based on the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report recommendations and applies to all staff. Different timescales have been agreed for Adult Social Services.
	9.2.1	For Children and Young People's Services supervision should be: 1.5 hours every two weeks for all experienced frontline children's social care workers, review officers or allied professionals, unless a less frequent period is agreed through the management structure. Periods between supervision must not exceed one month; more frequently for new or inexperienced workers (eg.1 hour per week for the first six months); 1.5 hours per month for experienced family centre staff, day centre workers, and commissioning and contract monitoring staff. More frequently for new or inexperienced workers; The above should be pro-rata for part-time staff unless agreed through the line management structure. Periods between supervision should not exceed one month.
	9.2.2	For Adult Social Care Services supervision should be as a minimum: 1.5 hours every three weeks for all experienced frontline social care workers, review officers or allied professionals, day centre workers and commissioning and contract monitoring staff; More frequently for new or inexperienced workers (eg.1.5 hours every two weeks for the first six months); The above should be pro-rata for part-time staff unless agreed through the line management structure. Periods between supervision must not exceed one month.
9.3	Group supervision or team discussions should be in addition to individual formal supervision sessions and not instead of them.
9.4	Staff should also have access to advice and assistance in a crisis or emergency. However staff should also be encouraged to wait until supervision sessions to discuss non-urgent work.
9.5	Supervision will take place in a setting that is private and free from interruption (unless there is an emergency that needs immediate action by either the worker or supervisor).
9.6	There will be an agenda agreed at the beginning of the supervision session.
9.7	There will be a clear system for recording supervision discussions and decisions (see Section 11, Recording below).
9.8	The parameters of confidentiality within supervision will be agreed in the supervision contract. Confidentiality within supervision is limited. As a general rule, nothing case related is confidential. If an employee raises a personal issue with their manager e.g. about a particular health condition, then that is part of their employment record and the manager may need to act on that information. Similarly if an employee raises an issue about another member of staff the manager may need to act on the information given.
9.9	If the supervisor is absent for an extended period, the appropriate line manager should identify another named supervisor to cover in the interim.
9.10	Supervision should not be cancelled unless there is an emergency that cannot wait or urgent case action required that cannot be rearranged. When supervision has had to be cancelled, it is the responsibility of both parties to reschedule the supervision meeting as soon as possible. The rescheduled meeting should take place as a matter of priority well before the next regular supervision meeting is due.

10. Supervision Standards

10.1	All staff will have a named supervisor and, in multi-disciplinary teams, a management supervisor and separate named professional/clinical supervisor if required.
10.2	The supervisor will regularly audit a sample of each worker's case files and check that data on CF21 is correct as part of supervision process. Records must be signed and dated to indicate that they have been audited.
10.3	Team Managers/Coordinators or other Senior Managers will also regularly audit a sample of case files and data on CF21 to monitor the quality of the work of their staff.
10.4	In the case of difficulties which cannot be resolved within supervision, the matter should be referred to the supervisor's line manager to determine how matters can best be resolved. In some, but not all cases, this may require a 3-way meeting. Details of HR procedures are available on Bexley HR website.
10.5	Line managers should securely retain a supervision folder for each member of staff, where all supervision decisions are held as well as other relevant HR information e.g. PDR, sickness monitoring.
10.6	Where there are changes to supervision arrangements, the contract must be reviewed and if there is a change of line management supervisor, all supervision records must to passed on to the new supervisor.
10.7	It is the responsibility of the supervisor to cover in supervision those areas identified in section 6 and 7 above.
10.8	It is the responsibility of the supervisee to bring to the attention of their supervisor or manager any cases about which they are particularly concerned.

11. Recording

11.1	Supervisors are responsible for recording decisions taken in supervision. Where the decision relates to a case, an individual record of the discussion and decision must be placed on the electronic case record.
11.2	The supervision record should be signed and dated by both the worker and supervisor to confirm their accuracy and a copy kept by both parties or if completed on the electronic case record, a message sent to the worker.
11.3	Supervisors of casework are responsible for reading and reviewing case records (on the contact sheet or its equivalent) at regular intervals.
11.4	Case file audits by other managers should also be recorded on the file.
11.5	Managers must ensure that responsible staff enter on case records, case management decisions made in supervision. These decisions must be countersigned and dated by the line manager on the case file.

12. Use of CF21 as a Management Tool

12.1

Children's social care managers should proactively employ data available on CF21 when supervising staff. All managers must ensure they have access to the appropriate CF21 computer screen and/or have made a printout of each of the cases being discussed. Managers are then able to examine the information for accuracy and to ensure compliance with statutory requirements and best practice standards e.g. recording standards, completion of timely visits and reviews of children living away from home, completion of consent and movements forms.

12.2

In Adult Social Services the expectation is that, as part of the supervision process, all managers and supervisors will check CF21 data to confirm that:

The caseload is correct
The events and activities list is correct, assessment activities completed and reviews up to date
In Adult Services, carer's assessments are done (joint and separate) and passed to admin to input onto CF21
In Children's Services staff are expected to input data regarding cases directly onto CF21
FACS reviews are done and passed to admin staff for inputting onto CF21
Statement of Needs and Care Plans are complete and up to date with correct originating event, sequel and fully provisioned date. The Care Plan must record all ongoing social care services purchased or commissioned by Bexley Council, Bexley Care Trust or Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. This includes professional support, direct (In-House) services, block contract services and spot contracts.
Where the person receives Direct Payments in lieu of Council provided or commissioned services this should be clearly recorded on the Care Plan
Service packages are up to date (where appropriate)
Staff have the necessary knowledge and skills to input the data onto CF21

12.3

All managers and supervisors must ensure that all staff have received appropriate IT and CF21 training so that these areas are routinely completed.

13. Supervision of Adult Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs)

13.1	In addition to their usual caseload and management supervision, Adult Mental Health Professionals should also receive professional supervision and consultation concerning their AMHP role. AMHP supervision is essential for the maintenance of good practice, should review the AMHPs development and training needs and ensure they have the necessary practice experience and standards to meet the criteria for AMHP re-accreditation.
13.2	Where the line manager is a social work manager with direct experience with mental health work, they should set aside part of the regular supervision meetings to discuss recent AMHP assessments and practice.
13.3	Where the line manager does not have experience of mental health work, arrangements should be made for another manager to provide specific, professional AMHP supervision e.g. within Bexley Care Trust Older People's Service, Operational Managers who are an accredited AMHP provide supervision and ad hoc consultation for the AMHP.
13.4	Care Trust Operational Managers who are AMHPs's seek consultation regards AMHP issues at their equivalent level i.e. with another Operational Manager and/or approach an AMHP Manager in Oxleas Community Mental Health Service for Adults.
13.5	Regular meetings are held between the AMHPs in the Older People's Service during which procedures and good practice are reviewed as well as providing mutual support.
13.6	In addition there are cross service AMHP meetings every two months and meetings with psychiatric consultants at least twice a year. These meetings provide a forum in which to discuss complex cases and raise complex issues with a wider group of peers.

14. Supervising Groupwork

14.1	Some staff are involved in leading or attending service user groups, either alone or in pairs with a worker from another team or agency. Some groups may be highly structured and time limited focusing on identified outcomes for the group members. Other groups are less formal and function more as a support network for people who meet over a much longer period of time.
14.2	All groupwork must be supervised and the supervisor must ensure that the aims of the worker(s) and group are: In line with the expectations of the group members Compatible with the policies and values of the organisation Anti-discriminatory and socially inclusive Agreements of confidentiality are established and observed
14.3	The groupwork supervisor must offer planned supervision sessions to the worker(s) to assist in: Planning the group Agreeing the objectives of the group Assessing the group process Ensuring the groupwork methods used are appropriate to meet the objectives of the group Dealing with any practice issues or concerns about group members
14.4	Groupwork must be recorded. This may include a range of media including written records and audio and visual recordings. The groupwork supervisor should see these as part of the supervision process.
14.5	Where the groupwork supervisor is not the worker's line manager there must be clear decisions on accountability established from the beginning.

15. Confidentiality within Supervision

15.1	The supervision record will be used to summarise and record all agreed actions and key issues discussed during supervision. The record will be available for inspection/use by Team Managers/Senior Managers/ Inspectors. It forms part of the employment record and will be used and maintained accordingly.
15.2	Supervision records must be held in a locked cabinet and will not be accessible to other staff in the team.

16. Staff Health and Safety

16.1	All staff must follow the Council's health and safety policies and procedures, details of which are available on BexWeb. These include: Risk Assessment process Reporting of Accidents & Incidents Lone Working Policy Violence & Harassment to staff Whistle Blowing
16.2	All Team Managers/Coordinators must ensure that there are clear written team procedures in place to assess and minimise risk to their staff both in the office environment and when staff work "off-site" e.g. home visits, escorting children, young people and their families, running events for children or community work. Team Managers must ensure that Risk Assessments are carried out and there are clear written records of these, which are accessible to staff. This might include (list not exhaustive): A "Movements" book for all staff to record when they're in the office and details of home visits (name/ address & tel number of service user) and time due to finish appointment A system for staff reporting into the office that they are safe when they finish appointments at the end of the day A central team record of staff home, mobile & NOK contact details for manager / supervisor and other team members to contact if they've not returned in expected time or reported in at end of day Joint visits when staff express concern about visiting alone or when there have been previous incidents
16.3	All Team Managers/Coordinators must ensure that all their staff are aware of and follow these health and safety procedures.
16.4	All staff must personally record all incidents of violence or threatening or abusive behaviour on the relevant Accident & Incident Report Form and report them to their supervisor or manager who will ensure that the relevant procedures are followed.
16.5	All staff are responsible for minimising risks to themselves, colleagues and service users and should report any concerns to their manager etc.
16.6	All staff are responsible for following their professions codes of conduct as well as the Staff Codes of Conduct for their employer/ agency.

17. Data Protection Act

All supervision recording, whether in hard copy or retained in electronic files must be relevant for the organisation and member of staff's needs. Records should be securely retained, appropriately used in a confidential manner and kept only as long as the information is required.

18. Supervision of Admin Staff

Admin managers in the Council and Care Trust are developing separate procedures specifically for supervision of admin staff.

Appendix 1: Supervision Agreement

Click here to view the Supervision Agreement.

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