Supervision

Supervision is an on-going process in which staff receive guidance, support and challenge, in a formal setting, in order to meet organisational, professional and personal objectives. It is an important feature of front-line social work, and a lack of effective supervision has featured in several Serious Case Reviews.

Agencies other than Social Care may have different arrangements, and may use different terminology, for example:

‘Reflective Practice’:

• General Medical Council;
• Royal College of Nursing;
• College of Policing.

REGIONAL INFORMATION

North West Protocol for Standards in Supervision of Children and Families Social Workers

This protocol has been developed to support social work practice across the region. The purpose is to provide social workers and social work managers with guidance and practice tools to support effective supervision and critical reflection. This regional protocol, therefore, seeks to outline minimum regional standards with regards to supervision and reflection, to ensure consistency of practice for social workers irrespective of which Local Authority they are working for.

LOCAL INFORMATION

Individual local authorities may have their own Supervision policies:

• Bolton;
• Bury;
• Manchester;
• Oldham – to follow;
• Rochdale;
• Salford;
• Stockport;
• Tameside;
• Trafford;
• Wigan – to follow.