Educating

Supervision Hub

The Educating function of A-EQUIP refers to the formative aspects of supervision:

• professional development
• developing knowledge and skills in self-reflection

Stakeholder engagement as part of the process of developing the Supervision Hub indicated:

• the challenges with the length of accredited training and the need for brief training
• the lack of mandatory training in supervision, perhaps mandating all Wales supervision training for all clinical staff

There was also consideration of how to get further training and development, ways of maintaining competence beyond initial training, and the need for support for supervisors.

The Educating pages aim to provide access to high quality education and development around supervision for the health and social care workforce.

While all supervision may focus on professional issues, explicitly professional supervision is especially important for those with a professional registration working in a multidisciplinary team or in a generic role that does not offer profession specific line management as it may be lacking connection with shared professional training and background.

According to the RCOT for example, professional supervision for Occupational Therapists might cover "professional standards, registration, code of ethics, etc. Also continuing professional development (CPD) in occupational therapy-related areas". [1] Supervision Guidance for occupational therapists and their managers (RCOT) Supervision Guidance for occupational therapists and their managers (RCOT)

The page Your Profession is a starting point for professional supervision.

Educational supervision refers to supervision in the use of a specific approach or therapy by a member of the health and social care workforce, while practice supervision refers to the supervision of pre-qualification students who are not considered part of the workforce.

The GMC definition of an educational supervisor is "a trainer who is selected and appropriately trained to be responsible for the overall supervision and management of a specified doctor’s educational progress during a placement or series of placements". [2] Clinical and education supervision model guidelines (NHSE) Clinical and education supervision model guidelines (NHSE)

Research supervision might apply to researchers within the health and social care workforce in Wales who are being supervised in their studies. "The supervisor needs to have effective supervisory strategies, a ‘toolbox’ of techniques and skills to use, in order to enable the personal and professional development of the supervisee". [3]Supervision Guidance for occupational therapists and their managers (RCOT)Supervision Guidance for occupational therapists and their managers (RCOT)

The following support education and development for the whole health and social care workforce, not just for registered professionals.

Models

While there is no universal model for the whole workforce, a model can help to organise or structure supervision sessions. You might wish to explore models such as those detailed on

Clinical supervision models (NHS Employers)

Themes

Supervision has no set themes but should be lead by the needs of the supervisor or supervisee and could cover such themes as:

Compassion, Relationship-Centred Care, Cultural Competency, Supervisee Wellbeing

Training

Supervisors need to have good levels of training though there are a range of standards and levels of training that vary for different professions and settings.

Some specific types of supervision have a minimum training standard such as Restorative Clinical Supervision (RCS) having a 3 day training course in Wales.

Tools

Reflective tools can aid in reflection, at their most basic asking ‘what’, ‘so what’, ‘now what’. Some reflective tools include:Gibbs Reflection Model (HEE)

Using Strands of Reflection (Cardiff University)

Skills

There are specific skills that are useful in supervision such as those explored by the Compassionate Behaviours Compass

Courses

There are a range of supervision courses available ranging from e-learning like Core Supervision (elfh) , to peer supervision like RBCS (FoNS) , and in-depth training like Diploma in Clinical Supervision (ABUHB)

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world