Hi Sheila,

I have been supervising for many years and looking for “down to earth” questions to ask ‘supervisees’, looking over old records. There’s nothing really on how to keep meeting “alive”, and how to avoid ‘Yes’s and ‘No’s.

Regards,

Johanna

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Johanna,

Thank you for your question. Supervision can be challenging can’t it?

I think that apart from the normal questions you would want to ask at each session you can also look at making some sessions “themed”.

For instance:

• When the Duty off Candour was introduced you will have provided some training to all your staff so you could use the supervision to discuss with each member of staff what their approach was going to be to this new and important piece of legislation. There are so many changes in adult social care at the moment that I think that supervision sessions are an ideal opportunity to confirm that staff have a thorough understanding of any changes.
• If there has been a notifiable incident at the home this should be used as a learning experience at the service and you can use supervision to ensure that the lessons have been learnt.
• You could also have a themed session about something you think you might be considering changing or introducing for instance if you are a care home what activities might be added in to your activities programme and how that might be achieved.

One other thing, I have always believed that team or staff meetings are an important part of the supervision process so if you have such meetings and they are minuted you can include them (at least one of them per annum) as part of your supervision.

There are a number of helpful guidance sheets on the SCIE website: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide50/

I hope this is helpful. Perhaps some people reading this might have more ideas. Please let me know if you do and I will pass your ideas on.

Best wishes,
Sheila