What is Supervision in Health and Social Care?

Maintaining high standards in health and social care settings is essential for service users, staff and organisations alike. Undertaking effective supervision of employees is an important part of this, as it helps to ensure high standards are continuously being met. In this article, we’ll explain what supervision in health and social care is, why it’s important, the principles of effective supervision and answer some common supervision questions in order to help guide your supervision sessions.

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What is Supervision in Health and Social Care?

Supervision in health and social care is when a line manager or senior team member meets regularly with their staff in order to review progress, provide support and reflect on their practice.

Supervision is a key part of staff performance management and can contribute towards an annual appraisal or performance review process. In each supervision session, managers should review the employee’s workload, identify learning and development opportunities, support wellbeing and check that the employee is continuing to meet the expected care standards.

Records are usually kept of supervision meetings so that progress can be tracked from session to session, then used to contribute towards the employee’s annual performance review.

For some health and social care settings, supervision is mandatory; the Care Quality Commission (CQC) expects regulated providers to undertake regular staff supervision to ensure they remain competent to carry out their roles. In these cases, formal supervision is required whereby supervision meetings are regular, scheduled, structured sessions between a manager and individual employee.

For other health and social care settings, supervision is a voluntary process but is highly recommended. In these cases, informal supervision may be sufficient. Informal support is offered as-and-when it’s required and is usually an unplanned interaction between a manager and their employee. This means it can happen at any time and is a good way for employees to get quick advice or support, or for managers to provide on-the-job feedback, without needing a formal meeting to do so.

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Why Supervision is Important

Supervision is important in all health and social settings because it:

• Identifies staff learning and development needs.
• Enables staff to explore ongoing training opportunities.
• Encourages continuous learning across the organisation.
• Enhances communication between managers and team members.
• Opens up a discussion about challenges and recognition of achievements.
• Offers staff clear advice, guidance and direction.
• Establishes strong, positive working relationships.
• Improves staff performance and professional development.
• Creates a more positive working environment.
• Supports staff wellbeing and morale.
• Encourages self-reflection and personal accountability.
• Ensures adherence to health and social care policies and regulatory standards.
• Encourages continuous service improvement.
• Promotes safe, high-quality, person-centred care.

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5 Principles of Effective Supervision

For a supervision session to be effective, it needs to be a well-planned, constructive conversation where both the employee and their manager feel respected and acknowledged. Five guiding principles of effective supervision are as follows:

1. A Supportive Environment

Supervision meetings should put the employee first and be a chance to discuss their wellbeing, mental health and any challenges they’re facing in their role. Supervision is an opportunity for open communication and for the employee to raise any issues they have. Employees need to feel comfortable sharing their problems and asking for help, knowing that their supervisor will be non-judgmental, encouraging and empathetic. A good supervision session should boost the employee’s confidence, inspire them to achieve and acknowledge their successes.

2. Promote Professional Development

Supervision is a key moment in the employee’s personal and professional development journey, so the meeting should be used as a chance to identify learning opportunities, reflect on lessons learnt and discover what soft skills the employee wants to work on. Supervision can be used to encourage workers to identify any gaps in their knowledge, discuss training they’d like to complete and set targets for their professional development.

3. Constructive and Clear Feedback

Managers should look to provide constructive feedback to employees during supervision sessions as this will help the worker to develop and improve. All feedback given should be clear, helpful and non-judgmental – the aim is for the employee to clearly understand expectations, responsibilities and goals, not to criticise their performance. Supervision sessions are also a good time to remind staff about policies and procedures, legislation requirements or business updates.

4. A Two-Way Conversation

Always avoid managing from the top down in supervision meetings, as this can make employees feel subordinate or like they’re being told what to do. Instead, ensure all supervision sessions are a two-way conversion, where the mutual exchange of ideas is welcomed, decisions are made jointly and responsibility and accountability are shared, whether relating to successes or failures. It’s also vital that managers listen actively to their staff and take on board any feedback, suggestions or concerns they have.

5. Tailored to the Individual

It’s important to acknowledge that every worker is different, so the supervision conversation should be tailored to each person. Use supervision meetings to set personalised goals, taking into account the individual’s own targets, hopes and feelings. Avoid setting the same aims for everyone, as not all employees have the same goals and motivations, even if they’re in the same role or on the same team. Managers should also adapt their leadership style based on who they’re supervising, as this can make a real difference to how the employee responds to feedback.

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Supervision Questions and Answers for Care Workers

Below are some example questions to ask in a supervision meeting with health and social care workers, as well as some potential topics they may want to discuss in their answers.

Wellbeing Questions and Answers

• Q: How are you feeling about your workload at the moment?
  A: Talk about case numbers, admin tasks, fatigue, shift patterns, working over-time and covering staff absences.

• Q: Is there anything affecting your ability to carry out your role?
  A: Discuss lack of resources, unclear expectations, IT issues, lack of knowledge, health problems and stress.
• Q: Do you feel supported by your team and management?
  A: Talk about the effectiveness of team communication, frequency of supervision meetings and 1-2-1s, access to advice and resource availability.
• Q: Are there any challenges you’re facing that we can help with?
  A: Discuss any conflicts with colleagues or difficult clients, as well as complaint management, workload prioritisation and time management.
• Q: How are you managing your work-life balance?
  A: Discuss flexible working, personal commitments and challenges and interests outside of the workplace.

Practice and Performance Review Questions and Answers

• Q: Tell me about a recent piece of work that you’re proud of.
  A: Topics could include successful care plans, crisis intervention, positive feedback from clients and achievements as a team.
• Q: Are there any cases or situations you would like to reflect on?
  A: Discuss any practice concerns, such as safeguarding issues, client complaints, risk assessment results, near misses and missed opportunities.
• Q: Are there any policies or procedures you need clarification on?
  A: Use this as an opportunity to update workers on safeguarding processes, how to report incidents, how to handle medication or health and safety policies.
• Q: Is there anything you feel you could improve in your practice?
  A: Encourage reflection on topics such as record keeping, time management, conflict resolution and setting boundaries.
• Q: Have you received any recent feedback from service users, families or colleagues?
  A: Share any compliments, complaints, thank-yous, 360 degree feedback or informal feedback.

Safeguarding Questions and Answers

• Q: Have there been any safeguarding concerns you have dealt with since our last meeting?
  A: Discuss any safeguarding concerns noticed, reported and resolved.
• Q: Are there any service users you are particularly concerned about?
  A: Talk about any particular clients or patients the worker is worried about, for whatever reason, to see if further action is required.
• Q: Do you feel confident in identifying and reporting safeguarding issues?
  A: Check the worker knows the signs of abuse, how to record concerns and how to report them.
• Q: Is there any safeguarding training or refresher training you feel you need?
  A: Check whether the worker is up-to-date with safeguarding training.
• Q: Are there any risks to yourself that we need to address?
  A: Discuss any unsafe working conditions, aggressive client behaviour or if a buddy system is required in a situation.

Professional Development and Further Training Questions and Answers

• Q: Are there any areas where you would like more training or support?
  A: Consider areas outside of the worker’s main duties, such as mental health awareness, dementia awareness or information governance.
• Q: What skills would you like to develop in the next few months?
  A: Discuss the worker’s leadership skills, advocacy ability or interviewing techniques.
• Q: Have you completed any recent training? How did you find it?
  A: Review any recent safeguarding training, first aid courses or health and safety workshops.
• Q: Do you feel you have enough opportunities for career progression here?
  A: Discuss internal promotion opportunities or mentorship.

Goal Setting Questions and Answers

• Q: What goals would you like to set before our next supervision?
  A: Talk about individual goals for the worker, based on what they personally want to accomplish.
• Q: Are there any projects or responsibilities you’d like to take on?
  A: Discuss anything the worker would like to do, whether it’s mentoring new starters, leading group activities or community outreach projects.
• Q: Are there particular service areas or client groups you’d like to work with more?
  A: Discover if the worker has a goal to specialise in a certain area, such as mental health, older adults or adults with learning disabilities.

Organisation Feedback Questions and Answers

• Q: Is there anything you would like to see changed or improved in the service?
  A: Ask if the worker has ideas for something new or better, such as quicker referral systems, better resources or improved communication.
• Q: Do you feel the organisation values and recognises your work?
  A: Discuss whether the worker feels heard and talk about recognition, reward schemes or frequency of feedback.
• Q: How well do you feel communication flows across the organisation?
  A: Get the worker’s opinion on team communication, cross-team communication, handovers and barriers to sharing information.
• Q: Do you have any ideas for improving our service for clients?
  A: Ask the worker if they have any suggestions for how to improve the health and/or social care service.

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Supervision in health and social care plays a vital role in maintaining high standards, supporting staff development and ensuring high-quality, person-centred care for service users. Supervision meetings provide an opportunity for employees and managers to reflect on recent successes and failures. By tailoring sessions to individual needs and encouraging two-way dialogue, supervision can be a powerful tool for continuous improvement and professional development.

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Further Resources:

• Health and Social Care Courses
• Record Keeping in Health and Social Care
• What is Advocacy in Health and Social Care?
• How to Use Key Phrases in Performance Reviews & Appraisals
• 10 Development Areas for Managers