Case study: Joanne - Skills for Care - · PDF fileASYE fictional case study: Joanne p.4 Joanne brings a completed review form ... Joanne is not taking a user centred approach – but

ASYE fictional case study: Joanne p.1

Assessed & Supported Year in Employment

Fictional case study

Case study: Joanne

Joanne is a newly qualified social worker in a learning disabilities team. Marian, the

team manager, is acting as Joanne’s assessor.

Evidence that supports the assessment of Joanne’s ASYE is included after the main

case study narrative (see p.6 for index).

Learning agreement

Joanne did not take a proactive

approach to developing the learning

agreement (see evidence 1). Marian

discussed it in detail with Joanne but felt

that she took the lead in its completion

rather than this being developed in

partnership. Joanne was not able to

identify any specific learning needs

beyond the fact that she wants to further

develop her communication skills in

working with service users who are not

verbal. She stated that she agreed with

the learning needs identified by her

practice educator in her final placement

report, although she does feel that these

are learning needs that all newly

qualified workers will have.

Joanne states that since she completed

her final placement in a learning

disability team she has a good

understanding of what is required and

she feels that she has the necessary

skills. She says she is looking forward to

“getting on with the job”. Even at this

stage Marian had some concerns that

Joanne did not recognise the

importance of the assessed and

supported year and that she did not

grasp the opportunity to be proactive

about her professional development.

Use of supervision

Joanne brings her cases to every

supervision session for discussion. She

presents her work very descriptively,

describing the detail of the information

she has generated as part of her work.

She always requests direction from

Marian on what she should do next. If

Marian asks Joanne what she feels she

should do Joanne looks blankly to

Marian to make decisions, taking a “you

tell me” approach. Marian is concerned

that Joanne does not seem to use the

supervision sessions for reflection and

for discussion on her progress in relation

to the professional capabilities

framework as detailed in the learning

agreement. Marian reminds Joanne

about the agreement they made about

supervision being used to discuss cases

on a monthly basis and tells Joanne that

she is concerned she is taking a

managerialist approach to supervision,

expecting direction at every stage of her

work.

Generation of evidence in the early

stages

Joanne brings a reflective account to

supervision (see evidence 2). Joanne

feels that this provides evidence against

the PCF. Marian feels that this is very

descriptive. It also reflects work which

was mostly a shadowing opportunity as

opposed to Joanne’s own work. Whilst

the account demonstrates that Joanne

has some appropriate knowledge some

of this is confused and her

understanding and use of this

knowledge in practice is missing. A

number of statements are made which

could be considered assumptions – they

are not supported by evidence. A

number of minor grammatical errors are

present which impact on the quality of


the argument. Service user feedback is

not referred to at all. Whilst Joanne

refers to social work values Marian feels

that this is a superficial reference with

limited analysis of the impact that this

will have on Joanne’s practice.

Marian feeds her concerns back to

Joanne. She explains that while the

account might descriptively provide

some minimal evidence against some of

the domains, holistically there is no

evidence of critical reflection or of the

centrality of the service user’s thoughts

about the intervention. Marian

encourages Joanne to ensure that

future reflective accounts are about work

on her own caseload.

Marian also says that she feels the

reflective writing is not at the standard

she would expect. Joanne says that she

always found reflective writing difficult

when she was at university and Marian

suggests that it would have been useful

if she had shared this when they were

devising the learning agreement. They

agree that they will add this as an

additional learning need.

Joanne brings some feedback from

carers to the next supervision session

(see evidence 3). Joanne says that she

used the form that she had when she

was a student. Marian recognises the

comments made as positive but explains

that it does not provide significant

evidence of Joanne’s capability. Marian

also says that she has some concerns

that Joanne has simply used a form

which she has from previous

experiences – not least because it

suggested to the carers who completed

it that Joanne is a student.

Marian discusses the difficult balance

that learning disability social workers

face in addressing power dynamics in

family relationships and ensuring that

the user, rather than their family, is the

focus of the intervention. Marian asks

Joanne to reflect on what the service

user may be feeling about her

intervention. Joanne says that it’s not

possible to obtain feedback from service

users directly as the people she is

working with “do not communicate”.

Marian challenges Joanne about this,

reminding her of the learning need

Joanne identified at the learning

agreement stage. She explains that

everyone communicates in some way

and that since communication is a two

way process, Joanne needs to reflect on

how she can communicate and listen

effectively to service users, even where

they are not verbal. She asks Joanne to

reflect on the possibilities for obtaining

user feedback in preparation for the next

supervision session and advises Joanne

to talk to other team members who have

experience of generating user feedback.

Joanne comes to the next supervision

session with some alternative user

feedback questionnaires – she says that

she found these in her practice learning

documentation. She adds that she

thinks these are better forms as they

have more open questions. Joanne says

she knows that the service users she

works with won’t be able to complete

these forms but she thinks it will be best

to get people who know the service user

to complete the forms on their behalf as

they will be able to “put themselves in

the service user’s shoes”. This indicates

to Marian that that Joanne has not

moved forward since their discussion in

the previous session and that she is not

able to move away from a mechanistic

questionnaire format for gathering user

feedback.

Marian suggests that on her next study

day Joanne reads the principles for

obtaining service user and carer

feedback again and once again

encourages her to think more creatively

http://www.collegeofsocialwork.org/pcf.aspx

http://www.collegeofsocialwork.org/pcf.aspx


about generating feedback from service

users through discussing this with her

team colleagues. She also suggests that

Joanne might want to take this issue to

the next action learning set with other

newly qualified workers – she advises

Joanne that her peers will also need to

be generating service user feedback

and suggests that this might be a useful

forum to discuss the difficulties in

generating this kind of feedback.

Marian encourages Joanne to look

beyond questionnaires as the only

method of gathering feedback from

service users – she explains that people

may be more comfortable with providing

feedback using pictorial images,

referring to photographs, using objects

of reference etc. She refers to some

specific examples of user feedback she

has experienced – showing Joanne

some examples.

Three month review

Marian is very clear about her concerns

at the three month review (see evidence

4). Since she has already raised these

concerns with Joanne there are no

surprises for Joanne in this. As agreed

in the learning agreement, Joanne and

Marian review each of the domains and

Marian highlights where she has

concerns – referring to specific

capability statements where relevant.

They also review Joanne’s progress with

the portfolio. During the meeting Marian

and Joanne use these discussions to

develop an action plan (see evidence 5).

Joanne has already attended some

specific training on communication skills

– Marian asks her to write a reflective

account about her learning from this.

She also encourages Joanne to shadow

the speech and language therapist on

the team to extend her learning in this

area.

In order to address the issues about the

importance of seeking user feedback

and maintaining the centrality of user

perspectives in practice, Marian

arranges for Joanne to be invited to

attend one of the local self-advocacy

group sessions. She hopes that this will

enable Joanne to look at how the views

of service users can be obtained in a

creative way.

In relation to the completion of Joanne’s

portfolio they agree that Marian will

review some of Joanne’s recording and

she asks Joanne to select a completed

review to bring to supervision. They also

agree that Joanne will seek some peer

feedback on her practice.

Progress against identified issues

Joanne provides a reflective account on

the training (see evidence 6); again, this

is very descriptive. It also demonstrates

a lack of insight into the way that people

can be fully involved in the social work

process. Marian feels that the account

demonstrates that Joanne has a

confused understanding of regulatory

requirements which links to domain 1 of

the PCF. Marian also feels that the

account demonstrates a

misunderstanding of what constitutes

evidence of capability. She addresses

these issues with Joanne and provides

her with some information on regulatory

requirements and discusses again with

Joanne what can constitute evidence.

Joanne brings some peer feedback to

supervision (see evidence 7) – Anton

completed a peer direct observation

form based on a joint visit they had

undertaken. Marian notes that this

indicates that Anton picked up on similar

concerns about Joanne’s over

identification with parents’ perspectives.

This raises particular concerns in

relation to domain 4 as well as concerns

holistically across the domains.


Joanne brings a completed review form

to supervision (see evidence 8). Marian

feels that this again illustrates that

Joanne is not taking a user centred

approach – but that she is responding to

the concerns of parents. She also feels

that the form contains assumptions and

does not indicate provenance. It also

contains some basic grammatical errors

and some key sections which are used

to judge performance indicators within

the team are not completed. Marian is

concerned that these are the same

issues that Anton had picked up on and

that Joanne had said she had learnt

from. Much of the review form is cut and

paste from the original care plan

completed by a senior social worker –

which limits the specific evidence of

Joanne’s capability which can be drawn

from the document.

Joanne does not attend the self-

advocacy group, saying she is too busy

to be able to go. She does shadow the

speech and language therapist for a

day, but feedback from the therapist

suggests that Joanne focussed on

learning about the procedures of making

a referral to her rather than on how

Joanne can further develop her own

communication skills.

Six month review

In preparation for the six month review

(see evidence 9) Marian reviews the

action plan developed at the three

month review. She notes that much of

the action plan referred to issues being

discussed in supervision. She reflects

that perhaps the action plan was not

sufficiently detailed about what specific

support Joanne would receive and

reflects that taking more of a

performance management approach to

devising the action plan may have been

better.

Joanne and Marian again use the

learning agreement as the basis for the

six month review. They also discuss

Joanne’s progress against the action

plan. Marian again raises her concerns.

The initial concerns about Joanne’s

practice remain and Marian feels that

Joanne has not made use of the support

offered which gives rise to further

concerns. Joanne has not taken up

some of the development opportunities

referred to in the action plan. In addition

Marian has received some feedback

from Anton, the experienced team

member who was to mentor Joanne.

This indicates that Joanne has sought

direction from Anton and that she has

simply used the mentoring relationship

as an extension to supervision – seeking

advice on what action to take in relation

to case work.

Further to the concerns that Marian has

already raised, Marian is now concerned

that rather than developing, Joanne’s

practice has actually deteriorated. As

she has taken on more cases (even

though her caseload is well protected)

Joanne has failed to meet deadlines

consistently, has made some basic

mistakes in preparing documentation for

panel meetings and has simply failed to

make contact with some service users

allocated to her. Joanne says she is

feeling overwhelmed with the amount of

work and the timescales for completion

of work. Also Marian has received

feedback that Joanne is not regularly

attending the action learning sets. When

she raises this with Joanne she says

that she is finding it difficult to fit these

sessions into her diary.

At the end of the six month review

Joanne and Marian agree to develop a

revised action plan and Marian suggests

a revised framework based on her

reflections about the lack of specific

detail in the initial plan. The revised


action plan (see evidence 10) is much

more specific about what support

Joanne will be offered and about the

fact that Joanne needs to take up the

development activities.

Subsequent development

Marian begins to address the concerns

she has about Joanne’s progress within

each supervision session – reviewing

the revised action plan at each session.

She has taken a clear performance

management approach to the situation,

identifying the concerns and jointly

developing an action plan. In each

supervision session the concerns and

Joanne’s progress against these are

reviewed in detail.

Despite the support arranged for Joanne

and the regular reviews of progress,

Joanne does not develop sufficiently. In

fact she continues to struggle with her

work, and misses some key deadlines.

Marian feels that she is not able to

allocate the amount of work to Joanne

that she feels she should be able to take

on at this stage in her career. Marian

also reviews Joanne’s work against the

HCPC standards of proficiency and

considers the mapping of the HCPC

standards to the PCF. She feels that

Joanne is not meeting the standards

expected.

Joanne consults with Becky, the service

area manager. She has been discussing

the situation with Becky regularly but at

this stage they arrange a formal meeting

to discuss Marian’s concerns. Becky

reviews the evidence that Marian is

drawing on and agrees with Marian’s

concerns. Becky and Marian consult

with more senior managers to clarify the

way that the department will manage the

situation in terms of performance

management and capability procedures.

Summative assessment judgement

Marian makes the decision to fail

Joanne. Marian feels that her concerns

have been discussed at every stage of

the process. She feels that the

expectations of Joanne have been clear

and that she has been provided with a

good level of support to help her to

develop her practice.

Marian makes clear that this is a holistic

assessment decision, partly based on

cumulative capability (as Joanne’s

workload has increased she has not

been able to maintain some of her

qualifying capability). In addition, Joanne

does not recognise the need for

professional decision making – in an

attempt to respond to pressure from

carers and taking a risk averse

approach, Joanne abdicates

responsibility for decisions – expecting

constant direction and decisions to be

made by Marian or other team

members.

This was a very painful process for all

involved, but Marian makes the decision

on the basis that she has a responsibility

to safeguard the profession and ensure

that workers have the necessary

capabilities. She also recognises that

she has a responsibility to Joanne and

has concerns that her health and safety

will be affected in terms of stress and

potential burnout if she further

progresses in her career.

Marian feels that she has drawn on a

range of assessment methods and that

her assessment is valid and robust. She

is also confident that she has ensured

Joanne has had access to a wide range

of support matched to her learning and

development needs. The outcome of the

assessment, the reasoning behind the

decision and the evidence this is based

on, will contribute to the agency

performance management process to

which Joanne is now subject.


Index of evidence to go with this case study

Page

1. Learning agreement 7

2. Reflective account 1 – on work with service user 15

3. Carer feedback 17

4. Three month review 20

5. Action plan 28

6. Reflective account 2 – on training 32

7. Peer feedback 33

8. Work product evidence – review documentation 35

9. Six month review 37

10. Revised action plan 45


Evidence 1: learning agreement









Evidence 2: Reflective account 1

The Case study I am going to discuss is a 64-year-old lady with Downs Syndrome and Vascular

Dementia, who I will call Mary. I have chosen to discuss this case is because it is a very

complex one so it shows that I can work in very complicated situations. I did this piece of work

with a senior social worker on the team because it was so complex she needed some help with

the case. One of the difficulties was that this lady had no insight into her situation. I had two

main roles in this work – working with Mary’s niece who provided a large amount of support

and supporting Mary alongside the senior worker.

Under the Carers Recognition and Services Act 1995 the niece was entitled to a carers

assessment in her own right. I carried out the carers assessment which acknowledged that the

support I was providing was meeting her needs.

My role with Mary was about empowering her to sustain a Community presence. This situation

was a prime example of how people in power can target the vulnerable, the niece was trying to

keep Mary in the Community, but the OT was liaising with the warden and they were voicing

their concerns that they felt Mary was not managing in the community. Mary moved to the

sheltered accommodation when her mother died after Mary had been caring for her mother for

a long time. There were also concerns about how accurate the information that the warden and

the OT were providing. In terms of Anti- Oppressive practice I was disgusted at how oppressive

people could be to an individual who had no insight into her condition. At times individuals were

not interested in what Mary had to say and decided to make their own choices.

Part of my involvement with Mary was to try and maintain her Community Presence; According

to the Warden other residents were advising her that Mary was going out wandering. Mary did

not understand the concerns and was not able to accept responsibility in relation to her

situation. I therefore did discuss my concerns with my manager in supervision. This was a time

where we were able to reflect. We identified that I could use a Task Centred Model in this case.

The niece was at an extremely vulnerable time due to the stress of the situation, there was also

information that Mary was incontinent of both Urine/Faeces, again on observation there was no

indication on how true this was.

Major meetings were planned in relation to the Mary’s capacity. Part of my role with Mary

involved including her in what she thought of her situation. It was decided that Mary did not

have capacity to make a decision, part of my process involved supporting the social worker in

the Best decision practice which is part of the Mental Capacity Act (2007) law. In terms of this

Act I have found it extremely difficult and frustrating. I feel professionally as workers it does

support us as practitioners, but more legal intervention is required. I feel that it protects

individuals with any Mental Health Problems.

After a number of meetings with the family, the Psychiatrist, the learning disability nurse and

the warden, due to the stress the niece was under she felt that the best decision would be for

Mary to go to a residential home. Mary was then placed there and apparently agreed to stay

there, again, there were concerns about this. A short while later I visited and there were

concerns that Mary was trying to leave the building. After a day Mary had lost her ability to

perform Daily living skills in the community even with a maximum support package in place this

process could not be implemented. Due to the strange environment Mary’s memory had

deteriorated. To observe Mary become distressed, angry, disorientated and try to leave the

property whilst in a situation that was quite clear that she did not wish to be in was very


distressing. My anxiety levels at times were also extremely high due to the fact that regardless

what was going on I still had to try to work with Mary and she was an extremely volatile lady

and at times could become abusive to me.

The next step was to arrange for an advocate about mental capacity “There remains the users

who, because of their disability, are unable to express their own views and/or who wish to have

independent representatives to act on their behalf. This will include suffering from dementia or

severe learning disability. These users will be disadvantaged if the authority/agency confines

itself to the promotion of Self-advocacy” (HMSO 1991). The advocate was then able to work

closely alongside Mary and try to ensure that her interests were protected. The role of the

advocate was to listen to Mary’s views and try to establish what she thought of the situation. By

this time if Mary had left the residential care home, she would have no familiarity of the area

(as the home was approximately 10 minutes away) and she seemed to have no road sense so

there was significant risk. Mary was allegedly trying the door on a number of occasions, and the

home owner would not have any legislation to bring her back. He would have to rely on

Common Law. After discussions with the consultant it was felt that a Guardianship order would

be the best option. The guardianship involved 2 medical recommendations (Doctor, Psychiatrist)

a pre planning meeting would then have to be held, a Social Report is completed on why

guardianship is the safest option. I ensured that Mary’s niece was keep fully informed and

involved. She said that she felt reassured that if her aunt did go missing then the home owner

could be able to contact the police and request that Mary is returned to the home.

The advocate and myself have stayed involved with Mary she has become more familiar with

the home, and has regular involvement with washing up, laying the tables. She enjoys

becoming involved in these tasks.

The Act produces many difficulties in it as you could argue that this may be a good thing, as

two professionals need to complete a consent form. All decisions have to be recorded, and a

number of steps taken to identify your decision, usually referring to the Best Decision practice.

My role as a Social Worker is to respect service users and work within their best interests. Lots

of people with Downs Syndrome get dementia. If an individual has dementia then they would

probably still insist that they wish to remain at Home. Due to their memory impairment they are

not able to understand the risks, they may also have no insight into their condition and this can

be quite challenging as you are there as a Social Worker to ensure their safety and wellbeing is

protected. In terms of my values this has been quite challenging as I decided to enter into the

profession to help people. One of the issues is that in this role you also have to protect the

service user, this is not always agreeing with they want. As an individual I have always worked

on the basis of treating people how you would like to be treated. If an individual has no

capacity and is not safe then you have a duty to take them to a place of safety.

A main concern is how the Mental Capacity Act coincides with the Human Rights Act, the right

to be respected, the right to privacy, if a service user is then being placed against her will then

this will not be seen as abiding by the Human Rights Act. The frustration here is this situation

could be misinterpreted as being similar to the Bournewood Judgement. This ruling was made

by the high court and it was identified that an individual was taken to a daycentre, and because

he seemed to be acting out of character he was taken to the hospital. It was then found that he

was stopped from seeing his carers they then started legal proceedings and it was found that

he was being detained against his will. This case has become known as the Bournewood

Judgement.


Evidence 3: Carer feedback report




Evidence 4: Three-month review









Evidence 5: Action plan

Domain 1, Professionalism Social workers are members of an internationally recognised profession, a title protected in UK law. Social workers demonstrate professional commitment by taking responsibility for their conduct, practice and learning, with support through supervision. As representatives of the social work profession they safeguard its reputation and are accountable to the professional regulator

Joanne is using supervision to seek advice on what to do with her work. She is not yet making wider use of the supervision offered as part of the assessed and supported year. We agreed that Joanne will seek to make more effective use of supervision to meet the specific capability statement: make proactive use of supervision to reflect critically on practice, explore different approaches to your work, support your development across the nine capabilities and understand the boundaries of professional accountability.

Joanne is also finding the transition to a professional and the workload that this implies challenging. She needs to further develop her time and workload management skills, as identified in the learning agreement, in order to meet the specific capability statement: demonstrate workload management skills and develop the ability to prioritize.

Domain 2 -Values and Ethics: Apply social work ethical principles and values to guide professional practice.

Social workers have an obligation to conduct themselves ethically and to engage in ethical decision-making, including through partnership with people who use their services. Social workers are knowledgeable about the value base of their profession, its ethical standards and relevant law.

It would be useful for Joanne to give more critical consideration to the values conflicts she faces in her practice. There have been some specific examples in reviews she has completed recently where parents have been resistant to service users developing relationships. In review documentation Joanne has recorded the views of the parents clearly – but this has not necessarily been balanced with the views of the service user.

We have agreed that we will keep this issue under review in supervision.

Domain 3. Diversity: Recognise diversity and apply anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive principles in practice

Social workers understand that diversity characterises and shapes human experience and is critical to the formation of identity. Diversity is multidimensional and includes race, disability, class, economic status, age, sexuality, gender and transgender, faith and belief. Social workers appreciate that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experience may include oppression, marginalisation and alienation as well as privilege, power and acclaim, and are able to challenge appropriately

Joanne is understandably sometimes drawn more towards what parents and carers are saying, particularly where a service user has limited verbal communication – as the example above demonstrates. This means that Joanne is not always recognizing the oppression that service users can face from within their own family. Again we agreed to keep this issue under review in supervision.


Domain 4. Rights, Justice and Economic Wellbeing: Advance human rights and promote social justice and economic well-being

Social workers recognise the fundamental principles of human rights and equality, and that these are protected in national and international law, conventions and policies. They ensure these principles underpin their practice. Social workers understand the importance of using and contributing to case law and applying these rights in their own practice. They understand the effects of oppression, discrimination and poverty.

Joanne is beginning to develop her understanding in this area, although again her tendency to over identify with the views of parents means that she may miss issues of human rights for service users.

Domain 5. Knowledge: Apply knowledge of social sciences, law and social work practice theory

Social workers understand psychological, social, cultural, spiritual and physical influences on people; human development throughout the life span and the legal framework for practice. They apply this knowledge in their work with individuals, families and communities. They know and use theories and methods of social work practice

Joanne is developing her knowledge of agency policy and procedure and she has developed a good working knowledge of the area which the team covers. The reflective account which Joanne has completed for her portfolio demonstrates that she has knowledge – for example of the Human Rights Act and the Bournewood ruling. However, how she makes use of this knowledge in her practice is not so clear. In supervision Joanne is developing more of an ability to identify relevant theory – however, again she is not always able to discuss how she has used this in her practice. We agreed that we will consider the impact of Joanne’s knowledge on her practice and the impact of her knowledge on the outcomes for service users in supervision sessions.

Domain 6. Critical reflection and Analysis - Apply critical reflection and analysis to inform and provide a rationale for professional decision-making

Social workers are knowledgeable about and apply the principles of critical thinking and reasoned discernment. They identify, distinguish, evaluate and integrate multiple sources of knowledge and evidence. These include practice evidence, their own practice experience, service user and carer experience together with research-based, organisational, policy and legal knowledge. They use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity.

Joanne needs to develop her skills in critically reflective in order to meet both of the specific capability statements in this domain. Isabella recently identified that she finds reflective writing a challenge. Marian will ensure that Joanne is provided with some examples of good quality reflective writing. Marian will also look into whether there is any training available which may be able to assist Joanne to become more reflective.


Domain 7. Intervention and Skills: Use judgement and authority to intervene with individuals, families and communities to promote independence, provide support and prevent harm, neglect and abuse

Social workers engage with individuals, families, groups and communities, working alongside people to assess and intervene. They enable effective relationships and are effective communicators, using appropriate skills. Using their professional judgement, they employ a range of interventions: promoting independence, providing support and protection, taking preventative action and ensuring safety whilst balancing rights and risks. They understand and take account of differentials in power, and are able to use authority appropriately. They evaluate their own practice and the outcomes for those they work with

Joanne has identified that she would like to develop her skills in working with service users who are not verbal. Marian has allocated some reviews of people who have limited verbal communication to help Joanne develop in this area. We agreed that Joanne will reflect on her learning from these reviews in supervision. Joanne has also accessed some training on communication with adults where there are barriers to communication. We agreed that Joanne will develop a reflective account on her learning from this – as this will also assist Joanne in relation to domain 6. Joanne will also attend the local self-advocacy group to consider who people with limited verbal communication are enabled to advocate on their own behalf. Marian also suggested that Joanne shadow the speech and language therapist to develop her knowledge in this area.

Domain 8. Contexts and organisations: Engage with, inform, and adapt to changing contexts that shape practice. Operate effectively within own organisational frameworks and contribute to the development of services and organisations.

Operate effectively within multi-agency and inter-professional partnerships and settings

Social workers are informed about and pro-actively responsive to the challenges and opportunities that come with changing social contexts and constructs. They fulfill this responsibility in accordance with their professional values and ethics, both as individual professionals and as members of the organisation in which they work. They collaborate, inform and are informed by their work with others, inter-professionally and with communities.

Joanne feels that the team have been very supportive and she feels that she has become very much a member of the team. Marian feels that it would be useful for Joanne to develop a closer relationship with the more experienced practitioners on the team. It was therefore agreed that Joanne will be linked to Anton a senior practitioner on the team. Anton can provide Joanne with support and will encourage Joanne to go on joint visits with him to more complex cases to develop her skills in this area.

The agency are developing a keyworker / named worker system. Marian would like Joanne to consider the communication that has been sent to the team about this and present her thoughts on the proposed system in a supervision session.


Domain 9. Professional Leadership: Take responsibility for the professional learning and development of others through supervision, mentoring, assessing, research, teaching, leadership and management

The social work profession evolves through the contribution of its members in activities such as practice research, supervision, assessment of practice, teaching and management. An individual’s contribution will gain influence when undertaken as part of a learning, practice-focused organisation. Learning may be facilitated with a wide range of people including social work colleagues, service users and carers, volunteers, foster carers and other professionals.

As yet, Joanne is still developing her practice skills and is not yet demonstrating the potential for professional leadership. Joanne said she would like to provide support to a student who will be shadowing the team for two days. Marian feels that at this stage it would be preferable for Joanne to focus on other areas of her development.

Portfolio progress

Joanne has completed one reflective account on her work with Mary. As detailed, Marian feels that this is not at the standard she would expect. Joanne will be given some examples of reflective writing and Marian will look at whether there is any training which Joanne can undertake.

Joanne has obtained some carer feedback. Marian felt that Joanne should not have used the student feedback form. To date Joanne has located some forms / questionnaires to gather user feedback. Marian advised that sometimes user feedback approaches need to be more creative – particularly in relation to the service user group. Marian advised Joanne to ask for some advice from the local self-advocacy group when she visits about creative ways of obtaining feedback. She also asked Joanne to raise this issue at the next action learning set.

We have completed one direct observation of practice. This is still to be written up for the portfolio.

We agreed that Joanne will bring some review documentation to supervision for Marian to review in relation to the capability statements. This will assist Marian in developing her report.

We also agreed that Joanne will seek some peer feedback on her practice. Since Joanne is going to link up with Anton it may be useful for Anton to complete a direct observation form in relation to a joint visit – this will ensure that the peer feedback is sufficiently focused.

Marian suggested that Joanne re-read the guidance she has been given on the completion of the portfolio – particularly the guidance on critical reflection and on gathering user feedback.

We agreed that the portfolio will be kept under review in supervision. Joanne also advised Joanne that she might like to take the portfolio to the action learning set facilitator for feedback and advice.


Evidence 6: Reflective account 2

One good example of registration requirements is that it ensures that workers who are not fit to

practice will be dealt with under the code of conduct, this ensures that the Social Work title is

protected. A major focus is the introduction of training requirements. It ensures that Social

workers have to complete approximately so many days training, again, this is a good idea as it

ensures that a worker is able to do training to enhance their skills. It also ensures that the

worker completes the relevant research that will enable them to undertake their role.

I went on some training about communication. The training was very good. The atmosphere

was laid back and some of the exercises were good fun. The tutor was very complimentary

about how keen I was to be there and how I volunteered to feedback some of our small group

discussions.

The tutor said that you should find a good place to communicate in – somewhere quiet without

distractions. If you are talking to a large group you have to remember that some people may

find this difficult. He also said to use gestures and facial expressions to mirror what you are

communicating. So it would be a good idea if you are asking if someone is unhappy to make

your facial expression unhappy to show what you are saying. I will try to do this more in my

work with service users.

I found out that some people find it easier to use objects to communicate, called objects of

reference but photos and pictures can be good as well. I also learnt to do some signs in sign

language – I can say hello and biscuit and man and lady and coat. He showed us a computer

system where you can type words in and it comes up with pictures to translate the words. I think

this will be good for doing care plans and other documents, so I will see if we can get it for the

team.

Most important of all was I learnt how to support individuals with communication difficulties, how

to use the sign language, it made me realise how protected families were of service users with a

learning disability. It was also clear how people with a learning disability could become

institutionalised due to a system. Most of the people at the training were from voluntary

services. The settings were a lot more relaxed than Social Services, the paperwork was a lot

more reduced and there was no bureaucracy involved. Realistically I think the voluntary sector

has a lot more time to spend with the service users and you can be a lot more creative in your

approach to practice so they can spend more time communicating with people with sign

language and other different ways.

I have got the certificate from the course and all the handouts. There were lots of handouts

about all the different ways of communicating, so that is good evidence of what I have learnt.

Overall reflecting on the training, I feel that all professionals and service users should try to work

from the same perspective. I have no regrets entering the profession and am proud to call

myself a Social Worker as I am fulfilling my value basis and achieving what I went into the

profession for by helping people. Now I can communicate better with them so that is a good

result from the training.

Ensuring social workers go on training I personally feel has been a positive development as it

has only set standards that most Social Workers adhere to anyway. I also feel that it is a good

idea to ensure that all training needs are up to date. My reflection on this is that practitioners are

being asked to reflect on how they practice in a competent manner. That can only be a good

thing for everyone.


Evidence 7: Peer feedback



Evidence 8: Review document Date: 06-05-2013

Attendees

Reviewer: Joanne Percival

Service user: Peter Thackley Carer (s): Kevin and Fiona Thackley

Relationship to service user: Parents Location: 134 Mead Avenue, Grangeford

Review

Please refer to care plan. Please list each element of the care plan and indicate whether assessed needs

are being met.

1 For my safety to be promoted when I am visiting my friends or going to town centre on my own.

I will have my mobile phone with me with credit on it will be charged up. I know how to find my

parent’s phone number and will call them as agreed when I am out.

Is this need being met?

Service User: Yes.

Carer(s): Sometimes, on some occasions Peter doesn’t phone as agreed and don’t answer his

phone when we ring him, but most of the time he’s pretty good.

Agreed actions: Peter to remember to call and answer phone as per support plan. Parent’s to remind

him more often.

2 To keep me and my family safe during periods of distress, my parents and I will keep to the crisis

plan agreed with my CPN. If I become angry or frustrated and display aggression to others or to my

belongings we will use the grounding strategies I have learned and I will take my prescribed medication

when necessary.


Service User: No answer

Carer(s): No, not at all. Peter’s behaviour has worsening and we are really struggling to cope with

him. Since he has left college it seems he has become fed up with anything we try and

do for him. His angry outbursts are becoming more often and the medication does’nt

work at all

Agreed actions: Peter to attend meeting with CPN to go through grounding strategies and methods to

reduce impact of angry outburst. CPN to refer to psychiatrist for medication review.

3 To help me have a good daily routine and good sleep hygiene, I will attend JUMP day

opportunities 3 times per week with the money I receive from Direct Payments. This will also help keep

in touch with my friends, help me develop more lifeskills and help me gain my food hygiene

qualifications.



Service user: Yes, I’m going every week, really enjoy it. I want to go for more days per week now that

I’m finished at college.

Carer(s): Yes, we’re very happy about, him going to JUMP. The direct payments was a bit

complicated but once they were set it up it seems to be working well. Not sure about

Peter going for more days a week as we are trying, to get some voluntary work for him.

Agreed actions: Continue with current direct payment support for JUMP day opportunities.

4 For my parents to be offered respite support for 1 weekend per month. I will go to Hanswell

House independent residential care provider. My parents have also been offered contact details for

Grangeford Carer’s Association for further support if necessary.


Service user:

Carer(s): This has been a massive help, to have 1 weekend a respite month has really been useful

so that we can reenergise and refresh and it has really helped our relationship with

Peter. He’s a bit quiet before he goes but staff say he always has a good time when he

comes back.

Agreed actions:

5 To give me more confidence with managing and understanding the importance of looking after

my money , I will sit down with my dad once per week to budget my spending for the next week.


Service user: No. My dad won’t let me look after my own money, he is always telling me I can’t

spend it on the things I want to.

Carer(s): No. Peter never sticks to the budget as agreed and is always wanting to buy PS3 games.

There’s no point to sitting down at the moment, he’s just not ready to look after his own

money.

Agreed actions: Peter should listen to his dad more. Obviously he can’t be spending his money on these

games all the time.

Is there anything further that needs to be included?

Peter walked out of the review after the last discussion – he shouted and swore. Obviously he is very

aggressive if he doesn’t have his own way.

Service user:

Carer(s):

Next review date:

Review Completed by: Joanne Percival Signature:

Service user: Peter Thackley Signature:

Carer(s): Kevin Thackley Signature:

Fiona Thackley


Evidence 9: Six month review









Evidence 10: Revised action plan

Area of

concern

Links to PCF Support and

development

opportunities

Desired outcomes Review

Joanne uses

supervision to

discuss her

work in

procedural

terms. She

seeks advice

on every

aspect of her

case work –

seemingly

making no

decisions

herself.

Domain 1 –

make proactive

use of

supervision to

reflect critically

on practice,

explore different

approaches to

your work,

support your

development

across the nine

capabilities and

understand the

boundaries of

professional

accountability

Joanne and Marian

will have more

regular supervision

to provide Joanne

with more

opportunities.

Joanne will develop

the agenda to give

her the opportunity

to understand the

need for a variety of

areas to be covered.

Joanne will also be

provided with some

directed reading on

the use of

supervision in social

work.

Joanne will make

better use of

supervision.

Joanne will explore

her learning and

development in

supervision – using

it as a critically

reflective space.

Joanne will make

some decisions

herself –

recognising those

that need to be

shared in

supervision

discussion.

Joanne does

not take a user

focused

approach to

her work.

Where parents

or other carers

are actively

involved, she

appears to

identify with

their

perspectives

even where

these may be

in conflict with

the service

user’s views.

Domain 2 –

recognise and

promote

individuals’ right

to autonomy and

self-

determination

Domain 4 – apply

in practice

principles of

human, civil

rights and

equalities

legislation and

manage

competing rights,

differing needs

and perspectives

Domain 4-

empower service

users (and

carers) through

recognising their

rights and enable

access where

appropriate to

Joanne will attend

the local self-

advocacy group and

listen to the views of

service users.

Joanne will attend

some training on

person centred

approaches.

Joanne will be given

the opportunity to

meet with two peer

advocates who are

willing to share their

experiences of

conflict with their

families.

Joanne will be

provided with some

directed reading for

her study days.

Joanne will be more

user-centred in her

work – promoting

rights and self -

determination.

Joanne will work in

a more person

centred way

incorporating an

active support

model.

Joanne will be

better able to

manage the conflict

between carers and

service users.

Joanne will be

better able to

advocate for service

users – recognising

the limitations to the

advocacy role and

the need for

independent / peer

advocacy.


Area of

concern


development

opportunities


independent

advocacy

Joanne is

struggling to

manage her

caseload and

meet deadlines

– despite this

being very

protected. She

feels that she

needs to

develop her

time and

workload

management

skills.

Domain 1 –

demonstrate

workload

management

skills and

develop the

ability to prioritise

Joanne will be

provided with two

one to one sessions

on time and

workload

management

strategies (provided

by the learning and

development

department).

Joanne will continue

to have a protected

caseload.

Time and workload

management will be

discussed in every

supervision session.

A discussion will

take place within the

team meeting about

how team members

manage their

workload. This will

focus on the sharing

of good practice

generally rather than

highlighting

Joanne’s needs.

Joanne will be able

to manage her time

more effectively.

Joanne will meet

departmental

targets – for

example on making

initial contact with

service users after

allocation.

Joanne and Marian

will feel confident

about Joanne

moving towards an

increase in her

workload in line with

electronic allocation

procedures used

within the

department.

Joanne’s

recording is not

always of an

acceptable

standard.

Plans are not

clearly

evidenced and

outcomes do

not always

seem to follow

on from the

expressed

wishes of

service users.

Domain 7 –

record

information in a

timely, respectful

and accurate

manner. Write

records and

reports, for a

variety of

purposes with

language suited

to function, using

information

management

systems.

Distinguish fact

from opinion and

record conflicting

Joanne will go on

the recording with

care training again.

She will meet

individually with the

course facilitator for

support and advice

on recording.

Marian will provide

detailed feedback to

Joanne on her

recording.

Joanne’s recording

will reflect the

requirements of the

department and

values of the team.

Joanne’s recording

will be evidence

based, will

demonstrate

provenance and will

demonstrate

effective

professional

decision making.


Area of

concern


development

opportunities


views and

perspectives.

Joanne has not

been able to

consider a

variety of ways

to gather user

feedback. She

is focussing on

using

questionnaires

and asking

parents /

carers to

complete

these. It is

important that

Joanne looks

at how she can

generate

feedback

directly from

service users.

Domain 7 – use

a range of

methods to

engage and

communicate

effectively with

service users,

eliciting the

needs, wishes

and feelings of all

those involved,

taking account of

situations where

these are not

explicitly

expressed.

Joanne will seek

advice from the self

advocacy group

about how they feel

people’s views can

be identified.

Joanne will also talk

to her peer group in

an NQSW action

learning set.

Marian will obtain

user feedback at or

after each direct

observation and will

share how she

obtained this with

Joanne to help

Joanne identify

other ways to obtain

feedback.

Joanne will gather

meaningful

feedback from

service users and

will reflect on how

she can make use

of this to improve

her practice.

Joanne will have a

range of user

feedback to include

in her final portfolio.

This will provide

evidence of

Joanne’s capability

against the PCF.

Joanne needs

to further

develop her

skills in

reflective

writing. The

development of

these skills will

also assist

Joanne in

developing her

analytical skills

and will

improve the

quality of her

recording.

All of domain 6 Joanne will discuss

reflective writing

with the NQSW

action learning set

facilitator who has

offered to provide

support to Joanne in

developing her skills

in this area.

Joanne will consider

a range of models of

reflective writing –

using the directed

reading and

examples of

reflective writing she

has been provided

with.

Joanne will be able

to produce

reflective accounts

which evidence her

capability against

the PCF.

Joanne’s skills in

critically reflective

practice will be

enhanced.

Joanne will further

develop her

analytical skills.

This fictional case study is provided by Skills for Care and the Department for Education, © 2012. It can be copied for the purposes of administering the ASYE, but must not be published for sale.

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Case study: Joanne - Skills for Care - · PDF fileASYE fictional case study: Joanne p.4 Joanne brings a completed review form ... Joanne is not taking a user centred approach – but