Project Overview: Durham County Council Social Care Workforce Development Programmes

Issues Addressed:

The fundamental aim of the programmes was to address strategic and operational challenges within Durham’s social care system:

1. Standards of Management Practice

   • A need to model and embed good practice more consistently across teams.

   • Managers required support to set clear expectations and monitor performance effectively.

2. Addressing recommendations from the regulator, government and other learning events

   • Ofsted inspections recommend improvements in aspects of practice. These need to be codified and embedded in day-to-day practice.

   • Learning from local, regional and national practice inquiries (e.g. child death reviews) to be codified and embedded in day-to-day practice.

   • Need to adopt changes to local policy and practice required by changes to regulation and policy at central government level.

3. Increasing Pressure on Resources

   • Escalating demand for services necessitated a stronger managerial approach to prioritisation and workforce resilience.

4. Need for Organisational Culture Shift

   • A push to promote a learning culture that supports reflection, analysis, and evidence-informed decision-making.

5. Adapting to Systemic Changes

   • Managers needed to respond to ongoing reforms in health and social care integration.

6. Support and Reflective Practice

   • The emotional complexity of social work required safe, structured spaces for reflection and professional growth.

What we delivered and outcomes achieved:

Several key outcomes emerged from the various delivery strands:

Strengthening Managers Programme

• Built a foundational culture of leadership where managers acted as role models, agents of change, and leaders of good practice.

• Reinforced critical thinking, partnership working, and accountable decision-making.

• Enabled alignment between management oversight and improved frontline practice quality.

Strengthening Supervision

• Delivered since June 2019, the supervision module creates reflective, safe spaces for managers to critically assess their role, improve staff performance, and enhance supervision quality.

• Empowers managers to handle under-performance constructively and use their own supervision more effectively.

NAAS Support

• Developed a clear, navigable framework to support Durham’s staff through the National Assessment and Accreditation System.

• Boosted confidence and clarity among child and family social workers engaging with the NAAS process.

Reflective Coaching during COVID-19

• We offered virtual coaching sessions using Microsoft Teams during challenging periods (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic).

• Provided small-group and individual reflective spaces to think through complex cases, fears, and strategic decisions—reinforcing the value of coaching from an external, impartial perspective.

Strengthening Care

• We delivered a series of six workshops that went deeper than surface-level training, from trauma and attachment to development and risk. The workshops were built around Kim Golding’s Pyramid of Need.

Clarity and Confidence – Permanence Training

• Commissioned in 2024 to deepen understanding of permanency and belonging in care planning.

• Delivered emotional and engaging workshops led by Jo Fox, aligned with Durham’s strategic vision and practice framework.

• Fostered a culture of relational practice, embedding belonging into care decisions and long-term planning.

• Structured as four 3-hour workshops delivered to four cohorts, with tailored resources supporting continued professional development.

Team members involved:

Staff - Nus Bibi, Katy Curr, Monalesia Earle, Jo Fox, Peter Fox, Erica Gaffney, Liz Harrop, Phil Rigotti, Jools Watson. Associates - Suzy Kitching, Linda Maudlin, Ian Mitchell, Gerry Nosowska.