Professional Learning and Practice Development
Developing confident practitioners, effective leaders and stronger safeguarding systems
I design and deliver bespoke learning for organisations, partnerships and Safeguarding Adults Boards. Programmes may range from a focused workshop or executive briefing to a structured, multi-stage practice-development programme.
Learning is designed around your workforce, legal responsibilities, recurring practice issues and the outcomes you want to achieve. It is not limited to a fixed catalogue of standard courses.
Current external training
Safeguarding and self-neglect training
Further information about current self-neglect learning opportunities is available through Cloudsend.
Designed for your organisation
Learning is not simply taken “off the shelf”
Organisations often commission learning because they need to address a particular practice problem, inspection finding, review recommendation or area of workforce uncertainty. I begin by clarifying the audience, current position, desired change and evidence of improvement.
Programmes can draw on legislation, case law, research, Safeguarding Adult Reviews, Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and practical examples relevant to the participating agencies.
Flexible levels
Learning pathways from foundation to strategic leadership
Foundation
For staff who require an accessible introduction to duties, terminology, recognition and appropriate first responses.
Intermediate
For practitioners applying knowledge through scenarios, reflective discussion, professional reasoning and multi-agency decision-making.
Advanced
For experienced practitioners managing complexity, competing duties, trauma, executive-function issues and difficult professional judgements.
Strategic
For Boards, executive leaders, commissioners and senior managers concerned with governance, assurance, culture and sustainable improvement.
Learning pathways
Core areas of professional development
Adult Safeguarding PracticeCare Act duties, section 42 enquiries and defensible decision-making
Developing confidence in Making Safeguarding Personal, professional curiosity, proportionality, information-sharing, multi-agency working, thresholds, professional challenge, recording and outcome-focused practice.
Mental Capacity Act in PracticeFrom statutory principles to complex functional application
Decision-specific assessment, support to make decisions, executive-function considerations, use and weighing of information, best interests, least restrictive practice and interfaces with the Care Act, Mental Health Act and Court of Protection.
Trauma-Informed PracticeUnderstanding trauma and responding without re-traumatisation
Acute, chronic and complex trauma; variation in presentation; trauma, memory and emotional regulation; engagement; executive functioning; professional boundaries; vicarious trauma; and practical responses within non-therapeutic roles.
Self-Neglect and HoardingAssessment, engagement, legal literacy and multi-agency response
Trauma, attachment, executive dysfunction, environmental and fire risk, mental capacity, safeguarding, housing, autonomy, proportionality and support planning.
Parenting Capacity and Adult-Focused Family WorkFunctional parenting, parental decision-making and professional analysis
Adult and parental functioning, executive dysfunction, trauma, decision-specific capacity questions, translating knowledge into sustained action, observation, professional reasoning and report writing. This is not direct child-assessment training.
Leadership, Governance and Strategic SafeguardingBoards, executives, managers, commissioners and regulated services
Governance, assurance, inspection readiness, quality improvement, supervision, learning culture, performance, partnership accountability, regulated activities and implementation of statutory-review learning.
Practical examples
Example programmes that can be commissioned
Titles, duration, level and content are adapted for the audience. A programme may be delivered online, in person or through blended learning.
Care Act in Practice
Safeguarding duties, needs assessment, prevention, wellbeing, eligibility, advocacy, information-sharing and care and support planning.
Mental Capacity: From Principles to Practice
Decision-specific assessment, practicable support, executive-function issues, best interests, recording and legal interfaces.
Human Rights and Adult Social Care
Applying human-rights principles to safeguarding, autonomy, restrictions, care planning, risk and organisational decision-making.
Equality Act in Practice
Protected characteristics, discrimination, reasonable adjustments, accessible services and links with safeguarding and participation.
Trauma-Informed Adult Safeguarding
Recognising different trauma responses, avoiding re-traumatisation and adapting engagement, assessment, support and organisational systems.
Executive Dysfunction and Functional Decision-Making
Understanding why stated knowledge may not translate into action and how this should influence assessment, support and professional reasoning.
Domestic Abuse and Adult Safeguarding
Coercive control, trauma, risk, mental capacity, professional response, MARAC and multi-agency safeguarding pathways.
Needs Assessment and Care and Support Planning
Legally literate, strengths-led and person-centred assessment that explains functional impact, eligible outcomes and measurable support.
Person-Centred and Strengths-Led Practice
Moving beyond process-led assessment to understand the person’s goals, relationships, abilities, barriers and preferred outcomes.
Supervision and Management in Caring Services
Reflective and accountable supervision, psychologically informed leadership, professional challenge, staff wellbeing, risk and learning culture.
Regulated Activities and Quality Assurance
Safeguarding responsibilities, governance, incident learning, evidence, inspection readiness and improvement within regulated care settings.
Implementing Review Learning
Turning SAR, DARD, complaints, inspection and audit findings into measurable changes in frontline and strategic practice.
Delivery and fees
Practical arrangements for commissioned learning
Format and group size: professional learning can be delivered online or in person for groups of up to 20 participants.
In-person arrangements: commissioners are asked to provide an appropriate accessible room, presentation equipment and, where group exercises are included, cabaret-style seating.
Fees: full-day training is normally £600 plus agreed travel and accommodation expenses. Half-day, multi-session and bespoke programme fees are confirmed following scoping.
Evaluation: arrangements are agreed during scoping and may include participant feedback, pre- and post-session confidence measures, reflective exercises, action planning or follow-up review. Longer-term organisational impact evaluation is available only where separately commissioned and suitable outcome information can be provided.
What to expect
Learning designed to change practice
Scoping: discussion of your workforce, purpose, risks and desired outcomes.
Evidence: relevant law, guidance, research, case law and statutory-review learning.
Application: realistic examples, case analysis, reflection and practical exercises.
Resources: learning summaries, reading, practice tools or implementation materials where agreed.
Evaluation: assessment of learning and, where commissioned, recommendations for wider improvement.
Accessibility: delivery and materials adapted as reasonably required for participants.
Cannot see exactly what you need?
Describe the problem, audience or outcome
If your requirement relates to multi-agency adult safeguarding, adult-focused family work, adult health and social care law, social work, regulated activities, supervision, caring-service management, leadership or workforce development, I can design a programme around it.
Use the commissioning form to explain the subject, intended participants, current difficulty and what you would like people or the organisation to do differently afterwards.