The Safeguarding and Domestic Abuse Sector Podcast

In the seventh episode of season 5 I am sharing a special interview with Julie Hall, a SILP accredited independent reviewer. Julie has navigated a career through the health service starting in nursing to Associate Director of Safeguarding. This is the seventh reviewer spotlight in our current series.

Hear us talk about:

👉🏻 her journey to becoming an independent reviewer 

👉🏻 what drives Julie in her independent review work

👉🏻 the areas of specialism Julie has developed in her career

👉🏻 the growth opportunities that come with being an independent reviewer

👉🏻 the importance of the training she recei...

In the fifth episode of season 5 I am sharing a special interview with Vivian Bickham, a SILP accredited independent reviewer. Vivian has a significant career within domestic abuse and her drive comes from a very personal place. This is the fifth reviewer spotlight in our current series.

Hear us talk about:

👉🏻 her journey to becoming an independent reviewer 

👉🏻 what drives Viv in her independent review work

👉🏻 how she developed her specialist area in independent review work

👉🏻 the growth opportunities that come with being an independent reviewer

👉🏻 the importance of the training she r...

In the third episode of season 5 I am sharing a special interview with Tracey Pugsley, a SILP accredited independent reviewer. Tracey has a significant amount of safeguarding experience from her background working with children and families, latterly as an expert guardian in Wales. This is the third reviewer spotlight in our current series.

Hear us talk about:

👉🏻 her journey to becoming an independent reviewer 

👉🏻 how Tracey secured her first review within 10 weeks of completing SILP School

 👉🏻 balancing full time work with independent review work

👉🏻 the growth opportunities that come with being an independent re...

In the second episode of season 5 I am sharing a special interview with Kelechi Ukandu, a SILP accredited independent reviewer who has a significant amount of safeguarding experience from her background as a child nurse. This is the second of 5 reviewer spotlights being shared over the next few weeks.

Hear us talk about:

👉🏻 her journey to becoming an independent reviewer 

👉🏻 the role training & development played in being competent & ready for independent review work 

👉🏻 the flexibility indepednent review work can bring to your life

👉🏻why community is key as an independent reviewer

...

In the first episode of season 5 I am sharing a special interview with Sarah Glossop, a SILP accredited independent reviewer who has more than 20 years safeguarding experience in both children's and adult safeguarding in the health sector. This will be the first of 5 reviewer spotlight episodes over the coming weeks.

Hear us talk about:

👉🏻 her journey to becoming an independent reviewer 

👉🏻 the role training & development played in being competent & ready for independent review work 

👉🏻 the review work she has secured and would be interested in 

If you are interested in...

Statistics about the numbers of women who experience domestic abuse only takes us so far. How do we understand what’s really happening, especially for women in mid and later life?

The power of story telling shouldn’t be under estimated. Carrie Bower understands this and her blog, podcast and website are an amazing resource for anyone who wants to dive in. It’s probably not what you would expect. It contains many hopeful stories. There’s nothing else like it.

Expect to hear more about Carrie’s own personal journey & the effect...

The need for specialist domestic abuse services is pressing & urgent. At this uncertain time with a brand new government it is unclear whether trauma informed support will be available regardless of postcode. Every penny must be well spent. When this is done properly, spending on the NHS & other services will reduce. Not to mention it has the potential to save lives.

So it is timely to understand what these services can and should look like. In this episode we focus on support for for mothers and children. they are the subjects of so many of...

When I became an independent reviewer I felt I had lost my professional network. People around me didn’t seem to understand exactly how it felt to be doing what I do. I never imagined a social media platform would change that for me. Fast forward to 2024 & that is exactly what LinkedIn does.

If you are starting out with LinkedIn you may have no idea where to begin. You may not fully understand how it can help you at all. Let alone how to get the best from it.

Meet Helen Tudor. Her approach is re...

There are a number of  principles, expectations & standards for us all to digest & implement as we embrace the implementation of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023. It’s helpful at this stage to explore how this feels for a partnership & gather thoughts & insights from an independent scrutineer. Have you considered the relevance & helpfulness of the descriptors to help you break down some of these broad & somewhat visionary terms? Who must we involve if we want to get this right?

We focus our discussion on an approach that may resonate with you. We see the ‘whole family’ approac...

We all want media coverage of domestic abuse incidents to be more accurate & less victim blaming. As a starting point there has to be a focus on making the experience of a survivor being interviewed by the press a more positive experience. The project undertaken by researcher, Michelle Rawlins, draws on direct experience & commentary from survivors & there are many insights to be drawn from this episode for all of us. This ground breaking work will lead to a toolkit for trainee journalists and inspiration for a brand new style of reporting.

About Michelle Rawlins

Most reviews identify a problem with information sharing, so it’s time to improve our skills in analysing the in-the-moment reasoning of practitioners faced with the dilemmas this issue raises. The idea that reviews distort the picture of the totality of the work being done does not sit comfortably with any of us, but Jonathan makes a good case on this point. Expect a few lightbulb moments. Is it too high an aspiration to expect reviews to change behaviours & cultures?  Hear from one of my favourite thinkers to find out more.

About Jonathan Dickens:

Jo...

Do Domestic Homicide Review recommendations make a difference? We know that  there is a lack of national oversight about the effect of the recommendations, & we await Home Office guidance on how this will change. Do they mostly suggest training to effect these improvements? How are they considering protected characteristic? Do they highlight good practice? The study commissioned by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner & undertaking by the HALT team is the place to find out. Hear from the one of the authors to find out more.

Links:

The Homicide Abuse Learning Together (HALT) website:
h...

Even though we have come a long way, large pockets of society still exist where an improved understanding of domestic abuse might make a huge difference. These are the areas where we haven’t yet understood how what we do & the way we do it can act as a deterrent, help improve detection & even tackle the problem of domestic abuse. Legislation & the role it has played is a major factor. Is the way the Domestic Abuse Bill is working now, for instance, in any way similar to what we envisaged only a couple of years ago?  

For...

When I asked Kul Mahay about organisations with a learning culture it was inevitable that we would begin by speaking about the pandemic. It forced us to become more creative. Being creative is everything when we want to generate valuable learning.

Reviews are pre-occupied with learning from what didn’t go well. But that leaves us feeling value less. So how do we use emotional intelligence, as leaders & in reviews to flip this?

If you are ready to hold up the mirror & consider the culture you create as a leader or a reviewer, this Is an...

When you have spent 30 years in a policing career it can be hard to see how you might fit into anything else. This was how it felt for Andy Labrum, Founder of Blue Light Leavers. He has supported thousands of others through the transition & is ready to share vulnerably about his own journey & that experienced by others in his community.

Andy’s approach is to offer inspiration & guidance, but it is based on direct experience. Be prepared to gain insight into the skills you never realised you have from your public sector background which are sought after in...

The last Triennial Analysis ‘Learning for the Future: Final Analysis of Serious Case Reviews’ analysed 253 cases. These were serious case reviews & local child safeguarding practice reviews completed in 2020 & 2021. Jonathan joins me in this conversation to give us an overview of the statistics & themes, which is super useful for those who undertake these reviews.



Jonathan also shares inspiration & thoughts from the chapters focused on specific themes. Many of these apply equally to Domestic Homicide Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews. Listen in for an important debate about the use of terms such as ‘professional curiosity’ & ‘professional challenge’. Also if you...

How do we frame our analysis around 3 overlapping problems like intimate partner violence, suicidality & self harm when each of them presents us with a unique complexity of its own?  The way they manifest feels hard to predict.

We can look at contributing factors, use of language & stigma. And we can consider  solutions focused ideas for service delivery. What about if we each examined our role & made a conscious decision to take more responsibility?

This conversation applies to IMRs created for Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews.

How do we frame our analysis around 3 overlapping problems like intimate partner violence, suicidality & self harm when each of them presents us with a unique complexity of its own?  The way they manifest feels hard to predict.

We can look at contributing factors, use of language & stigma. And we can consider  solutions focused ideas for service delivery. What about if we each examined our role & made a conscious decision to take more responsibility?

This conversation applies to IMRs created for Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews. 

Abo...

How does best practice look when we are commissioning an IMR & how regularly does this happen in practice? When the requirement lands it’s natural to want to produce the best quality, but there’s a supportive framework that facilitates that.


Clare & I separate foundational work from the work necessary when the requirement for the IMR lands in this conversation. We also cover systemic analysis, governance & transparency.

This conversation applies to IMRs created for Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews. 

Find out more about SILP School...

Do we feel skilled up enough to analyse bias in the safeguarding response in 2023? Where does it leave us in terms of our duty to safeguard the most vulnerable people in society if we are answering this question with a ‘no’?

If we start a review without being explicit about exactly what we are looking for we know this weakness will permeate throughout & impact on quality. How do we do this well when we want the review to provide robust analysis about potential bias?

Today I’m sharing my thoughts gathered after a workshop in which...

The cost of living crisis has hit the headlines & affects us all. But some are working from a very different baseline. What we learn when we listen to their voice illuminates how much we all take for granted.

How do we support in a way that avoids imposing a solution we decide is best & offer what broadens choice or empowers this service user? When we are committed to coproduction how do we show how much we value their contribution? What role does the language we use play in reducing sense of stigma, shame or embarrassment?

...

What is needed in reviews in 2023? Today I’m sharing my thoughts on what we have been seeing & how I think we can improve. I will speak to the SILP Formula and clarify what I think a review with an Appreciative Focus can look like.

I’m outlining the reviewer competency framework we have developed & how it applies to all review professionals. 

I’m also sharing from experience in terms of the learning curve we all tend to experience in reviews & how this has helped me to frame personal development & support for any...

How do you avoid creating frustration for a family member or significant other who contributes to your review? The starting point is being conscious at every stage of the process. But the details are important. How late is too late to speak with the perpetrator? Who would you speak to first?

Today’s episode allows you to access the thoughts & principles that work in 2023 with all the choices we have about how to offer this. It’s designed to help you to get most out of the contribution available to the review whilst at the same time a su...

Are you ready to discuss the topic that is guaranteed to feature in every review you will undertake? This might be where you are highlighting multi agency collaboration as strong practice or considering where & how it could improved

In today’s episode I’m joined by Nick Frost who will share his ideas, including those based on a communities of practice model.

This episode will be useful whether you work in the world of Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews. 

About Nick Frost:
Nick Frost is Emeritus Profe...

How do you avoid the inevitable sense of overwhelm that pervades at the start of a thematic review? In this workshop we consider methodologies that enable the review to maintain its focus on the high level ideas. 

There are other challenges around these reviews remaining inclusive & to bring them to conclusion in a timely way.

Today’s episode allows you to access a summary of the workshop I offered alongside Kate Spreadbury, which considers these challenges. 

This episode is important listening whether you work in the world of Domestic Homi...

The show is back for season 3 & I am feeling energised & uplifted following ther success of season 2. The pressure is on to improve. So herein lies my challenge.


Speaking of challenges, it goes without saying that 2023 will bring unique ones for our sector. So let’s dig in & learn more.


Listen in if you work in the world of Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Safeguarding Adult Reviews or Domestic Homicide Reviews & download Quality Reviews for Quality Reviewers FREE pdf guide here if this will help you with applying for or commissioning reviews. 

Ab...

There’s no possible way forward than to be inspired by this episode. Have we normalised there being several review process which flow from a single incident? Meet Liane James, who embarked on a 5 year project to change this. Listen in if you work in the worked of Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Safeguarding Adult Reviews or Domestic Homicide Reviews and download the FREE pdf guide ‘Quality Reviews Which Use Quality Reviewers’ to help you with applying for reviews or commissioning reviews. 

About Donna Ohdedar:
Donna has 16 years public sector experience, including her last role as Head of...

Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews which analyse practice whose aim is to protect children from exploitation are called upon to make no assumptions. This dynamic & fast changing landscape is different to what it was only a year or so ago. Those who are vulnerable to exploitation, service design & the impact of pandemic restrictions have all played a part. There’s no room for stereotypes.

We can’t afford to stay in the comfort of our silos. New & enhanced techniques to collaborate with partners & agencies who are not part of our normal network are needed.

L...

Whether you are conducting a Child Safeguarding Practice Review, a Safeguarding Adults Review or a Domestic Homicide Review, the themes you encounter are likely to have arisen in a previous review. You may be dealing with themes encountered in the same local area.


Is this a reflection on the professionalism of the sector? Does it mean reviews are a waste of time? How do national & local lessons interface with each other & can a national problem really be tackled in a local review? Can we train the problems away?


Listen in & download the 5 Misconceptions...

Reviews with an appreciative focus incorporate 3 intertwining strands from a variety of established theoretical & practical backgrounds. These are embedded within 4 pillars of an appreciative review. The model we have adopted in SILP reviews can be found in the link below.


An appreciative focus can be applied to Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews. It’s a focus which, whether we choose to adopt it or not, we all need to know about as we know it drives up engagement & motivation for change.

About Donna Ohdedar:
Donna has 16 years pu...

The Key Findings from Analysis of Domestic Homicide Reviews analysed 124 DHRs reviewed by the Home Office in the 12 months from October 2019.  Today’s episode allows you to access the workshop with Gaynor & Davina, 2 of the authors.

This episode is important listening whether you work in the world of Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews or Safeguarding Adults Reviews. Domestic abuse clearly features within all of these reviews, & there is data within this analysis which we all need to know about. For instance:

46% of the victims had been the target of a perpetrator prev...

Balancing the budget whilst ensuring the quality of reviews is a challenge for any commissioner of reviews. In this conversation with Robin Harper-Coulson, ex Business Manager of a Safeguarding Children Partnership, we learn more about one partnership whose journey includes the full range of experiences.

Listen in to hear how an unhelpful review led one partnership on the journey to find quality & ultimately to creating in house expertise to conduct reviews. This conversation will be of interest to anyone who works in the world of child safeguarding practice reviews, safeguarding adults reviews or domestic homicide reviews.
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Relatively few review recommendations are aimed at organisational leaders. But they have the power to create change just as the frontline do. If we ignore this, we are missing part of the puzzle. 

Creating a culture of confidence & support for professionals to tackle the challenges of safeguarding is worth investing in. So I suggest this conversation will be useful for anyone who works in the world of safeguarding or domestic abuse or who has an interest in it.

About Natasha Rennolds:
Natasha is at the University of East Anglia mainly as a PhD Researcher i...

The stereotypes surrounding safeguarding professionals are never helpful. But they are brought into sharper focus after a high profile. The way leaders react makes such a difference. Then the media’s response will shape the way the public sees the sector. Is this all just inevitable, or do we each have a part to play?

The conversation is worthy of a listen for anyone who works in the world of safeguarding or domestic abuse or who has an interest in it.

About Ray Jones:

Dr Ray Jones is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at...

Dive in this week if you are ready for a conversation that will make you think. What happens when we look at the individuals we work with through a new lens? Without labels & baggage, removing all the bias & predetermined views we might formulate when we look at their records.

This approach isn’t only for what we do in the day job. It applies all the time, but most of us don’t see it as relevant for ourselves.

The conversation is a must listen for anyone, whether you have an interest in learning & improvement work...

Now here’s a golden opportunity to hear in detail exactly what a partnership does when they make a clear decision to put the practitioner at the heart of their learning activity.

How do you prioritise learning from strengths without leaving behind what needs to change? What difference does it make when a chair practices active listening compared to the one who over steers?

We leave no stone unturned. We tackle head on the situation in which the same issue comes up for review again & again. Plus considering how national thematic learning can be embedded lo...

Have you ever read a headline in mainstream media reporting on social workers having done a good job? If you haven’t, my next question is ‘how does this impact on how those professionals FEEL? I suspect this can be applied more widely to safeguarding professionals in general. This was the conversation that began with reviews then expanded into social work & the media & social work world wide.

We touch on the ‘before & after’ since the Wood Review, what the independent chair role* is really like, plus some real life experiences of how our world is misunderstood & misreported in the m...

Join me for this conversation if you are open to be challenged about how you think about older people & growing older. Mervyn offers us his thoughts about a society in which stereotyped ageist assumptions abound.

A topic so close to my heart, Mervyn’s comments were more than enough to fuel me to continue to question & challenge what I hear, see & think. Are you ready to do the same? Whatever your position is on health, social care & public sector service provision, my promise is the adrenaline will flow. This episode is well worth a listen.

Th...

The requirement for a stronger perpetrator focus, more robust legislation about coercive control, the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme & non fatal strangulation becoming a stand alone offence. These & other important changes are becoming embedded & the action required on the ground is unprecedented.

The conversation I will share with you covers the changes & how the sector is managing it, how the changes are viewed. But fundamentally, the question about how risk assessment & how well it assists in preventing serious harm is a valid one.

Whether you are fully immersed in all that’s happening or an onlooker, th...

The essential, inescapable question we have to ask ourselves & be held accountable for. Are you ready?

The conversation I will share with you is an eye opener. A wake up call, in a good way. It’s a more gentle form of challenge than you might think, so don’t be afraid. Trust me. You can dive in.

Listen in to reflect with us about recommendations about training, polices & procedures, how to formulate succinct review questions which focus on new learning.

And when two podcasters get together it’s inevitable that we overflow with e...