Annual Report of the Adults Principal Social Worker

The work of the Adults Principal Social Worker (PSW) Andrew Errington for Coventry City Council during 2024 to 2025.

What is a PSW?

Care Act 2014 states a PSW should;

• be visible across the organisation
• support and develop effective conditions for practice
• oversee quality and improvement of practice
• have direct contact with the Adults Director and front-line practice

The PSW for Adults, Andrew Errington commenced in post in July 2016 and is the Head of Safeguarding and Practice Development.

Workforce Development

• Updated the Learning and Development portfolio for Adult Services in ensuring access to a range of relevant and current virtual and in person training opportunities 
  • 91 training events relevant to Social Work attended by 1156 staff
  • Dedicated CPD event for deafblind assessors
• Training events held with a focus on legal literacy and ensuring assessment and support is inclusive and engages with neurodiversity, gender identity and Gypsy, Roma and Traveler community
• Hosted a 8th ‘virtual’ annual practice week with the Children’s PSW providing access to a week of practice focused events
  • 464 staff attended the 28 events during the week
• Further Adult Services Wellbeing ‘month’ held in May and June 2025 with staff attending various online and in person activities and events focusing on health and wellbeing. Next event planned for May/June 2026

Social Work Education

• Embedding links with our local Higher Education Institutions Coventry and Warwick Universities and supporting the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership
• Practitioners supporting teaching on the Adults Module at Coventry University
• Continuing to support new routes into Social Work, including the new Degree Level Social Work apprenticeships
  • Fourth cohort of 2 apprentices qualify, first at Warwick University. 5 members of staff undertaking the Degree Level SW apprenticeship, 4 further places planned for 2025

Meeting Standards

• Supporting the Post Qualifying Standards for SW Practice Supervisors, commissioning supervision training and purchased reflective, theory and self-cards practice for every supervisor to use
• Prepared practitioners for the 6th renewal with their Social Work Regulator ‘Social Work England’ 
• Continuing to grow the Adult Social Care ‘Learning Hub’ for front line staff
• Supporting CQC Assurance Frameworks and the Local Authority assessment

Strength Based Approaches

• Continuing to support Strength-based Practice Framework with Motivational Interviewing training and coproduced with practitioners a direct work resource with a range of tools to support communication and engagement: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/directworktoolkit
• Trialling use of Family Group Conferencing (FGC) in Adult Social Care
• Continued to chair Complex Case and Risk Enablement Panel discussions
• Leading on establishing the demographic profile of people accessing Adult Social Care, exploring experiences of different communities

Practice Development Roles

• SW Practice Development roles are supporting newly qualified Social Workers, promoting post qualifying routes including Practice Education, Best Interest Assessors (BIA) and providing practice support to front line staff and managers
  • Supporting 10 new NQSWs (as of end of March 2026)
  • 3 primary placements for SW’s
  • 3 new SW Practice Educator trained
  • 5 BIA Programme places

Practice Quality

• Practice Quality Assurance Framework with a simplified audit system. Includes observation of practice, practice and supervision audits. Allows organisational view on practice themes 
  • 446 audits undertaken in 25/26 (as of end of March 2026)
• Dedicated audits undertaken in relation to safeguarding and mental capacity
• Continued senior managers quality assurance activity, receiving and feeding back on examples of case work and undertaking customer interviews
• Undertook 4th Organisational Health Check and a 3rd Organisational Caseload and Workload Audit: Adult social care strategies, policies and plans – Coventry City Council
• Developed a Practice Development, Learning and Improvement Framework, systematic way of identifying organisational wide learning, areas of improvement and sharing best practice across the organization and making use of ‘Practice Learning Alerts’
• Leading the Quality and Experience Review meeting, receiving and reviewing findings from the range of activities providing dieback and insights into the quality of support and experiences of those accessing Adult Social Care
• Continue to update a ‘We asked, You said, We did’ process to ensure any improvements identified by quality assurance and experience approaches are subject to feedback: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/health-social-care-say-getting-involved/said

Professional Curiosity

• Ensuring practice informed by evidence and curiosity, raising the profile of our subscription to ‘Community Care Inform’, ‘Care Knowledge’, and ‘SW Connect’ helping staff to stay up to date on the latest expert information and legislation to help day to day practice
  • 322 staff are now using Community Care Inform
  • 108 staff are now using Care Knowledge
  • 50 staff now accessing SW Connect
• 9 in 10 respondents in health check survey agree with the statement ‘I have access to best practice, research and evidence materials’.
• Continued use of ‘Research Circles’ brings together practitioners and academics to attend a reflective session to read and review a piece of research

Policy and Best Practice Guidance

• Chairing the Adult Services Policy Group, ensuring policy and public information are accessible to all relevant staff and up to date.
• Championing the use of NICE National Guidelines, part of a national research study on the use of Guidance and producing a WM resource for frontline staff ‘How can NICE guidance support evidence informed SW practice’ (in conjunction with NICE implementation field team): https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7491/nice-guidance-support-evidence-informed-social-work-practice
• Policy lead and author of key policies and guidance
• Reviewed, updated and produced a new suite of public information for Adult Social Care. Ensuring public information note availability in the 6 main languages used in Coventry: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/ASCpublicinformation
• Translating key safeguarding information and posters into different languages alongside Direct Payment Information.  Increased access to Easy Read information: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4244/safeguarding_adults_information_leaflets_and_posters
• Introduced access to Sign Video for people contacting Adult Social Care
• Leading Diversity & Inclusion work including joining the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC WRES) and publishing 2nd Action Plan: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/adult-social-care-strategies-policies-plans/social-care-workforce-race-equality-standard-sc-wres-action-plan-1
• Leading production of 1st Neurodiversity Pledge and Action Plan: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/45568/neurodiversity-pledge-and-action-plan
• Organisational wide CPD programme in relation to ‘Social Graces’ delivered

Practice Leadership

• Elected Co-chair of the West Midlands Adults Principal Social Worker Network until 2025 (chairing network since January 2017)
• PSW research associate supporting the development of a research culture in the region: https://www.wm-adass.org.uk/improvement/research/
• Member of S75 Board and ICB leadership governance boards.

Safeguarding Adults

• Supporting the work of the Safeguarding Board through chairing the SAR subgroup. Supporting Board multi-agency learning events on key issues: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/coventry-safeguarding-adults-board/workforce-development/5
• New approach in place, seeking people’s feedback on safeguarding enquiries
• Leading development of translated Board Abuse type posters: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/coventry-safeguarding-adults-board/safeguarding-adult-resources/4
• Member of the WM Safeguarding Leads network 
• Chair of the Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) subgroup

Engaging and Coproducing

• Co-chair of the Adult Social Care ‘Stakeholder Group’. Supporting development of coproduction and engagement activities including an annual schedule of community engagement events: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/39258/adult-social-care-engagement-involvement-and-co-production-it-s-our-approach
• Leading on the production of Coventry’s ‘Local Account’, an annual report reflecting on the work of Adult Social Care: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/192/adult_social_care_strategies_policies_and_plans/1399/annual_report_for_adult_social_care
• Leading ‘real time’ experience survey to seek feedback from people, identify areas for improvement and to ask people if they want to get involved: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/194/health_and_social_care_-_having_your_say_and_getting_involved/3203/getting_involved_in_adult_social_care

Celebrating and Connecting with Practice

• Virtual networks and forums in place for staff engagement continued
• Keeping in touch with staff via the Adult Services E Bulletin and ‘Let’s Talk’ sessions

Priorities for 2026 to 2027

• To continue to develop strength-based practice and translation into conversions and recording, with a focus on inclusive practice 
• To continue to focus on practice quality and development, engaging in different ways with the experience of people accessing Adult Social Care
• Continuing to lead on the Practice Development, Learning and Improvement Framework

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