Modes and levels of supervision

Modes of Supervision

While people may often think of formal supervision as taking place in one-to-one meetings, it can take many different forms. As practice supervision is supervisee led, it will be for the supervisee to agree with the supervisor their preferred mode of supervision. This should be clearly detailed in the supervision agreement and reviewed regularly to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose.

Modes can include:

• one-to-one supervision
• group supervision in which two or more practitioners discuss their work with a supervisor
• peer supervision where practitioners discuss work or clinical cases with each other with no-one acting as a formal supervisor

Supervision does not need to be conducted in person, it can also be conducted by telephone, through video calls or a combination of all of these. Choosing the most appropriate delivery mode and channel may depend on the Levels of supervision required.

Levels of supervision

The level of supervision¹ refers to the proximity your supervisor has to your practice. For supervision to be effective, it does not require your supervisor to observe your practice but there are times when this will be appropriate and necessary. An example would be if you are undertaking an extended scope task and your supervisor needs to demonstrate, observe, and assess you performing the task. Another example could be where you have moved into a new clinical speciality, and you have agreed with your supervisor to take turns consulting with service users. This provides opportunities for new learning, immediate feedback, and reflection.

Levels of supervision are:

• direct, where a supervisor provides face to face guidance and support
• indirect, where a supervisor is readily available and within close proximity to provide support
• remote, where a supervisor will be available for support, but will not directly oversee the tasks being undertaken. This may be undertaken through video conferencing or phone call

As with all aspects of supervision, the level required will vary based on the remit of the supervision relationship and should be captured in the supervision agreement.