What Works for Children’s Social Care, in association with our research partners at Cascade, Cardiff University, is delighted to announce that our on-going project evaluating the use of Schwartz Rounds in children’s social care will be expanded to five additional local authorities.

The project will begin shortly in:

• Bath and North East Somerset Council
• Derby City Council
• Leicester City Council
• London Borough of Enfield
• Swindon Borough Council

Schwartz Rounds provide a regular, structured forum for all staff members – not just social workers – to come together and discuss the emotional and social aspects of their work. Schwartz Rounds have previously been used in other sectors, such as healthcare, and this project will evaluate if these regular meetings improve the wellbeing of staff in children’s social care. The project will be delivered by the Point of Care Foundation.

Although it is still too early to report findings from the projects already underway in Haringey, Liverpool, Nottinghamshire, Walsall, Warwickshire and West Sussex, the qualitative feedback from attendees has been positive. This expansion of the current study will give us the best chance to evaluate whether Schwartz Rounds can make a difference in children’s services.