CLiMB Research Update

CLiMB is based within The National Centre of Post-Qualifying Social Work at Bournemouth University and operates an independent and expert research team who are able to provide bespoke and tailored programmes of evaluation to meet local and unique requirements.

We provide skilled expertise, ensuring that ethical considerations are discharged correctly; that the tools used will appropriately measure what they need to measure; and that the data analysis, interpretation and presentation is suitable and will withstand scrutiny.

Evaluating impact of any leadership development is integral to the concept of a learning culture, continuously improving the potential of all individuals to make a positive difference in the quality of their interventions with others. Too much leadership development has been about input rather than assessing the impact and learning that takes place. Our approach is about supporting the workforce to adapt and improve their services through sound leadership development.

We evaluate the impact of what we do in the workplace, and this provides evidence for commissioners and purchasers of the value of our contribution to achieving positive change. Our main point of differentiation from other universities and development providers is the way we design, deliver and assess our work drawing on our deep knowledge of ‘what works’. It is not a surprise that our knowledge, experience and excellence in this area has resulted in CLiMB being the first port of call for many organisations’ development and research needs.

Some of our most recent research includes:

The Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care

We have been commissioned by CLAHRC (The Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, part of the National Institute for Health Research) to provide our expertise and support their project team in the East of England. We are assisting in the design and implementation of a fully triangulated impact evaluation of the two GP Mental Health Leadership programmes over the East of England and the Southern Region. Working with our experience and knowledge of the Leadership Framework, we have been able to provide step-by-step consultancy and support to both guide and facilitate the process.

Centre of Workforce Intelligence

We have been commissioned by the Centre of Workforce Intelligence funded by the Department of Health, to model the future demand of the health and social care workforce over the next 30 years. Professor Keith Brown and Emily Rosenorn-Lanng were invited to participate in the Elicitation workshop facilitated by DoH with a host of Social Care Workforce leaders and specialists to look at the current and future impacts on the workforce and what this may be more care planning in the future. Emily in particular sourced and analysed the national data for the level of demand and availability of the current workforce.

London Borough of Enfield

We were commissioned by the London Borough of Enfield to evaluate their Making Safeguarding Personal Strategy in order for them to apply for Gold Standard status from the Local Government Association. Dr Gary Barrett and Sarah Wincewicz were invited to spend time with the teams at Enfield to explore safeguarding practice. As part of this work we are collaborating with Enfield and other local authorities to create a Safeguarding App, which will allow practitioners to access the most current safeguarding information on a mobile device.