About Learning Together
How was Learning Together developed?
Systems thinking has been around in fields of psychology, ecology and biology since the 1930s. Its application in a high-risk context accelerated during the Second World War in the aviation and engineering industries and it is now being used in health settings within the patient safety agenda. In 2008 SCIE adapted the approach as a way of carrying out serious case reviews and other forms of practice review in the context of safeguarding work.
Systems principles are now enshrined in statutory guidance to support learning and improvement. The current government commissioned Professor Eileen Munro to conduct a comprehensive review of child protection services in the wake of the death of Peter Connelly. The review was completed in 2011 and among its findings was a recommendation that the systems methodology for learning should be used to carry out serious case reviews.
When can you use Learning Together?
A Learning Together review can be used to conduct any sort of multi-agency review of professional practice, including statutory serious case reviews, other forms of case review and audit.
SCIE will support commissioners to design an approach that meets both their individual needs as well as their budget.
Who uses it and how does it help?
Learning Together helps safeguarding boards (or equivalent) and other agencies to:
- build internal capacity by having staff trained and accredited in the approach
- undertake a robust systems review using a core set of principles and analytic tools
- access a pool of accredited independent reviewers
- learn from the content and findings of previous reviews.
We are working with a range of organisations in the UK and overseas.
