Independent specialist training and consultancy
Specialist Social Supervision training and consultancy for Local Authority and NHS services managing conditionally discharged patients, restricted patient pathways and MAPPA-related public protection work in forensic mental health services.
Training is typically commissioned by Local Authority Adult Social Care training teams and NHS forensic social work leads seeking practical, legally literate guidance for managing restricted patients and strengthening Social Supervision practice.
Training is practical, law-literate and built around real practice problems rather than generic theory.
Trusted expertise for complex forensic pathways
Professional background
David Cochrane MBE has more than four decades of experience in forensic social work, restricted patient practice and public protection, with senior experience across both Local Authority and NHS settings. For most of his career he was employed by Ealing Council while working within forensic mental health services, later transferring to West London NHS Trust when post-COVID governance and payment arrangements became too complex to sustain the previous model.
Support with the issues that create most difficulty in restricted patient pathways.
Organisations usually commission support because they want more than a standard course. They want help with a specific practice or governance problem that carries legal, reputational or public protection risk.
Core offers
Programmes can be delivered as one-off days, refreshers, bespoke in-house sessions or small-group documentation workshops.
1 day • Refresher half day • Documentation clinic
1 day • Executive briefing
1 day • Writer's clinic
90 mins • Half day • Bespoke review
Training is typically commissioned as an in-house session for a service or organisation rather than as open public courses.
Policy and service development
In addition to training, I offer independent consultancy to help services strengthen restricted patient pathways, Social Supervision systems and community placement arrangements. This work is practical, collaborative and tailored to the realities of forensic mental health services.
Support with drafting or revising Social Supervision policies, restricted patient guidance, escalation pathways, role expectations and documentation standards.
Independent input on how services organise Social Supervision, interface with clinical teams and MAPPA, and manage difficult transitions such as conditional discharge, recall and community placement breakdown.
Consultancy on the practical and governance issues that arise when managing restricted patients in supported accommodation, including provider relationships, risk oversight, information-sharing and lessons from serious incidents.
This work often starts with a governance concern and progresses through practical improvement.
Service concern, serious incident, PFD, tribunal criticism or governance review.
Review of Social Supervision arrangements, policy clarity and role expectations.
Practical improvements to pathways, documentation and governance frameworks.
Targeted training and workshops to embed improved practice across teams.
Training and consultancy is most often commissioned by organisations responsible for the quality and governance of restricted patient practice.
Relevant to the people who carry the real practice burden.
This work is aimed at professionals involved in managing restricted patients and maintaining defensible public protection arrangements in forensic mental health services.
Senior independent consultancy, grounded in long experience.
David Cochrane MBE is an independent Forensic Mental Health Social Work Consultant with more than four decades of experience in forensic social work, restricted patient practice and public protection. His career spans both Local Authority and NHS settings. For most of that time he was employed by Ealing Council while working within forensic mental health services, before later transferring to West London NHS Trust when post-COVID governance and funding arrangements made the previous model increasingly difficult to sustain.
His work focuses on strengthening legally literate, practical and defensible practice in complex forensic cases. Training is designed to be useful to practitioners, not merely descriptive.
Professional roles are held in a personal professional capacity and do not imply organisational endorsement of training or consultancy services.
What participants say.
Feedback from Social Supervision courses delivered through EDGE consistently describes the teaching as comprehensive, practical and strongly grounded in real restricted patient work. A recurring theme is that the material is demanding and content-rich, but useful well beyond the training day because participants return to the handouts, top tips and case-law resources afterwards.
Examples below are genuine quotations drawn from course evaluations.
“A very comprehensive course, with a vast number of useful resources. David is extremely knowledgeable in this area of essential practice.”
“Comprehensive, packed with info and practical instruction.”
“Very information heavy but delivered well by David, very knowledgeable trainer thankyou.”
Discuss training or consultancy support.
Many organisations begin with a short discussion about their service, current challenges or training needs. If you are considering training for Social Supervisors, reviewing restricted patient practice, or preparing for scrutiny or governance review, you are welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation.
Most enquiries come from Local Authority Adult Social Care training teams or NHS forensic social work leads commissioning in-house sessions for their services.
Training days, refresher sessions, documentation workshops, executive briefings and governance-focused consultancy.
Online or on-site, across the UK and by arrangement internationally.
This is an independent consultancy website. It does not represent the NHS, West London NHS Trust, the Ministry of Justice, the Royal College of Psychiatrists or any other organisation.
Focus
Social Supervision training for restricted patients, MAPPA, tribunal reporting and defensible documentation.
Audience
Forensic social work teams, MDTs, senior managers, commissioners and partner agencies.
Delivery
Online, on-site, documentation workshops and executive briefings.