Item 10 - Trauma Informed Practice WD Annual Update Report
West Dunbartonshire Council · 20 August 2026
Back to Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board — 20 August 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership Management Group: 20th August 2026 Report by Val Tierney ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28 Annual Update Report 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to update the West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership on the progress towards the outcomes of the West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed Strategy and outline next steps. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership Management Group: Note the activities undertaken during 2025/26 outlined in this report. Continue to support the Trauma-Informed Programme within West Dunbartonshire. Note the refreshing of the infrastructure to support the Trauma- Informed work in West Dunbartonshire. 3. Background 3.1 The Scottish Government and COSLA have a shared long-term ambition to make services and workforces across Scotland Trauma-Informed and Responsive. £50,000 has been allocated annually to each Local Authority to support this work since 2021/22. 3.2 The development of a Trauma-Informed and Responsive West Dunbartonshire supports the Community Planning Partnership's overall vision of making West Dunbartonshire a “great place to live, work and visit”. 3.3 Throughout the past year, West Dunbartonshire Council and HSCP have prioritised the development and implementation of Trauma-Informed Practice across all service areas. 3.4 Staff have participated in ongoing professional development, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to recognise and respond sensitively to individuals affected by trauma. ITEM 10
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3.5 This approach aims to foster more compassionate interactions and enhanced our capacity to support service users that may have a trauma history, whilst also promoting a culture of safety, trust, choice, collaboration and empowerment within our teams. Trauma and Trauma-Informed Practice 3.6 Trauma refers to a range of events that are experienced as harmful to our physical and/or emotional wellbeing. The emotional and psychological response to traumatic events can have lasting effects on an individual's health and wellbeing. 3.7 By understanding the prevalence of trauma and its consequences, professionals are better equipped to provide sensitive, respectful, and effective support to those in need, ensuring that services are responsive to the unique experiences and needs of every individual. 3.8 Trauma-informed practice is an approach that acknowledges the impact of trauma on an individual and actively seeks to avoid re-traumatisation. 3.9 This practice involves creating environments characterised by safety, trustworthiness, and choice, as well as fostering collaboration and empowerment. Trauma-Informed Vision for West Dunbartonshire 3.10 Embedding Trauma-Informed and Responsive Practice takes time. We need to work collaboratively with Community Planning Partnership members to ensure sustainable change is achieved across West Dunbartonshire. 3.11 Our vision is to embed Trauma-Informed ways of working in everything we do, ensuring our community and staff are supported to reduce the negative impacts trauma can cause. Ensuring the Trauma-Informed Principles of Safety, Trust, Choice, Collaboration and Empowerment are understood and embedded in our services is key. 3.12 Four local outcomes have been created based on best practice and learning from other areas to support embedding Trauma-informed and Responsive Changes in a systematic way. The themes are: Staff Support & Wellbeing. Systems, Policies and Processes. Community Involvement. Leadership. 4. Main Issues
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4.1 The West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy supports all services’ progress toward becoming Trauma-Informed. By providing comprehensive support to our workforce and the communities we serve, we can ensure sustainable changes to our systems. Implementation remains service-specific, with this strategy ensuring a coordinated and effective approach across services. 4.2 Below headings outline the progress on the West Dunbartonshire Trauma- Informed & Responsive Delivery and Improvement Plan 2025-28 priority actions, and related activity that will support the delivery and improvement of Trauma-Informed and Responsive Practice within West Dunbartonshire. Full detail of each activity can be found in Appendix 1. 4.3 To date, the West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Steering Group has been working for over 2 years. The group consists of members from across West Dunbartonshire Council, HSCP and NHS GGC. Our subgroups also have input from our 3rd sector partners. The groups have an open-door membership to ensure we have the right people at the right time to progress our work. Staff Support and Wellbeing 4.4 The Staff Support and Wellbeing group first met in May 2025 and continue to meet on an 8-weekly basis. This group was vital to start the work, as meaningful progress cannot be made without staff having access to high- quality, relevant training and organisational support on their journey to becoming trauma-informed 4.5 The group engage with other Local Authority areas and 3rd Sector organisations to learn about good practice and discuss how to bring this to West Dunbartonshire. 4.6 The key priorities for the group are: Adding Trauma-Informed e-modules to iLearn. Identifying priority groups for training. Mechanisms for staff support identified and shared. 4.7 Staff wellbeing is a vital part of the Trauma-Informed programme in West Dunbartonshire, and we continue to be proactive in sourcing resources and opportunities to improve wellbeing. This has included mind mapping exercises using the various partner organisations to identify what already exists. 4.8 The results of this have now been added to various communication notes, service engagement and training follow-up support for participants and managers.
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4.9 The next steps for this are to identify what is possible to develop and where potential gaps lie in team support. Another factor is to ensure staff that regardless of location, staff knows where to access resources. 4.10 The Trauma Skilled e-modules went live on iLearn in September 2025 and are now on employee skills passports. This will encourage staff of all levels to engage with the trauma-informed approach adopted by West Dunbartonshire Council and HSCP. 4.11 As of June 2026, 74 individuals have attended a Trauma-Informed session hosted by the Trauma-Lead Officer for West Dunbartonshire. The cohorts for these sessions have been individuals who are from the priority training groups of front-facing workers working with people with known trauma. This includes staff such as our Council Information Officers. 4.12 25 Justice Social Workers and Housing employees have attended a Trauma- Skilled course. This group was identified as having contact with individuals with known trauma and therefore, it is vital they work with a trauma-informed approach. 4.13 Demand for training remains high and in the upcoming year, the group will continue to review options for training roll out and signposting of staff. Systems, Policies and Processes 4.14 Our Systems, Policies and Processes subgroup first met in August 2025. The group includes members from across the HSCP and Council with the goal of making sustainable trauma-informed changes across our organisations. 4.15 Membership is regularly reviewed and will continue to grow into 2026 to ensure the right involvement at the right time. 4.16 The group has been tasked with: Identifying opportunities to use the Trauma-Lens tool Scoping feasibility of adding trauma-informed practice requirements in procurement and commissioning processes Opportunities to use the National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP) Self-Assessment tool 4.17 Currently, a review on the Trauma-Lens tool is ongoing, this has involved meeting with teams and services that have used the tool to find out what has been beneficial. Community Involvement 4.18 The Community Involvement group first met in November 2025. The group includes members from across the Council, HSCP and 3rd Sector. The
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group is currently reviewing gaps in membership to ensure a representative voice from across West Dunbartonshire. 4.19 The group will be tasked with identifying good practice in terms of involving those with lived experience of trauma in decisions. 4.20 The group will continue to actively look for opportunities to use a trauma- informed approach to community involvement and identify gaps. Leadership 4.21 The work on leadership is progressed through the steering group with small working groups established where appropriate. 4.22 To date, 30 leaders have attended the Scottish Trauma-Informed Leadership Training ran by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). With an additional 17 participants engaging in a lived experience event in June 2025. 4.23 The next steps for the leadership work will be to create further workshops and events aimed at senior leadership. These events will increase leaders understanding of their role in embedding trauma-informed changes across West Dunbartonshire. New Group Structure 4.24 The infrastructure to support the Trauma-Informed work in West Dunbartonshire will be refreshed given the permanent appointment of the Programme Lead for Mental Health, Trauma and Suicide Prevention. The current infrastructure for the Trauma-Informed work consists of a steering group and a subgroup for each priority outcome area. 4.25 The proposed change to the infrastructure is the creation of a partnership group, combining the current Trauma-Informed and Responsive Steering Group and the West Dunbartonshire Suicide Prevention Steering Group. The new partnership group will have oversight of the current West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy and the West Dunbartonshire Suicide Prevention Action Plan. 4.26 Membership for the new partnership group will continue to be reviewed to identify gaps in expertise and knowledge. The new partnership group will continue to be a multiagency group. 4.27 This partnership approach will increase collaboration between services and reflect the need for wider elements of wellbeing to be included within the Trauma-Informed and Responsive work. 5. People Implications
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5.1 The work to become Trauma-Informed and Responsive has included Staff Wellbeing as a key priority. The impact of this work, from highlighting existing staff wellbeing options to providing access to relevant high-quality training, has and will continue to have a positive impact on staff. 5.2 The NTTP has created various training resources for staff at all levels. Since the last report, some of the national e-modules have been added to iLearn. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 There are no associated costs or procurement implications in the work to become Trauma-Informed. The annual allocation of £50,000 has been used to recruit a permanent Programme lead for Mental health, Trauma and Suicide Prevention 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 Failure to continue the work to become Trauma-Informed and Responsive in West Dunbartonshire may result in services being unable to meet legal requirements (such as maintaining Scottish Social Services Council registration of staff) and not adopting best practice. 7.2 There is also a risk of failing our service users, staff wider communities by increasing the risk of re-traumatising by accessing our services. Barriers exist for those with lived experience accessing our services, and without applying a trauma lens to our services, many of these barriers will remain unknown. This may result in an increase in costs to services – due to delays in our community with lived experience accessing preventative and primary care and support services. 7.3 The new partnership approach may have risks due to the changes to the group remit. This may include delays in progress as the new partnership group develops. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 The original EIA is attached in Appendix 2. Trauma impacts protected characteristics more than other groups, therefore, adopting Trauma-Informed ways of working will have a positive impact. 9. Consultation 9.1 This report has been developed with the Trauma-Informed and Responsive Steering group and mentioned subgroups.
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10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 Existing local strategies will be enhanced or supported by adopting a Trauma- Informed response locally. This includes: Local Outcome Improvement Plan 2017-27 (LOIP 2017-27) West Dunbartonshire Council Strategic Plan 2022-27 West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan 2023-26 Improving Lives Together 10.2 The strategies mentioned above have a commitment to working in Trauma- Informed and Responsive ways that align with the work occurring across West Dunbartonshire share the vision of West Dunbartonshire being a place that supports the needs of our community and enhances resilience. Name Val Tierney Designation Chief Nurse Date: 03/08/2026 Person to Contact: Emily Aitken, Programme Lead for Mental Health, Trauma and Suicide Prevention Appendices: Appendix 1 – Trauma-Informed and Responsive Delivery Plan 2025-28, Updated with progress Appendix 2 – Equality Impact Assessment Background Papers: Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28