National Trauma Training Programme: workforce survey 2021

6. The National Trauma Training Programme

Engagement with the National Trauma Training Programme

6.1 The following section focuses on the National Trauma Training Programme (NTTP), as well as training on trauma and trauma-informed approached provided by other providers.

6.2 Respondents were first asked whether they had been aware of the NTTP prior to completing the survey. Just under one third (31.6%) said that they had been aware of the NTTP previously.

6.3 The next question asked which, if any, of a list of NTTP-provided training or information services respondents had completed. A smaller percentage, 22%, had completed at least one NTTP training or information service than were aware of them, while 78% of respondents had not accessed any NTTP training.

6.4 For both questions, there were statistically significant differences between sectors. Employees working in the private sector were significantly less likely, and employees in the third sector significantly more likely, to be aware of the NTTP and to have engaged with NTTP-provided training and resources. The breakdown of participation in NTTP training by sector is displayed in Figure 14.

6.5 In addition, responses by service areas varied considerably. Those working in mental health and alcohol and drugs were statistically significantly more likely to have completed at least one NTTP-provided training or information session. In addition, these two service areas, as well as those working in criminal and community justice, were significantly more likely to say they had heard of the NTTP previously.

"It is very timely and I know some of my teams could do with the support and resources highlighted by this survey. Covid has exacerbated trauma across areas of the workforce not normally exposed to it."

6.6 Employees working in education, finance and administration, education, social care and social work, and "other" service areas were significantly less likely to have completed NTTP training and significantly less likely to say they had heard of the NTTP prior to completing the survey. The proportions of employees within each service area who said that they had previously been aware of the NTTP is displayed in Figure 15.

6.7 Job role did appear to explain some variation in relation to whether respondents were aware of the NTTP previously, with a higher proportion of senior managers (42%) saying that they had been aware previously and a lower proportion of those who said they were a 'practitioner/frontline service delivery/officer with no management responsibilities' (29%) having been aware. However, there was no significant different in terms of completion of NTTP training between job roles.

6.8 Among those who had accessed NTTP-provided training and information services, the most frequently completed was trauma-informed, with 53.4% of these respondents having completed it. The full breakdown of the NTTP training completed is shown in Figure 16.

6.9 Excluding "don't knows", a slightly higher proportion, 31%, had accessed training on trauma-informed practice from another provider than had accessed training provided as part of the NTTP. Other training identified included a wide range of topics and providers. Some respondents said that they had been provided training through their local authority, for example Renfrewshire Council's Nurturing Relationships Approach training and Fife Council's "Keeping Trauma in Mind" training programme. Others mentioned online providers including Futurelearn and Epione Training. Several respondents had undertaken training related to Adverse Childhood Experiences and others mentioned academic qualifications.

Survey Results by NTTP Engagement

6.10 Analysis of the responses to each of the four statements regarding self-assessed confidence of trauma and trauma-informed practice show that those who had completed at least one NTTP training session had significantly higher levels of confidence, suggesting that NTTP training may have a positive impact.

6.11 This was especially true for the two statements around understanding the principles of trauma-informed practice and confidence in applying these principles. Respondents who had undertaken at least one NTTP-provided training session were almost three times as likely to report that they were very or extremely confident in their understanding of the principles of trauma-informed practice (21.8% compared to 61.8%). In addition, respondents who had not undertaken training were far more likely to say they were not confident in this area at 40.4% of respondents compared to just 5.8%.

"It is important that training continues - I think more staff should do the training and I will continue to promote it."

6.12 Similarly, 52.5% of respondents who had undertaken a training session said they were confident in applying trauma-informed principles compared to just 19.2% of those who had not.

6.13 A far larger proportion of those who had undertaken NTTP training also said they were extremely or very confident in their understanding of the concept of psychological trauma and the impact of psychological trauma. A full breakdown of responses to the statements about self-assessed confidence by participation in NTTP training are displayed in Figure 17.

6.14 There were also significantly higher levels of agreement with each of the statements around trauma-informed organisations among those who had completed at least one NTTP-provided training or information session. As shown in Figure 18, respondents who had undertaken an NTTP session were especially more likely to agree with the statement "staff are encouraged to undertake training" by a margin of almost 37 percentage points (81.9% compared to 45%). There were also large differences between the percentages for agreement with the statements "leaders champion trauma-informed practice and policy", with a gap of 23.4 percentage points, and "appropriate levels of support are in place for staff when implementing trauma-informed practice", with a gap of 22.7 percentage points.

6.15 Another point of difference between these two groups was that those who had not completed NTTP-provided training were statistically significantly more likely to respond "don't know" across all six statements. "Don't know" responses are an important measure of familiarity and understanding of trauma-informed practice and therefore suggest that NTTP engagement is correlated with greater levels of knowledge around these topics.