Social work staff should get credit, not constant criticism

by Kate Ramsden

Social work staff in Scotland should get credit for their excellent work to support the most vulnerable people in our society, instead of constant criticism in the press and media.

This was the call from Stephen Smellie, Chair of the UNISON Social Work Issues Group, speaking at the Holyrood Conference, "What do we want from Social Work?"

The conference, held in February, considered the challenges for social work in the 21st Century in relation to funding, regulation and service provision. Stephen told a packed conference hall in Dynamic Earth that every day social work staff make a difference.

They help people to cope in traumatic circumstances and they deliver quality services to children and families. "Every day social workers assess risk and find ways to manage the risks so that children and vulnerable adults can live safely," he added.

He paid tribute to managers who effectively manage multi-million pound budgets and multi-disciplinary teams, and to the Local Authorities who ensure that as much money as possible is allocated to provide services to the most needy.

"There are a million more success stories in social work than disasters. We should move the discussion on to look at what works, what is successful and what is rewarding," he added, calling on the inspection process to focus on highlighting good practice, to share what works and to promote a positive image of social work.

"UNISON members are committed to delivering improved and effective services. And therefore we are not content to defend the status quo, even when that is quite good," he told the conference.

He welcomed the framework for regulation and inspection but warned that it needs to be streamlined to ensure it avoids duplication and has the least impact on available resources. "Social work needs more money. It needs more and better rewarded staff, more training, more foster carers, more residential beds, more day services, more home helps, more specialist services for children who have been abused, more respite care to give families a break."

He rejected criticism of social work staff for not taking children into care when there is nowhere to place them; or for not visiting children enough when there are not enough social workers to do this. Stephen spoke of the role of the UNISON Social Work Issues Group set up in response to the crisis in social work five years ago with a remit to play a full and proactive role in addressing the problems in social work.

"Our most important contribution is to give a voice to the thousands of social work staff who not only know the problems in social work but also know the answers, know the good practice from which we can learn and have the ability to drive forward improvements in the services we provide."

He welcomed much of the 21st Century Review of Social Work, especially the widespread consultation with service users and front-line staff. He welcomed the emphasis on the role of social worker as an accountable professional worker, but stressed that accountability is not a one-way street.

"UNISON wants to make it clear that no-one can reasonably hold a social worker accountable if they have not created the circumstances to allow that professional worker to use their skills effectively. "We want to open a discussion on how we ensure that workers have effective supervision and supports and reasonable workloads."

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