Community Care

JANUARY 16, 2024

Over four in ten adult social care providers closed parts of their organisation or handed back contracts last year because of cost pressures, driven in particular by staffing shortages, a survey has found. Most were smaller providers (54%) and the majority profit-making (59%).

Government 219

Government Disability Hospitals 219

Community Care

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Agency social worker pay in would be capped to the equivalent earned by permanent staff under government plans to reduce the use and cost of locums in statutory children’s services. ” “However, overreliance on agency social work resource has led to workforce instability, churn and high costs,” it said.

Social Worker 305

Social Worker Engagement Consultation Government 305

Community Care

MARCH 3, 2023

Social work leaders have come together to forge solutions to mounting workforce challenges in England. Social Work England has convened a group including representatives from government, employers and professional bodies, to tackle the severe recruitment and retention pressures being faced across the country. in September 2021.

Social Worker 257

Social Worker Diversity Government Interviewing 257

Community Care

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Adult social worker numbers in local authorities hit a record high last year, official figures show. English councils increased their headcount of adult social workers, including agency staff, from 17,300 to 18,500 in the year to September 2023, a 7% boost, according to annual statistics released this week by Skills for Care.

Social Worker 192

Social Worker Government Therapist Disability 192

Community Care

JULY 12, 2023

The Department for Education is likely to go ahead with rules restricting agency social work in statutory children’s services in England, a sector leader has indicated. A requirement for employers to request and provide references for all agency social worker candidates. A ban on agency project teams. the year before.

Social Worker 202

Social Worker Consultation Government Interviewing 202

Community Care

APRIL 11, 2023

The government has dropped a pledge to invest in new social work training routes as part of a halving of committed spending on developing the adult social care workforce. This came in a policy paper setting out next steps on taking forward its 2021 adult social care white paper, People at the heart of care.

Government 259

Government Social Worker Mental Health Counseling 259

Community Care

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

As of March 2023, about 140,000 care workers in the independent sector in England (17% of the total) earned the then NLW of £9.50, according to Skills for Care’s latest report on the workforce. 900m deficit in provider fees estimated In a report last week , the Homecare Association estimated there was a gap of £893.4m

Government 228

Government Home Care Disability Social Services 228

Community Care

DECEMBER 16, 2022

One in five children’s social work posts lay vacant in English councils this summer in the wake of practitioners reporting rising stress and workloads and reduced job satisfaction and support from employers. Directors not confident about social work capacity. Sharp rise in vacancy rate.

Social Worker 260

Social Worker 260

Community Care

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

Social Work England is commissioning research into the profession’s mounting recruitment and retention challenges, particularly in councils. This in turn would inform its approach to regulating the profession, it said, given the potential for current workforce pressures to lead to increased levels of risk to the public.

Social Worker 254

Social Worker Diversity Consultation Mental Health 254

Community Care

JANUARY 8, 2024

These included Ofsted and Doncaster’s local authority designated officer (LADO) service. Children and parents should have access to advice and support, including the allocation of a ‘navigator’, where deemed necessary, when a residential placement of 38 weeks or above per year is being considered.

Disability 249

Disability Advocacy Government Consultation 249

Community Care

MAY 12, 2023

There is “momentum for change” among sector leaders and practitioners to tackle the social work’s mounting workforce “crisis”, according to a Social Work England lead. of FTE children’s services posts were held by agency workers, up from 15.5% in September 2021. At the same time, 17.6%

Social Worker 201

Social Worker Government University Consultation 201

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

Council social worker numbers have increased in Scotland but there are concerns over rising shortages of mental health officers. By headcount, authorities employed 6,235 social workers as of the end of last year, up from 6,049 the previous year. They also write social circumstances reports about people subject to compulsory powers.

Mental Health 206

Mental Health Criminal Justice Social Worker Hospitals 206

Community Care

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Council heads have urged the government to fund another return to social work scheme to bring 200 practitioners back into practice and alleviate pressures on the workforce in England. How to return to social work in England. Mounting workforce pressures. This was a 20% rise in attrition on the year before.

Government 262

Government Social Worker 262

Community Care

JANUARY 6, 2023

The Scottish Government must pause its ‘disruptive’ plans to remove social care from council control, in order to shore up local authority services that face real-terms cuts in 2023-24. National Care Service plan. Following COSLA’s comments, a Social Work Scotland spokesperson said this was still its position.

Criminal Justice 287

Criminal Justice Government 287

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

The government has increased funding for adult social care to help tackle NHS pressures this winter by £10m. “It will improve social care capacity, boost discharge rates and avoid unnecessary admissions, freeing up hospital beds and reducing waits for care,” said care minister Helen Whately.

Hospital Discharges 218

Hospital Discharges Hospitals Government Disability 218

Community Care

OCTOBER 20, 2022

No minister has been appointed for adult social care, six weeks into Liz Truss’s premiership. Despite a full ministerial team being appointed to the Department of Health and Social Care on 7 September, the DHSC said their responsibilities had not yet been decided upon.

Government 251

Government Mental Health Interviewing Disability 251

Community Care

JUNE 6, 2023

A plan to ban agency social work in Northern Ireland’s health and social care (HSC) trusts is likely to miss its target of being implemented this month. in 2020-21, said a DoH review of the social work workforce published last year. in 2020-21, said a DoH review of the social work workforce published last year.

Social Worker 246

Social Worker Consultation University Anxiety 246

Community Care

MAY 31, 2022

Councils would require an “unfeasible” increase in adult social work numbers to implement the government’s care reforms unless they change systems, according to a report last week. More social work assistants needed. By Patrick Grafton-Green and Mithran Samuel. ” Related articles. .

Government 277

Government Social Worker Case Management Consultation 277

Community Care

AUGUST 2, 2023

Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive, the REC By Kate Shoesmith We welcome the fact that the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) is no longer calling for curbs on agency social work in England to be implemented earlier than the government’s April 2024 target date. What are the proposed rules on agency work?

Social Worker 179

Social Worker Engagement 179

Community Care

MARCH 28, 2024

And it concluded that the fateful decision to return Finley and his older sister to their parents’ care was the culmination of multiple safeguarding failings by agencies, though acknowledged that practitioners’ jobs were made harder by Covid-19 restrictions and workforce pressures.

Rehabilitation 273

Rehabilitation Social Worker Self-harm Engagement 273

Community Care

JANUARY 8, 2023

Integrated care boards (ICBs) will be able to use the money to buy beds in care homes or other settings for up to four weeks in order to speed up hospital discharges, freeing up beds to admit people stuck in accident and emergency departments. NHS to get most of £500m winter adult social care funding. Related articles.

Hospital Discharges 247

Hospital Discharges Rehabilitation Hospitals Home Care 247

Community Care

JANUARY 24, 2024

The government has handed social care an extra £500m for 2024-25 following last-ditch pleas for ministers to ease funding pressures on councils. The funding will top-up the existing social care grant, which authorities can spend on either children’s or adults’ services. cash rise worth 4.7% in real terms.

Government 260

Government Disability Interventional Social Services 260

International Federation of Social Workers

OCTOBER 19, 2023

The annual Social Service Workforce Week, spearheaded by our esteemed partner, the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, carries profound importance for social workers across the globe. This week-long event, spanning […]

Social Services 103

Social Services Social Services Social Worker 103

Community Care

APRIL 12, 2023

Scottish services are losing experienced social workers, leaving newly qualified practitioners without support and putting the quality of services at risk. Loss of experience in teams may, over time, affect the quality of service.

Social Worker 281

Social Worker Government Social Services Social Services 281

Community Care

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Increasing numbers of children’s agency social workers are newly qualified, amid worsening staff shortages and rising demand, directors have warned. increase in referrals to children’s social care – in part, the result of the removal of lockdown restrictions – and a 9.6%

Social Worker 280

Social Worker Disability 280

Community Care

APRIL 28, 2023

Beverley Tarka this week became the first black president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) since its establishment in 2007. That visible leadership role acts as a role model for people in the field and even people outside the field of social care. So why has Tarka stayed put?

Hospital Discharges 222

Hospital Discharges Diversity Government Disability 222

Community Care

AUGUST 14, 2023

By Rachael Wardell Kate Shoesmith’s recent article for Community Care argued that the Department for Education’s (DfE) proposed rules on agency work won’t fix the issues facing the local authority children’s services workforce. A requirement for a minimum six-week notice period for agency social workers.

Social Worker 200

Social Worker Engagement 200

Community Care

JULY 17, 2023

Proposals to legally limit children’s social workers’ caseloads have been rejected by the Welsh Government. Deputy minister for social services Julie Morgan also said action was already being taken to improve support for practitioners and enhance workforce planning.

Government 189

Government Social Worker Administration Social Services 189

Community Care

DECEMBER 12, 2022

The government must set up a task force to tackle longstanding racial disparities in the adoption system, including by making the workforce more diverse. Lack of diversity in adoption workforce and panels . The adoption workforce, and adoption panels, are insufficiently diverse.”

Adoption 258

Adoption Diversity Government Social Worker 258

Community Care

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Introducing specialist child protection social workers is posing workforce challenges for the councils testing the system. Issues included retaining staff, maintaining safeguarding skills among other social workers and avoiding disruption to families as a result of the reform.

Social Worker 256

Social Worker Adoption Diversity Consultation 256

Community Care

NOVEMBER 5, 2023

Councils are rationing adult social care through “subjective” eligibility judgments, a think-tank has concluded. The IFG made the claim in a report analysing the performance of adult social care, published last week. below 2014-15 levels (254,550). below 2014-15 levels (254,550). in 2016-17.

Government 335

Government Disability Mental Health Social Services 335

Community Care

MARCH 24, 2023

Social workers are seeing more poverty and greater need for their support on the back of the cost of living crisis, with some resorting to supporting people from their own resources. to 74.9%, though a lower percentage reported working at least an extra five hours a week on average (51% compared with 57.9% in the 2021-22 survey).

Social Worker 244

Social Worker Government 244

Community Care

MAY 25, 2022

A council is at risk of losing control of its children’s services after the government intervened in the light of a damning Ofsted report. On the basis of this, the DfE issued a statutory direction this week concluding that the authority was failing to perform its children’s social care functions to an adequate standard.

Interventional 319

Interventional Government 319

Community Care

JULY 12, 2023

Councils would continue to employ social workers and other social work staff under the Scottish Government’s plan to establish a National Care Service across the country. We know too that successful change is driven by the valuable staff who deliver services.

Social Worker 193

Social Worker Criminal Justice Government Diversity 193

Community Care

JUNE 17, 2022

The lack of adult social workers is the sector’s biggest concern as it prepares to deliver the cap on care costs, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has found. Get full coverage on the government’s adult social care reforms. This week, it announced details of a £15.5m It is giving a further £2.9m

Social Worker 306

Social Worker Consultation Government Therapist 306

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

The local government pay dispute for England, Wales and Northern Ireland remains unresolved following a meeting between the three unions last week. The pay settlement covers the majority of councils across the three countries – those that are covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC).

Government 232

Government Social Worker Schools 232

Community Care

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

A majority of social workers are out of pocket from inadequate mileage allowances while battling the cost of living crisis, a Community Care survey has found. Just getting to the office alone in a week is usually a tank and a half – that’s £60 to £110,” she said. And then you’ve got all the visits.

Social Worker 254

Social Worker Government Confidentiality Consultation 254