Their latest argument is they are on the same level as the Head of Service therefore should not be questioned on the ”work” they are doing.. appears the role has completely lost touch with its original aims and lost its focus on improving frontline social work..

Sad thing being – we could recruit 2 frontline workers for the wage the PSW is currently on…

100% agree.

I wish I could frame your comment, as it’s one of the best I have read summing up the dire reality of the situation in social work in the UK. Out-of-interest which profession were you originally in, and are returning to please?

You have made a smart and wise decision fairly early into your social work career (although 2 years, is like 20 years in this profession), and I wish I had made that decision after 2 years, and not stayed for 25.

I have paid a high and heavy price to be a social worker, as my physical, emotional, and mental health has greatly suffered, and my personal life as well. I virtually have no social life outside of work (which became my life, due to the heavy workload required to keep up with the job), and now have virtually no friends or home life at all. It’s hard to maintain a social life and friends, when you are working 70+ hours a week. It also cost me dearly financially, as all of the excessive hours unpaid hours, meant I was working a second job for free, and needed to keep up with the workload in my own time, which meant working all through the evenings and on the weekends.

There is no sympathy or support from management whatsoever, some of whom do very little, and earn a lot. In this job you cannot even afford to get sick, as if you do, there is nobody else to work on your caseload, and the work keeps piling up. I can recall countless times I went to work clearly sick with a cold, flu, and a temperature, and not one manager asked if I was okay, as they did not want to send me home. What other organisation is as heartless or lacking in basic humanity as that?

I worked for 1 year as agency in one of the worst and most deprived borough’s in children’s services in London, which is known for high staff turnover and poor working conditions, and I was working until midnight and every weekend – all weekend, just to keep up with a high and unmanageable case load. I resigned when my manager wanted to increase my caseload (when I was sitting on around 38 children), which was un-manageable at the time (so she would just be making it more unmanageable and dangerous), and I pointed out I had no option but to leave as I could not ‘increase’ my unpaid working hours to meet the new demand, as this would mean I would be going to bed at 2am or 3am every night, and then expected to perform as normal.

What other professional tolerates this abusive behaviour from management and their own organisation?

There is no desire to change the system, even the work expectations are totally unrealistic, as single assessments are expected to be so detailed and thorough, when we just don’t have the time. It is dangerous, and an accident waiting to happen.

The good news is I also have an exit strategy I have put in place, as this is not a job one can do until retirement, and I am looking forward to the future.

The system will continue until all the Social Worker’s say ‘Not in my name’, and vote with their feet, and only when there is nobody to do the job will it change.

APSW Network hasn’t been stitched up. They are ‘uncritical friends: of SWE. Having happily lap dogged for them enthusiastically SWE are asking for yet one more favour and APSW Network are obliged to deliver once more.