极速赛车168最新开奖号码 Comments on: Number of social workers who prefer locum work on the increase

极速赛车168最新开奖号码 By: HAD ENUFF

HAD ENUFF — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 09:40:56 +0000

I agree 100% with you Anthony. I have recently left a local authority team in which i was a children’s social worker. I felt that the work was too much, resources were limited, the turnover of staff was high due to stress levels, staff did not feel supported in their work. There are massive issues within this field and how they will be resolved is anyone guess. Yes there should be a balanced case load, but when staff have 29 cases and although not all are complex it is still 29 cases that I believe is an unrealistic amount to manage. Where do management draw the line with allocations? or do they? or should they?. Thank goodness for locum staff, and lets not forget that they are qualified social workers and yes they are not permanent and can choose where they work, More importantly they fill the gap when recruitment of permanent social workers is failing, when permanent staff are off sick whether that is long term or short term which is usually due to work related issues. As you rightly said Anthony such working patterns also cause instability for families, children, families. teams and colleagues. So the question is how do we as a department move forward. This is one for the Government to sort out, not that they have done a good job so far and continually make decisions that impact on the front line staff in a negative way. I do not believe that this issue will be resolved anytime soon. We need more money, less cuts, realistic case loads, bigger teams,more support, less complicated assessments and IT systems, more dialogue with front line social workers to hear how we feel, what we need and to hear what does and doesn’t work.

极速赛车168最新开奖号码 By: Anthony Ade

Anthony Ade — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:58:37 +0000

In reply to Another Social Worker.

It is not quite clear what point you are trying to make, other than your bias about temporary staff, even though you appear to acknowledge that “staff retention is a massive issue”.

Perhaps you fail to recognise that locum staff provide a vital service, and contribution to the team they work in albeit being short term (I have been in my current team for over 10 months).
Locum work force significantly save their employers significant amount of money – they only get paid for the work they do, and don’t take needless days off sick.

Your comment, the constant “coming and going” of agency staff creates instability and a “loss of commitment and team identity” appears ill informed. It does not present a balanced view of the prevailing situation. Stressed out and disgruntled staff provide no more stability, or commitment to the team regardless or their status (whether permanent or otherwise).
The important thing I feel, is that staff are dedicated, and support their clients (and their clients families) appropriately – given current limited resources.
Social workers (or indeed anybody) should ALWAYS be able to decide how they chose to work (permanent or otherwise), without needleless suggestions that the former creates instability and a loss of commitment and identity to the team they work in. People should be valued for the contribution they bring to the team, their tenure in the team should not be a big deal.

I cannot help but wonder what solution you are able to propose.

极速赛车168最新开奖号码 By: Another Social Worker

Another Social Worker — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 10:21:31 +0000

When there is a large proportion of agency managers and social workers coming and going all the time it creates instability and a loss of commitment and team identity. And more importantly it is not good for children and families as it has a negative impact on their stability. Staff retention is a massive issue.