New Ways of Working for
Social Workers (NWW4SW)
Aim of the
programme
The aim of this programme is to take
forward the ‘Continuing Story’, as set out on page 56 of the NWW
Final Report of October 2005 – i.e. ‘To raise the profile of the
future contribution of social workers to mental health services’
by:
• producing a discussion
paper in 2005;
• facilitating a regional
debate and feedback;
• holding a joint national
conference in 2006; and
• establishing a joint
programme of work.
Progress on the ‘Continuing Story’
All four objectives set out in the
‘Continuing Story’ have been met. A discussion
paper was produced and distributed in
November 2005; regional and local events
subsequently took place to help
formulate responses; a report on the 103 responses
was produced in March 2006; a national
conference, comprising 176 delegates, was
held in April 2006; and a programme of
work was established in May 2006.
Programme of work
Following both the discussion paper
and the national conference, four key areas
for development emerged around
social work identity; social work
research; career pathway/progression; and
leadership to include education and training. A
summary of the progress on each of these elements is set out below.
Further details and information are available in the NWW4SW
Portfolio of Evidence, located on
the Social Perspectives Network (SPN)
website at www.spn.org.uk,
Social work
identity
On pages 87–91 of the Appendices to
the NWW Final Report of October 2005,
there is a statement about the
traditional expectations, modern aspirations and
distinctive contributions of the
Mental Health Social Worker and Approved Social
Worker (ASW). Essentially, this says
that the traditional expectations have been to
empower service users and carers
through a range of value-based and evidence-based interventions
within a social model and understanding of mental distress,
emphasising choice, human dignity and worth, equality, respect and
social justice, grounded in anti-oppressive practice. A copy of the
full statement can be found at www.spn.org.uk, 112 www.newwaysofworking.org.uk,
The NWW4SW consultation process has
further raised the identity of social workers as a key issue,
particularly in respect of those who are employed or seconded to
NHS Trusts. Although they may be part of a particular mental health
team, they often feel that they are professionally isolated, that
their contribution is not valued, that they are not receiving
effective, professional supervision, and that they are under
enormous pressure, etc.
The lack of job satisfaction, a
feeling of not being valued and of ‘burnout’, was
highlighted in research undertaken by
Peter Huxley et al. and reported in the
Journal
of Psychiatry in 2006. A copy of the
article can be found at www.spn.org.uk
In an attempt to address this feeling
of isolation, an article was placed in Community Care
magazine in July 2006 that said:
‘social work brings
something distinctive to mental health. Articulating it is more
difficult. It is a constellation of values, commitment to social
justice and partnership with users and carers. Social workers
practised social inclusion before the term had been invented. Above
all in mental health, it challenges the traditional medical model
which does not fully acknowledge the patient or client as best
informed about their needs.’
A copy of both the text that was
published and the longer draft submitted for
publication can be found at www.spn.org.uk
In addition, the NWW4SW programme has
now produced a one-page statement, aimed primarily at NHS staff,
that clearly articulates the role and values of a social worker and
the unique contribution social workers can make to the delivery of
mental health services. A copy of the statement can be found at
www.spn.org.uk This will need to be reviewed in the light of the
work being led by the General Social Care
Council (GSCC) to describe the roles
and tasks of social work as part of the Options
for Excellence review. 27 DH/DfES
(2006): Options for Excellence – Building the Social Care
Workforce of the Future.
In terms of social work identity, one
of the future challenges is around the proposed introduction of the
Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) under the Mental Health
Bill. Although the formal designation of the ASW will be replaced,
social
workers will have a critical influence
in ensuring that the practice competence of
AMHPs embraces and actively promotes
the independent nature of the role.
Social workers are also well placed to
function as Responsible Clinicians, particularly given their
current experiences in the role of social supervisor. Social
workers will need to be proactive in seeking opportunities to train
and practise in this new role.
Social work
research
Although this element of the NWW4SW
programme did not feature in the discussion paper, it emerged
strongly at the April 2006 conference. Delegates felt that,
unlike other professions, such as
doctors, there was neither the expectation that social
workers should conduct research nor
was there any specific mention of this in job
descriptions, so no time was set aside
for social workers to undertake research.
In addition, where there is a very
clear steer for the NHS to focus on evidence-based
practice, underpinned by effective
research, there was no parallel in the social
care/work field.
• The Social Care
Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the NWW sub-group have
jointly commissioned a
research briefing on the evidence base of mental health
social work, which is
available at www.scie.org.uk
• In 2006, SCIE carried
out a consultation exercise about strengthening social care
research. The key findings
were that each country in the UK should develop its
own structures, supported
by a UK-wide co-ordinating body with the role of
ensuring that research
priorities are complementary and of addressing generic
infrastructure issues.
Further information can be found at www.spn.org.uk
• Work is taking place to
ensure that social work/social care links into the
Department of Health
strategy Best Research for Best Health and the new
National
Institute for Health
Research.
• SPN/NIMHE/SCIE have
published guidance on Values and Methodologies for
Social Research in Mental
Health that sets out a foundation for social research,
ensuring that it fits
better with their values, aspirations and concerns. This has
been widely disseminated
across the social care community and is available from
www.spn.org.uk/publications
• In partnership with the
NWW for primary care, the NWW4SW sub-group is
leading on piloting and
evaluating a new role of Individual Peer Supporters.
The Peer Supporters are
people in recovery who, within the context of the
principles of social
inclusion, support others who are experiencing mental distress.
The report of the outcomes
of this project can be found at www.spn.org.uk
Career pathway/progression to
include education and training
Unlike some other professions, there
is no nationally agreed career progression or pathway for social
workers, although the Post-Qualifying (PQ) Framework goes some way
to provide a structure. Whether and how social workers move along
their pay band depends upon their qualifications, experience and
applications for specific posts. Some social workers are
regarded as ‘senior social workers’ but there are no agreed
criteria for this or specific timescales. The most common form of
career progression is for social workers to become ASWs under the
Mental Health Act 1983, which attracts a higher status and
salary/increments, or to move into a team leader/management role. A
move into management is not a bad thing by itself, of course, as
NHS Trusts should have a mix of health and social care
practitioners at senior level.
Following on from the responses to the
discussion paper, a potential career pathway has emerged,
specifically: Social Worker; Senior Social Work
Practitioner/Professional Lead; Team Manager; Social Care Lead or
Locality Manager; and Head of Social Work/Social Work Consultant.
(The job titles can vary from locality to locality, but the purpose
and duties may be broadly similar.) Social workers would like more
flexibility to combine roles, such as joint appointments, that
retain a practice element but that also include, for example,
lecturing, research and professional development.
Further details, including local Trust
contact points, can be found at www.spn.org.uk
For those social workers who are
employed by NHS Trusts and are subject to the Agenda for Change
process, national profiles exist, showing social workers to be
in Band 6; social worker specialists
in Band 7; and social work locality/service
managers in Band 8. Further details
are available at
www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/pay-conditions-1993.cfm,
Skills for Care is developing a Career
Framework for Social Care to apply across the whole of social care,
not just social workers. The current position is described
earlier.
Contact: Amanda
Hatton at amanda.hatton@skillsforcare.org.uk
Mental health is one of the compulsory
elements in the three-year social work degree. It is recommended
that further work be undertaken by NWW4SW in conjunction with
CSIP/SCIE/Department of Health/GSCC to determine what level of
knowledge and skills is actually being delivered within the mental
health component of the social work degree and how this is being
applied in the workplace.
Leadership
It is clear from both the discussion
paper and the April 2006 conference that there is a lack of clarity
about the leadership expectations and/or requirements of social
workers. Leadership needs to be sustained and developed in order to
deliver the
priority outcomes of social care
within mental health services and to support the
development of a confident, competent
and integrated social care workforce. The
following actions have been taken to
help with this process:
• The disparate
representation and leadership of social work/care has been
highlighted: there has
been a variety of organisations working in this field, but
no single voice or forum.
Accordingly, the NWW4SW programme has set up
a Social Work and Social
Care Forum, whose first meeting was held on 18
January 2007. The aim was
to provide an opportunity for the main social care
organisations to discuss
areas of common interest and for this meeting, to hear
about the NWW4SW
programme. The key conclusions were that a Forum
would be established to
include social work and social care that would continue
to promote ASW/AMHP values
based on effective learning and development
as a form of Advanced
Practitioner role that would also embrace the proposed
new role of Responsible
Clinician. In the future, the Forum would discuss the
recommendations made by
the NWW4SW sub-group thus helping to support
this work and it might
also help to influence the development of a research
capacity in social work
where there is little support and funds at present.
The draft terms of
reference for the forum can be found at www.spn.org.uk
• The GSCC has set out its
PQ Framework at three levels – specialist, higher
specialist and advanced.
This can be found at www.gscc.org.uk With the
exception of programmes
for managers of registered services offered at specialist
level, leadership and
management programmes must meet all the requirements for
the higher specialist or
advanced levels of the PQ Framework. It is recommended
that all social workers in
a management or leadership role undertake training to
meet the requirement of
the higher specialist or advanced levels of the PQ
Framework.
• The Eastern Development
Centre for CSIP co-ordinated a survey of the views of
social care leaders
working in one-third (25) of the mental health and social care
Trusts throughout England.
The survey asked two overarching questions:
– What are the main roles
and structures within integrated services to support
social care and social
work?
– What might constitute
best practice in relation to delivering social care
outcomes, supporting
social workers, and bringing the best social care
leadership practice and
culture to enhanced, integrated services?
Having analysed the
findings of the survey, it was felt that the following
recommendations should be
made:
– explicit
representation of social care interests in decision-making
processes throughout the organisation, up to board level;
– strong, ongoing
local authority engagement in mental health issues
where
the Trust is leading on
delivery of social care;
– proper
resourcing of the social care management and leadership
tasks
that are required to
deliver integrated social care outcomes and support social
work and social care
staff;
– enabling social
work and social care staff to prepare for, take on and
sustain diverse leadership
roles throughout trusts;
– enabling social
care staff to influence positively the culture and value
bases
of Trusts;
– ensure excellent
ongoing leadership of the technicalities of
integration;
e.g. HR, IT, finance,
performance, learning and development; and
– develop a
confident social care workforce that can deliver and
promote
social care and social
inclusion outcomes.
Full details of the survey
can be found at www.spn.org.uk and on the Eastern
CSIP website at www.eastern.csip.org.uk
• TOPSS England (Training
Organisation for Personal Social Services) produced a
leadership and management
pack that includes a main strategy report, supported
by a number of products
including a ‘whole-systems’ model, a set of standards,
signposting links,
continuing professional development and organisational
evaluation. A copy of the
pack is available from SCIE.
• SCIE and the National
Social Inclusion Programme held a symposium on Social
Care Leadership in Mental
Health Trusts in March 2007. The key theme focused
on improving the ways in
which local authorities and Mental Health Trusts link
to lead the delivery of
socially inclusive outcomes for mental health service users.
A full report on the
outcomes of the conference can be found at http://www.scie.org.uk/
Summary
Social work and social workers are
important. Social work makes an important contribution to mental
health services and is a crucial component in their
development. Social work values,
skills and knowledge already encompass the approach set out in
current government policy documents. These all emphasise the need
for service users to participate actively in their care. Social
workers have historically sought to work together with service
users and their carers in partnership. More than any other
profession, their value base is most closely aligned to this
approach.
However, like any other profession,
social workers cannot afford to rest on their laurels and stand
still. If they do, they will get left behind. In an increasingly
rapidly changing world of new demands and pressures, where there is
a need for a more flexible and well-trained workforce, it is vital
that social workers fully embrace this culture shift and seize
fresh opportunities, including NWW. This does not mean they should
abandon their highly prized and well-recognised value base – far
from it. They should continue to champion both their approach and
their cause, but should do so in a positive and outward-looking
way.
This report from the NWW4SW sub-group,
taken together with the Portfolio of
Evidence, clearly sets out the
need:
• to maintain and nurture
the social work identity to help with
recruitment;
• to promote the
leadership expectations of social workers;
• to encourage the
expectation among both staff and employers that
research will
form an integral part of
future employment arrangements for social workers;
• For employers to put in
place a career pathway or progression not only
to
help raise the profile of
the social worker profession, but also to help with
retention; and
• to actively embrace new
opportunities.
Contact details for chairs of
the NWW4SW sub-group: Jane Shears at
jane.shears@nht.northants.nhs.uk and
Terry Bamford at terry.bamford@scie.org.uk,
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