- The report acknowledges the tireless work of the sector and
gives thanks to key supporting stakeholders
- Priorities include supporting social care reform, training
for the workforce, recovery from the pandemic and the impact on
staff and people receiving care and support and their families
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Chief
Social Worker (CSW) for Adults, Lyn Romeo, have published the
annual CSW report. It highlights key achievements of the past
year and sets out objectives for the sector as it looks ahead to
2022/23.
Key achievements in the last year include making the wellbeing of
staff more central, with practitioners having better access to
supervision and peer support as well as continuing professional
development opportunities. Staff have also been better supported
to prioritise care and meet individual needs through risk
assessment tools and a decision-making framework put together by
principal social workers, supported by directors of adult social
services. In addition to this the ‘Revisiting
Safeguarding’ guidance has also recently been published,
encouraging practitioners and those responsible for adult
safeguarding to reflect on and revisit their current practice.
This year’s annual report broadly summaries the CSW-led focus for
the year ahead, including:
- Advising and influencing proposals for social care reform and
Covid recovery, including guidance for the sector and support for
staff wellbeing and further developing their digital capability
- Promoting and advising on investment in research including
advising on further research for emerging issues such as the
impact of and recovery from Covid, social work leadership and
strengths based social work practice in working with homeless
people
- Ensuring the voice of people with lived experiences is at the
heart of practice and care, particularly those with mental health
issues and increasing the headcount of approved mental health
professionals
- To advise the Principal Social Workers Network on best
practice and achieving good outcomes as well as reviewing the
package of support to develop a cohort of capable and confident
supervisors and leaders
- Supporting and strengthening personalisation and choice
within care to achieve the outcomes that matter to them and
driving for the inclusion of people with lived experiences in
designing new policy and guidance
- Promoting improved practice on equality, diversity and
inclusion including access to continued professional development
for all social care staff
Chief Social Worker for Adults Lyn Romeo said:
I am so grateful to everyone working in the social care sector,
especially for their work over the past year during the pandemic
Looking to the year ahead, we’ll look to support the social care
reform, the vital recovery from the pandemic and strengthen
post-qualifying standards to support the workforce. As we learn
to live with Covid, social work must redesign and reimagine
practice alongside people, their carers and the communities they
live in to be ambitious in providing the best outcomes for all.
Minister for Care and Mental Health said:
The last two years have been a huge challenge with our brilliant
social care workforce going above and beyond.
We’ve seen the workforce rise to the challenges of the pandemic
with compassion and dedication to protect and promote people’s
opportunities to have the best possible lives.
Thank you to all social workers in the sector for your hard and
dedicated work, we have never needed your expertise and insights
more than we do now.
The report includes special thanks to stakeholders including the
British Association of Social Workers (BASW), Music for Dementia,
the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, National
Institute for Health Research, Research in Practice, Skills for
Care, Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) and The Principal Social
Workers’ Network.
Particularly good work highlighted includes:
- the British Association of Social Workers’ publication of a
consistent pathway of development for social workers and their
employers to ensure reliable and quality care for people with
learning disabilities and for social work with autistic adults
their carers
- development of guidance on how people with dementia can be
supported with music therapies by Music for Dementia
- Research in Practice’s continued support of the
implementation of the Post Qualifying Standards for supervisors
- Skills for Care’s roundtable on anti-racist social work in
partnership with Social Work England
- The leadership impact of Principal Social Workers in
supporting social workers and practice
