Regular readers of my blog will know that I am committed to social work playing a more influential role in improving relational and systemic family approaches to working with people in mental distress, their families and carers. The peer supported …
As my guest blog this week, I am pleased to introduce an article focusing on the co-founders of a cooperative which is changing the relationship between people who receive support and those who provide it. The nature of the supervisory …
My last blog of the year provides an opportunity to wish everyone a restful and recuperative break over the festive period. It is well deserved and 2016 has been a busy and at times surprising year. Many of us may be …
Social work is all about human rights. If we fail to recognise our shared humanity, individual worth and right to equality, we fail - not just as social workers – but as members of society. On the eve of this …
One of the best aspects of my role is meeting and talking with social workers in their practice contexts, hearing about developments in improving practice and finding better ways to support them in their work. I recently spoke at Harrow’s social …
For those of us working in or receiving support from forensic mental health settings, the role social workers play in ensuring that whole person and family approaches are taken is vital. They use their knowledge and relational skills to enable …
Right now, it’s a good time to be a social worker. In these times of austerity and uncertainty, I’ll concede, this might seem like a slightly incongruous statement to make, but bear with me. This year, I’m attending the National …
Even before I became Chief Social Worker for Adults in England, I had long recognised the importance and value of research in social work practice. Then, as now, I believed we must demonstrate professionalism, insight and continuous improvement as we …
Regular readers of my blog will know how keen I am to have a focus on relational strengths based social work practice at the heart of adult social care. The Care Act has provided us with the legislative architecture to …
A very warm welcome to all new students beginning their social work journey this month. I can still remember the first week of my social work degree at university. If you want to find out when that was, here’s a clue: …