‘Assessment’ – it can seem such a loaded term. When it comes to issues of health and wellbeing, often the process feels like something that is done to us, not with us. As social workers, we actively avoid such polarised …
I was very pleased to be able to support the first national Come Back to Social Work programme which was led by the Local Government Association and funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Education. I attended their …
No one appreciates having to repeat their medical history or care needs, especially when they find the information wasn’t accurately recorded the first time! As social workers, clinicians and care workers, we cannot allow these lapses to happen when individuals …
In response to Dr Ruth Allen's recent guest blog on the merits of strengths based practice, Colin Slasberg, an independent consultant in social care, says she is absolutely right to consider how we might sweep away old thinking, practices and bureaucracies …
I'm very pleased to be publishing my annual report on World Social Work Day. Its theme of promoting community and environmental sustainability chimes well with the direction of travel we find ourselves on for adult social work in England. It …
The Department of Health, in partnership with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Principal Social Worker (PSW) Network, has published a joint social work integration advice note. Integration has many different interpretations. Sometimes it is about …
I was delighted recently when Dr Ruth Allen joined me and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) for a workshop focusing on ‘strengths based social work with adults’. The former Director of Social Work at South West London and …
At the end of last year, I announced in my blog that the Department of Health would be funding six local authorities across England to pilot deployment of a ‘named social worker’ programme for people with learning disabilities, mental health …
With more than 25 years' worth of experience working with social workers, Women's Aid CEO Polly Neate knows they can be relied upon to make every effort to put those they support at the heart of social work practice. That’s why …
In December 2015, a new offence of controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship was brought into law under the Serious Crime Act 2015. The law recognises that a pattern of coercive control lies at the root of …