Social workers are facing burnout due to their heavy workloads and the extreme pressure they are under, says UNISON, the UK’s leading public sector trade union. The union has reiterated its call for more social workers, and for changes to their working lives, following figures released about their sickness absence. The sickness rates, say the union, highlight the intolerable pressure being put on social workers.
Earlier this year, FOI requests by the union revealed that many council’s had high vacancy rates for social workers*, and it is no surprise that this is impacting on stress and absence levels. The union is campaigning for a ten-point programme of reform, designed to help make sure children and vulnerable adults who depend on social services get the care and attention they need.
Helga Pile, UNISON National Officer for Social Services, said:
“It is not surprising that councils with high sickness rates also have high vacancy rates for social workers. Heavy caseloads, an unwieldy computer system, and an average 25% jump in referrals following the tragic case of Baby P, is making their heavy workloads intolerable. Child protection cases are very complex, and we are also seeing many more adult safeguarding cases. Overtime for social workers across all services is averaging an additional 25 days worked each year**. But for some in child protection and other high intensity teams it is much, much higher. Members tell us they regularly have to work weekends and don’t take holiday just to try and keep afloat in a sea of paperwork.
“The pressure on social workers is intense. The changes highlighted in UNISON’s ten-point programme must urgently be addressed to make sure children and vulnerable people are protected. Councils across the country need to get started on filing vacant posts, cutting paperwork and increasing support for social workers, as many are facing burnout. Unless this vital work starts, we run the risk of another tragedy.”
A social worker in the Midlands said:
“I have 30 cases – all of which are child protection, I have been working in social work for 22 years, but it has never been as bad as it has in the last year. One third of our qualified posts are vacant and our admin staff have been cut. I have built up over 100 hours of TOIL but I can‰Ûªt take it because of the amount of cases I have been allocated.”
A social worker emailed UNISON’s social work mailbox to say:
“The complexity of the cases makes them difficult to manage and juggle especially when they turn into care proceedings and we all find that we simply do not have the time we need to write the detailed court reports and to visit the children and hold meetings and do the paperwork generated. The court reports get done at home.”
UNISON SOCIAL WORK REFORM PROGRAMME
1. Planned programme of investment: covering safeguarding and preventative services, so that more staff can be employed, with the right tools to do the job.
2. Urgent action plan to fill vacancies: revival of on-the-job training schemes, caseload guarantees and staffing pools, providing reliable, cost effective relief.
3. The right staffing numbers and skill mix of social workers and support staff.
4. Cull of bureaucracy and performance targets: reverse the 80:20 paperwork:contact ratio, overhaul of the defective integrated children’s IT system.
5. National standards on acceptable caseloads: enforced through the inspection process and regularly audited.
6. Better support and more reflective practice: consistent, high quality supervision that is supportive and challenging.
7. Better pay and career structures: reward expertise and practice to retain quality workers and redress the balance with pay in comparable professions.
8. Re-establish homecare for children and families: homecare workers as eyes and ears of social services, observing closely and providing practical support for struggling families
9. Clear political commitment to strengthen the role of social work in adult services to halt the move to ‘social work on the cheap’.
10. Change of management culture: root out bullying, supportive culture of respect and involvement in policy and decisions, rebuild morale and status
Notes to editors:
*FOI request responses sent to UNISON earlier this year revealed the following vacancy rates – Somerset 8.5%, Coventry 12%, Bournemouth 18%.
**These figures come form UNISON’s Local Government Survey, which showed average overtime for social workers was 4 hours per week, which, when multiplied by the average 46 working weeks, makes it up to 184 hours or 25 days overtime a year.
ENDS