UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union, has today written to key
stakeholders in social work, calling for staff to be given the right to at least
90 minutes of professional supervision a month. The supervision must be
from a qualified social worker, with additional support for the newly qualified.
It should focus on reflection and review of casework, not performance targets.
The letter is the fourth of the union’s ten step campaign, calling for a new
approach to social work that highlights the minimum conditions social
workers desperately need to enable them to practise safely and effectively.
Helga Pile, UNISON national officer for social work, said:
“Social workers have to take tough decisions every day. They need the back
up and support of professional supervision to talk these tough decisions
through.