An article telling how it is and then strengthened by the comments of Social Workers trying to work within the industry, but finding many problems.
Social Workers go through years of training and obtaining required qualifications, but when they come into Local Authorities (LAs) are they allowed to do the job they have trained so hard for, I feel not.
For within LAs social work is geared around systems, which at the best of times are a barrier to good social work, not counting the extremely large caseloads given to social workers.
Unfortunately social workers are in the middle for they are directed by social work managers to work within the limitations of LAs systems and when go to their clients, their clients are wanting what these systems will not allow to be delivered, when legislation, which is also seriously deficient, says should be possible.
As social workers know what is generally available, they do, when they should not, only put forward what they feel can reasonably be agreed by the system.
Should the day ever come when clients wishes will be possible the full costs of Care Plans will not be known, for they have never been put forward to be costed.
But funding for social care is a major problem and it has always been, but 10 years of austerity cuts on LAs was bad enough, but then came COVID-19 and the money available was even further distant from what is required.
This is why all LAs are well over budget and some could go bankrupt and this all leads to a further deterioration of social care, making the most vulnerable even more so.
In the next few years, without substantial Government funding for social care, LAs will reduce the number of social workers they employ, so they can balance their budgets, thereby increasing workloads for social workers even more, resulting in less choices granted for the persons in need of care. This at a time when needs are substantially increasing.
Every aspect of social care is suffering not just in respects of Social Workers, but care homes, home care, respite, supported living , hospices, etc. Good quality care should always be delivered, but in many instances this is not so, for the care profession is desperately short of care workers. There are insufficient people coming to do care work, which is not surprising when the abysmal pay is taken into account with poor working conditions, working unsocial hours, etc.
This leads, in some instances, in poor quality care being given and this is not picked up on CQC (Care Quality Commission) and LAs inspections.
In fact, are these inspections done to the highest standards or are some organisation and poor practices allowed, so that the numbers of care organisations and care workers are not reduced further.
If the delivery of poor quality care is not stopped, then the quality of care will diminish even further.
Not a good analysis of care in the UK, but one that is desperately in need of improvement.
Please support my petition, Solve the crisis in Social Care,
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care
This may not solve everything, but it will be a good start.
Carer Voice 