Appreciation day lifts practitioners

Social workers from London and Buckinghamshire were invited to rediscover their original motivations for joining the profession at an “appreciation day” for practitioners last week.

Consultant Pam Rowe, a former social worker, manager and inspector, organised the event to address the issues of low morale, high stress and poor retention.

Many practitioners said their key motivation, to care and advocate for people, had been buried under paperwork and high caseloads.

Appreciation came in the form of tributes from people who had received services. However, participants received some challenging messages from four young people who said they had had poor experiences of social workers in the care system.