The government's social care chief David Behan has
called on directors and social workers to stand up for themselves
and stop "playing victims" in the face of public criticism.
Behan, director general of social care at the Department of Health,
emphasised the importance of positive media stories about social
workers and adults' services.
"How much have you been doing to get stories into the
Guardian and Community Care on adult care?" he
asked delegates yesterday at the Association of Directors of
Adult's Social Services spring seminar .
Under threat
Behan said that failings exposed by the Baby P case had placed the
entire profession "under threat".
"We need social workers to be more confident about the contribution
they can make," he said. "We are the leaders of this profession and
it's absolutely crucial that we present social work as a confident
and competent profession."
He added that although many directors had trained as social workers
in the 1960s and 70s, they must "be clear about what a unified
profession will contribute to the welfare of society in the 21st
century".
Taskforce
Behan also assured directors that the adults' sector was
represented on the social work taskforce.
He added: "I want there to be a confident response to the taskforce
[from the adults's sector] not one that says we are playing
victims".
Personalisation
Turning to the Putting People First agenda in adult social care,
which councils are implementing across England, Behan reiterated
his plea for employers to drive forward the cultural shift in
personalisation.
Although introducing personal budgets required technical changes to
systems, directors also needed to connect with frontline staff and
change their mindset, he said.
"There is a difference between social workers saying 'I'm doing
this because it's the fulfilment of my professional ambition' and
'I'm doing this because I'm being asked to do it',".
The former social services director explained that councils should
concentrate on putting reforms in place in 2009-10, and the DH
would not be producing as many major policies as in the previous 12
months.
"The emphasis will be on delivery," he said.
Community Care's
Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign calls for more positive
coverage of social workers in the media.
Related articles:
Ten reasons why social workers must speak to the media
The Observer's chief reporter on trying to interview social
workers
Have your say:
discuss your experiences of speaking to journalists and whether
media training should be part of the social work degree