The
Social Care Association has strongly criticised Social Work
Task Force chair Moira Gibb for suggesting that social work should
be clearly distinguished from other social care roles.
Speaking to Community Care last week, Gibb said that
social work needed to be set apart from general social care in
order to raise the status and profile of the profession. She
claimed that agencies often did not focus on social work and that
the taskforce was “one of the few forums” where it could be
discussed as a profession in its own right.
'Mistaken' views
Gibb’s comments were criticised today by professional membership
body the
Social Care Association. SCA chief executive Nick Johnson,
labelled her views “mistaken” and said that social work was
“pointless” without the rest of the social care workforce. He
pointed out that many social care providers were staffed by
qualified and registered social workers.
He added: “I would suggest to the taskforce that social workers
would find it beneficial to stay near to their friends at times
like this.”
Social care benefits
Johnson added that social work has historically benefited from
an intake of new professionals drawn from highly experienced social
care workers.
He said: “I would assert that a social work profession made up
of a rising proportion of young graduates will be the worse for
that and the taskforce might consider finding a new opening for
this group."
National college of social work
The SCA also rejected a recent call by the
British Association of Social
Workers to establish a national college of social work to boost
the status of the profession and raise standards. It said that the
idea would only work if a similar institution was created to
acknowledge the contribution of the wider social care
workforce.
The news came after the Social Work Task Force
announced that it would consult on a new description of social
work because existing definitions were difficult for the
public, other professionals and even social workers to
understand.
Your views
Should social work be clearly distinguished from social care?
Have your say at
Carespace
Related articles
Head of Social Work Task Force says social work must be
distinguished from social care
BASW calls for national college of social work
Adult social care workforce strategy fails to address social work
role
What can we expect from the social work taskforce?