Techniques for retaining social work and social care staff
Our 2011 vacancy rates investigation highlights the challenge of recruiting and retaining social workers. Vern Pitt reports on some of the innovative approaches employers can take to tackle this problem
22 November 2011
Quality in practice: how to ensure you recruit the best professionals
Social work recruitment specialist Jonathan Coxon offers tips for social work managers and interviewers when recruiting
26 September 2011
Report slams quality of agency children's social workers
EXCLUSIVE: Agency social workers cost councils in the West Midlands 25% to 50% more than permanent staff but often deliver poorer quality services to children and families, a leaked report has shown.
04 April 2011
Social work managers report more recruitment difficulties
Managers are finding it increasingly difficult to fill the high number of vacancies in social work departments, a snapshot survey by a recruitment agency has found.
10 February 2011
Empowering personal assistants
Alex Fox If personalisation empowers people who use services, does that mean less power for social care workers? Or can everyone become more empowered together? The risks to vulnerable people of hiring their own unqualified, unsupervised personal assistants (PAs) have been well-rehearsed. But PAs experience risks too. For instance, some are pressurised to declare themselves self-employed, thus freeing the budget holder from tax and other employer responsibilities. Unless the arrangement really has the features of self-employment, such as the PA's right to substitute someone else to do their work, the arrangement is likely to be unlawful. This has resulted in PAs losing out on employee rights, and budget holders served with vast tax bills. So whose interests should win out: the user or the provider of support? I don't buy the zero s
19 November 2010
Attractions help create job satisfaction
The South East has diversity, prosperity and opportunities that have resulted in low job vacancy rates. But many of the social problems mirror those of the big cities, writes Rowenna Davies
22 October 2010
Councils warn home secretary over migrant cap impact
Council chiefs have told the Home Office that a cap on overseas social workers will weaken child protection teams, putting vulnerable children at risk. The Association of Directors of Children's Services urged ministers including Theresa May, home secretary (pictured) to rethink temporary restrictions on the number of skilled workers from non-EU countries allowed to enter the country.
02 September 2010
England has highest UK social work vacancy rates
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have far lower social work vacancy rates than England, Community Care's annual vacancy rates investigation has found.
25 August 2010
Minister confident that vacancy rate will fall
Action is being taken to address high vacancy rates and other problems in social work, children's minister Tim Loughton has insisted.
25 August 2010
One in 10 social work posts vacant
One in 10 social work posts are empty, Community Care has found. Our investigation shows that social worker vacancy rates have increased despite the millions of pounds that have been pumped into staff recruitment and reforming the profession.
25 August 2010
Letters to Community Care 22 July 2010
We at the Open University welcome the General Social Care Council's call for higher standards in social work education, (news, 7 July), but as well as recruitment, the focus also needs to be on retention. What can we do to improve this in social work?
16 July 2010
Adult social care workforce set to double in 15 years
The adult social care workforce in England could almost double over the next 15 years...
12 July 2010
Loughton and Munro answer Community Care readers' questions
Readers told Community Care on CareSpace what they would like to ask Professor Eileen Munro, head of the review of child protection, and children's minister Tim Loughton. Here are some of their answers in an exclusive interview.
29 June 2010
Nottinghamshire Council spent £1.5m on agency social workers
Nottinghamshire Council has spent £1.5m on agency social work teams because it does not have enough permanent staff to handle a 43% jump in child protection...
25 June 2010
Government scraps social care recruitment subsidies
The government has slashed a £75m programme to help 50,000 young unemployed people enter the adult social care workforce, in a move condemned by a leading care provider.
25 June 2010
Opportunities and support for social workers in Scotland
Reaching cases on remote isles and a rise in substance misuse are among the challenges, but social work in Scotland is well-regarded and well-supported, writes Julie Griffiths
18 June 2010
Letters to Community Care 17 June 2010
Your article ("How councils might square the circle", 3 June, http://bit.ly/923xjE) made a good contribution to how councils might save money. One important area that hasn't received sufficient coverage is the demands of central government for information. For example in adult services, the Department of Health demands a vast array of information. This includes: national performance indicators, referrals, assessment and packages of care data, personal social services expenditure data and adult social care combined activity returns. On top of that there is the data required for inspections.
14 June 2010
Social work job opportunities in London
House prices and living costs may be high, but the variety of work and the support in place to help social workers survive in the capital more than compensate, writes Rowenna Davis
21 May 2010
Agency staff play a crucial role in social care
NOTE: no photo available despite numerous requests Agency workers - A guide to a good placement Agency staff play a crucial role in social care...
14 May 2010
The benefits of working in the North East and Yorkshire
Social workers who have switched from the south of England say that some characteristics of the North East and Yorkshire benefit social work practice there. Rowenna Davis reports
23 April 2010
