by Ruth Smith
More than 600 social workers responded to our survey on caseloads. The vast majority (89%) said high caseloads are affecting their ability to practice good social work. What's more, the problem is getting worse as 82% said caseloads have increased since last year.
Added to this, a tenth of all social work jobs are vacant amid growing evidence of recruitment freezes in many councils, despite the shortage of social workers.
The many hundreds of comments from Community Care readers on the reality of these pressures make sobering reading. They show a profession under extreme levels of stress, with social workers unable to practice what they are trained for and terrified of another Baby P or Victoria Climbié on their watch.
This is why social workers' overwhelming call for a cap on the maximum number of cases they can have must be taken seriously. This upper limit must of course take into account complexity of cases, because a number alone is too simplistic. But social workers deserve some statutory guidelines on what an acceptable workload is. This would give frontline social workers the confidence to challenge managers and poor practice, something they lack at the moment.
There would be a public outcry if teachers were teaching classes at three times the recommended capacity, so why can't it be the same for social work? At the moment there are too many people with too heavy a burden to carry, which cannot continue.
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