Our survey of more than 600 social workers is a sobering read:
16% of social workers have more than 40 cases on the go, 90% say high caseloads affecting their ability to practice good social work and 82% say their caseload has increased since last year.
Survey also shows that high caseloads are taking a heavy toll on social workers' health and that 94% of social workers want a cap on maximum number of cases they can have.
This sort of pressure seems unsustainable to me, why does society expect social workers to carry so much?
Ruth Smith Editor at Community Care
Twitter: @ComCareRuth
Email: ruth.smith@rbi.co.uk
Not at all unsympathetic, but it does seem high time all levels of Social Work also seriously and openly considered how much of what actually needs to be held in Councils and undertaken by qualified social workers at a time when demand is going up and there are user led and other community organisations that really could take on a number of areas of work that are not essential statutory duties.
There are undoubted pressures, but if there was more strategic investment in building capacities within communities and people's own natural networks, it would be much more possible to look candidly at actual critical demand levels for social work for the future.
Caseloads should be a professional, not an employment, issue. We are employed (and registered) as professionals, ie same as doctors, psychologists etc. Can you imagine GPs or psychologists being told they are to see 3 times as many patients? It is a professional decision as to how many cases you can work effectively, safely and manageably with, and a professional should be able to inform their manager that that is the number they are prepared to work with, passing any surplus up the line of accountability . I don't think anyone can be sacked or disciplined for refusing to take too many cases, as the decision is a professional/ethical one based on safety and quality. Managers (who presumably are also registered professionals) should fully support staff in refusing to take on cases they cannot reasonably manage without a reduction in safety or quality of service. Unmet need should be recorded scrupulously and addressed to operational management and policy makers/strategic management. I know it is incredibly hard for an individual professional to refuse when none of their colleagues or manager is courageous enough to back them - it is very isolating and people are scapegoated - however, it is a professional responsibility to do so .The professional association should provide robust support to any member in this position. (If they don't, perhaps we need a more toothy and rigorous association like the BMA for medics, or the General Teaching Council..?)
I and my colleagues are in the lucky position that when our team was set up ( an adult addictions case management team) our senior made it quite clear we should consider ourselves autonomous professionals and act according to professional standards and ethics first and foremost; where this conflicted with agency (ie council) agendas the SSW would fully support us in holding a professional position. THe team was asked to work initially with 25 cases - we refused stating 15 intensive cases was the max possible without compromising quality. We later reduced this to 12 as we found 15 unmanageable. Management weren't happy initially but accepted the position. 8 years later we have a well founded rep for quality, rigour and consistency.; interprofessional partnership, providing training and involvement in research and development of services. We couldn't have done this under the kind of pressure most people are describing. I enjoy my job. If it were anything like what is being described I would have long since left the profession. We must be losing horrific numbers of great workers and the profession is becoming weaker as a result.
I strongly believe that all social workers should be working this way and where it does not pertain (almost everywhere by the sounds of it) should campaign vigorously for it. To do this successfully we need the support of management, other professional partners and a strong professional association. Councils employ us as professionals and insist on our being registered. They should therefore allow us to make professional decisions and work to professional standards. We, however difficult, must decide if we are professionals or just council workers.
The article has quoted what I said in my survey
"Another Baby P, Victoria Climbié, Khyra Ishaq is waiting to happen and it will unless the government does something about the excessive caseloads we are supposed to manage," said one children's social worker who responded to the survey
Ruth what was the median and the mean caseload?
I CAME INTO SOCIAL WORK 8 YEARS AGO FROM A CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND AND WAS AMAZED - I SEE THINGS THAT MAKE MY SKIN CRAWL - I SEE SOCIAL WORKERS LIKE LIONS WALK INTO ALL KINDS OF SITUATIONS THAT WOULD TERRIFY AND AVERAGE MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC AND THINK NOTHING OF IT
I SEE THOSE SAME PEOPLE TERIFIED TO SAY 'NO ENOUGH IS ENOUGH TO THE SAME MANAGERS AND AUTHORITIES THAT SEND THEM OUT THERE.
I SEE THOSE SAME LIONS TURN INTO KITTENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND STAND BACK AND WATCH A COLLEAGUE BULLIED AND BROW BEATEN
WE CARP AND CRY ABOUT CASE LOADS AND TARGETS AND SAY ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOME THING HAPPENS AGAIN BUT DO NOTHING ABOUT IT - WHY BECAUSE WE ARE PRODUCTS OF A SELF CENTRED SELF SEEKING WORLD - HOW CAN WE TALK ABOUT EMPOWERING OTHERS GAINING PROFESSIONAL RESPECT FROM OTHERS WHEN WE DON'T RESPECT EACH OTHER ENOUGH TO EMPOWER OURSELVES OUT FORE FATHERS AND MOTHERS WOULD BE ASHAMED OUR PROFESSION HAS FOUGHT FOR SO MUCH CHANGE AND NOW WE GIVE IT AWAY UNDER THE EXCUSE THAT SICKENS ME "BUT WHAT CAN WE DO" SAY NO
I WORK IN A S47 TEAM WHERE WE LIKE ALL OTHERS HAVE TARGETS AND DQI'S OF COURSE THEY ARE IMPORTANT - BUT WHEN THE THIN RED LINE GET TO STRETCHED OUR MANAGER CLOSES THE DOOR UNTIL WE CLEAR THE DECKS AND IF NECESSARY THEY PULL IN OTHERS FROM OTHER DUTIES. TIME SCALES ARE IMPORTANT TO US AS A SERVICE BUT THEY ARE A MECHANISM FOR THE AUTHORITY TO DEAL WITH WHITEHALL - IT HELPS THEM LOOK GOOD - BUT WE PRIORITISE ON RISK NOT TIME SCALE - GUESS WHAT OFSTED SAW IT OUR WAY - WE PRIOITISED IN A MANER THAT KEPT CHILDREN SAFE.
WHAT WE REALY DID WAS SAID ENOUGH IS ENOUGH BACKED EACH OTHER - WE ARE A TEAM ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL AND EARNED THE RESPECT FROM OTHERS - WHICH DIDN'T REALLY MATTER WE ALREADY HAD IT FOR OURSELVES AND ENSURED NO-ONE GETS HURT ON OUR WATCH. IF WE HAVE A PROBLEM WE DEAL WITH IT COLLECTIVELY - WE NEED TO DO THIS NATIONALLY HOWEVER AS LONG AS WE ARE DIVIDED NOTHING WILL CHANGE FOR US OR THE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WE REALLY ARE SUPPOSED TO SERVE.
DISCUSSION SHOUT BE ABOUT THE IDEAL TO AIM FOR AND COME TOGETHER AND FORM A PLAN ON HOW WE CAN ACHIEVE IT - IS THAT NOT WHAT ALL THE ACADEMIC STUDY WAS ABOUT ASSESSING - PLANNING - SETTING ACHIEVABLE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OR ALL THOSE YEARS AGO DID I ATTEND A DIFFERENT LECTURE.
Thanks for taking part in the survey jelly-tot, your quote really crystallised what a lot of social workers told us.
Since so many of your said you wanted a cap of caseloads, we're now looking at what systems there are that could help achieve this. Any thoughts on what works?
Hi Long Gone,
Graph above shows you how caseloads for adult and children's social workers were distributed. Hope that helps
Ruth
Caseload weighting/capping is complex. I have never encountered a system that works effectively in social work. What is useful is a clear vision for teams. Positive leadership and proper management. Where teams are properly led, supported and encouraged caseload weighting is not an issue. Unfortunately some managers see their role as delivering targets as opposed to ethical value based service. I often wonder why they dont just go and manage somewhere else as they do not seem to share social work values or remember their training.
There are many excellent social workers trying to be of service to people. I am at a loss to understand why more do not say no to heavy workloads or unreasonable expectations. Saying no needs to be loud and unanimous. Make the registration body earn it's keep. Or are they only interested in punishment and sanction? Why the silence?
One final observation. I am hospital based. I have about 55 cases. I spent most of last week on 2 of them and was more than busy. The week before I dealt with 13 and was okay. It's not always about numbers, there is also complexity. A good team manager should be able to achieve fair and equitable caseload management or am I totally mistaken? Setting a bar solely at numbers does not work .We don't work with numbers, we work with people. When a social worker is at capacity then that is automatic caseload weighting regardless of the queue. The queue is the managers responsibility.
I agree with you totally, for some reason its a profession that is not united, if it were our voices would have been heard a long time ago and we certainly would not be in the crisis we are now. Inspections are carried out and the truth does not get put forward, budgets, overtime, resources needed, its all about top managers trying to demonstrate they have a grip on things and they are ruthless enough for the role. I do not understand why they show no compassion when they were in our seats before promotion, they reach their goal they lose touch with reality. Its an environment thats too top heavy. I recall a manager walking four flights of stairs to ask me to make a phone call and then sat with the team and had a cup of tea, and thats what they call a supportive environment. Its rediculous the resources frontline Social Workers are working with, some dont have their own computers, in the winter failed heating systems, many rarely getting time to have their lunch but they are unable to record this becasue by law they should all get a lunch. Top management know exactly whats going on and if they supported 'their' teams with honesty and imposed realistic expectations, gave them the respect then Social Workers wouldnt be faced with this crisis. Maybe if the top management gave the fronltline staff the respect they deserve then other professions may also but until the day it becomes 'team' work and a profession that maintains its core values 'within' the work place then SW will continue to a a profession that many leave and that externally are shown little respect for their professionalism..
I fear that many of us attended the wrong lecture!
I work as a senior social worker in adult mental health in the Republic of Ireland. Caseloads are normally low and manageable but we have a high client turnover and any member of our multi-disciplinary team can set up a referral waiting list if there are too many referrals waiting. I think that the child care social workers here are not in such a fortunate position because in mental health here if a client is high risk or in urgent need of attention they can be assessed by medical staff at the local psychiatric unit on a 24 hour basis, Child protection is now an area which is buried in paperwork, protocols and seemingly endless meetings. Add to this the fact that becasue of the demands on workers' time and tolerance it is no surprise that usually most of the social workers in this field are recently qualified and tend to 'get out' of it after a few years.
I have noticed that in Ireland within the past 7 years there has been a creeping bureaucracy of policies, protocols, codes of practice and 'risk management' which you might think is essential to enhance good practice, however I often wonder if we have gone too far and are strangling the social work profession in red tape in a failed attempt to micro manage practice. I worked for 2 and a half years as a generic field social worker in England form 1989 to 1992, both in Cleveland and staffordshire. Do I think that actual front line practice has improved since then despite all the plethora of best practice codes and new protocols etc? No, if anything I think it has got worse becasue extra paper work and more in service training is taking front line staff away from face to face contact. In the late 1980s early 90s a social worker could gain a lot more information and sense of changing risk by spending more time out in client's homes and in office interviews with families [I am talking post Cleveland crisis!] Today too much importance is being placed on meetings and being able to do a good power point presentation rather than the ability to adapt to the many personal and social problems of our clients
Lots of good comments here. For me it's about being assertive.
1. As individual (professional) Social Workers. If the caseload is too heavy it's too heavy and this is potentially dangerous to service users, to your employer (who will be in the public eye if something goes wrong) and to you in terms of blame if something untoward happens and your health and wellbeing. So state your case clearly and without undue emotion, showing why work is complex and that you are doing extra hours etc, and with a warning of the potential consequences if this continues.
2. As Team Managers/Leaders. If your staff are all overworked, you need to go unallocated (with a proper recording and prioritisation system) and pass the situation upwards, again clearly showing how caseloads are rising and the potential consequences of this. Suggestions of solutions wouldn't go amiss. Sounds hard but I did it as a Hospital team manager and it worked.
3. As a profession. I believe the Royal College of Psychiatrists looks at the population covered by each service employing psychiatrists, decides on the appropriate number of psychiatrists needed and tells its members they are not to take more than so many patients and their bosses need to find more staff if they are understaffed. Could a College of Social Work do the same?
and its only going to get worse if Martin Narey and the Prison reform trust have their way and social workers have to do police, court and YOT work by taking on not only all those under 14s not being prosecuted if the age of criminal responsibility is raised, but also all the over 14s who have been presecuted! at that point 40 cases might start to seem like a light load.
I actually walked from 1 of my jobs when they started piling on the cases, i thought my health was more important than getting stressed out by a job
Now this seems to be getting tedious - don't want to unsubscribe, but the negatives have gone on long enough in this debate. People were asked what WILL work, so would be great to see that people who are professional turn the focus to solutions. No more hard done by please, though proposals for clear concerted action and maybe even the production of sample disclaimers in the event that people feel they are being required to work in ways that really do put people at risk would seem much more fitting to a profession with our values base -then maybe we can focus more fully on the much greater impacts upon our customers.
Hi carer1, on your third point, the Social Work Task Force named creating a new system for forecasting levels of supply and demand of social workers in England as one of its 15 recommendations. They said the system should include analysis of demographic data and stronger partnerships between employers and universities to ensure there will be enough capacity in local areas to meet the needs of the local population.
IMembers of the Social Work Reform Board are already taking this forward with the government's joint social work unit, but it may be some time before we see the system swing into action.
You cannot say no to a Child Protection case. The Local Authority cannot say no, it has a legal duty. The trouble is that staffing schemes are rarely reviewed, I don't think that's done even yearly. If there was one change that I would make, this would be it. To set up a provision in the central budget that if referral rates or caseloads get past an identified stage, that extra temporary staffing will be brought in to absorb it and not increase the permanent workers' caseloads. And make this budget central (part of the overall council budget) not team or department budget, so you do not end up choosing between accommodating a child and employing extra staff when needed. I think the whole Child Protection process needs to be re-looked at. Some cases need more frequent and intensive visits than others, there is a lot of duplication and unnecessary meetings that workers need to do. If a LAC is a high flyer, healthy, well adjusted do they really need a PEP on top of the Individual Education Plan? Do they heed a health assessment when they would not normally have it if they were living at home? Do they really need social Workers to make the decision whether to stay with a friend overnight or not and waste a lot of time assessing their school friends?
I also think society needs to get it that the world is not always a very nice place to be and it is a place where at times bad things happen to people. There will never be a time when the world will be a perfect place no matter how much we try and unfortunately in the middle of this children will get hurt. A dozen rubbish plans and assessments will not make a difference. Good quality Social Work time with the child and families is what makes a difference - not to all children who are hurt, but hopefully to as many as possible. As long as paper comes before kids, fewer and fewer kids will be safeguarded and we will be a service that defeats its purpose.
Well said RP.
I second that RP. well said. I once asked what has priority, working with the kids or the paperwork and was told 'both'. I think thats a sign of the expectation put on workers; work with the kids during your paid hours and then you can always do the paperwork at home, its not like you have a life of your own is it.
The results of the survery were passed onto Ms Munro who said that she would consider them in her report.
As far as I can see she hasn't made any recommendations on caseloads
Will we still be talking about this issue in another 10 years time?
Why are we talking about numbers? Thats like saying all service users demand / require an equal amount of resource. Don't know about you but I have known some individuals with needs so complex that they absorb 20 times more time than others.
The idea of a blanket no of cases is ridiculous
but NO.....has to mean NO.....and it's up to the individual worker to assert this when neccessary
Nothing changes, does it? All the recommendations made after child deaths...Munro (who dodged the caseload issue completely)........and here we are, still with the same old social worker burnout problems and unsafe caseload levels. What is it going to take?