Recruitment crisis for outreach teams

Crisis resolution and assertive outreach teams are finding it
difficult to recruit social workers, a new report has found.

Some teams were having problems with recruitment because of the
“historically poor relationship between health and social
services”, according to the report from the Sainsbury Centre
for Mental Health and the National Institute for Mental Health in
England and looked at 10 teams across England.

Unlike nurses, who are used to working shifts, social workers are
not attracted to jobs involving working out of hours and dealing
with difficult people, the report says. Social workers may also be
unwilling to work in multi-disciplinary teams where they are a
minority.

The report recommends outreach and crisis resolution teams develop
“innovative” salary packages and reduce the entry
criteria for posts.

• Transforming Mental Health Care from 020 7827 8352.