Social workers ‘at breaking point under enormous pressure’, report finds

Social work in Scotland has reached a “critical tipping point”, according to a report.

The Setting the Bar report was commissioned by Social Work Scotland to look at the profession across Scotland in an effort to understand whether there are enough professionals to work with people in the way they are trained to.

It found that social workers are experiencing “moral distress” as they struggle to manage their workload.

The Scottish Government has been urged to take urgent action to support the workforce and ensure new professionals are trained and recruited.

The research draws on existing evidence and two surveys, one of which was responded to by more than 1,500 professionals, nearly 25% of the 6,000 of those who work in the public sector.

It found that social work is facing real challenges in rising demand coupled with a lack of understanding of the profession.

And the coronavirus pandemic, cuts to local authority budgets and increased administrative burdens, have exacerbated the issue.

A Social Work Scotland spokesperson said the research findings are not a “surprise” but help the organisation make “a case for change”.

A spokesperson said: “It’s clear from the report that social workers want to make a difference to people, and support them as policy and legislation aims set out.”

The findings will be presented in discussion with national agencies and the Scottish Government.

The report also highlighted that social workers are committed to the values of their job and the people they work with.

Unison, Scotland’s largest social work union have welcomed the report but have said reducing caseloads is only part of the solution.

Stephen Smellie, chair of the union’s Social Work Issues Group, said: “Unison welcomes this research but sadly the findings come as no surprise.

“Social workers are under enormous pressure and our members have told us they feel exhausted, undervalued and are struggling to deal with the demands placed upon them.

“This is a dedicated, highly qualified workforce that is critical for ensuring the safety of the most vulnerable, yet it is seriously under-resourced and services are at breaking point.

“This is true of the whole social work team including social work assistants, family support workers and administrative support workers.”

He added: “There needs to be robust professional supervision and support and recognisable workload management systems in place.

“Even smaller caseloads can overload when sufficient time is not allowed for the high level of assessment and relationship building that is necessary to ensure that those who depend on us get the service they need and deserve.”

Kate Ramsden, a children’s rights officer and member of the issues group, said: “Heavy workloads are endemic across the workforce and staff shortages mean that work is being pushed down to less qualified and/or experienced staff.

“Many areas are seeing a high turnover of staff which impacts on building and maintaining relationships with clients.”

She said “significant changes” are needed to give adequate support instead of just “firefighting”, and she has called on the Scottish Government to provide “substantial” investment.

Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart said: “I understand and acknowledge the significant pressures social workers face, with increasing workloads, staff shortages and the more complex needs of those they support – all exacerbated by Covid.

“The Scottish Government’s investment of £25 million announced as part of the 2022/23 Budget is additional funding to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector to ensure care can be delivered safely to those who need it.

“£22 million of this funding (which will be recurring) will be distributed to local authorities based on grant-aided expenditure for Adult Social Work as agreed by Cosla (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) leaders and will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce to respond to the current pressures.”