Put Social Care Centre Stage In Social Exclusion Drive

Social care and the drive to improve standards should be centre stage in the Government’s bid to tackle social exclusion, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) has said. Commenting on the new Cabinet Office plan to tackle social exclusion, the GSCC said the positive emphasis in the plan on a co-ordinated approach spanning adults and children’s services is a step in the right direction that social care is uniquely-placed to take forward.

GSCC Chair, Rodney Brooke, said: “Social exclusion is one of the most pressing problems of the last ten years. The vision outlined in the plan fits with the values, aspirations and strengths of social care.

“Joint working is key to achieving the Government’s vision. Social care has much experience of working with a range of agencies and professions to support people. Social workers and social care workers are expert in helping to facilitate a joined up approach to service provision that benefits services users and the community.

“We have been working very closely with the General Teaching Council (GTC) and the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) to further improve the integration of services between professions and inter-professional working is a feature of the social work degree.”

The GSCC is a central part of the drive to raise standards of social care by registering and regulating the workforce. More than 84,000 social workers and social work students in England are on the GSCC’s Social Care Register.