BASW Cymru calls for change of culture among social work employers

BASW Cymru has highlighted the pressures facing social workers in Wales and called for a change in culture among employers to offer more scope for social workers to raise concerns about resource constraints impacting on practice.

Speaking on Welsh current affairs programme A Byd a’r Bedwar (The World on Four), to be shown on S4C on 23 January, BASW Cymru manager Robin Moulster also emphasised the need to enforce the Code of Conduct for Employers of Social Care Workers “to ensure that social workers get the support, training and development they need”.

Citing anonymous examples of people disciplined or removed from the social care register, despite having very high caseloads and little or no supervision, Mr Moulster suggested that the new Social Services Bill in Wales could be used to advance the reforms needed.

The S4C programme examines poor inspection reports on childcare services in Gwynedd Social Services, citing the concerns of two service users about the support they received. A recent report by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) found that ‘Children’s services have not yet secured all of the improvements necessary to provide assurance or confidence in delivery of social care services.’