A “REVOLVING door” mental health system in North Lincolnshire is damaging the long-term health of patients with serious disorders according to a leading charity.

Leaders in adult social care have discussed ways of transforming vital services in the face of massive financial challenges.

Government is continuing to fail looked-after children by allowing them to slip into the justice system too easily, a leading youth justice expert has claimed.

No mention of social work was included in the Conservative party manifesto published earlier this week. Despite 52 references to the word ‘social’ and a focus on the concept of the ‘Big Society’, the document lacked any specific reference to the social work profession or social work role.

Campaigners are warning that the lives of hundreds of teenagers who run away each year may be at risk after the closure of the only emergency refuge for teenagers in the capital.

The Audit Commission is due to report the results on Monday of an inspection conducted in Doncaster in response to serious concerns over the council’s performance.

Chief executive of children’s charity Barnardo’s Martin Narey has announced he is to step down from the role next year.

Cornwall Council has appointed a new director to lead services for children, schools and families in Cornwall. Trevor Doughty, who will take up his new role on May 12, is a former social worker with a background in care, particularly relating to children.

A social worker who falsely changed records to show she had made 70 visits to at-risk children in Devon has been banned from working in her profession.

BASW has expressed astonishment at comments from the new president of the high court’s family division, Lord Justice Wall, after he described the perception of many social workers as “arrogant and enthusiastic removers of children from their parents”, and who are misunderstanding their duties under the Children Act.