Press Release

Social workers key to success of personalised care

07/05/2008

Social workers will play a crucial role in implementing personalised services for people who need care and should not be overlooked during the design of the system, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) said yesterday.

At the GSCC’s annual conference which took place yesterday in London, the GSCC’s Chief Executive Mike Wardle said the concept of individualised services is fully in line with the values of social work and social care. He said:

“Personalisation applies and extends the principles of good social work - helping people find individual solutions to their situations and achieve the outcomes they want. Social work takes account of people’s needs in the round, rather than focusing on a particular condition or delivering a defined service – so who better to lead the transformation into personalised services?”

He added: “Social workers will want to help to ensure that the new arrangements are strong and practical, and that answers are given to the difficult questions about how the move from dependency to independence and control can be resourced and managed.

The move to personalised services provides an opportunity to regain the focus on relationship-based work that some argue social work has lost in the move to care management. Social workers want to get out from behind their desks and spend more of their time in face-to-face work with the people who need their help and support.”

Care Services minister Ivan Lewis MP also explored the role of the workforce in the delivery of personalised services in a speech to delegates. He said: “Policies and speeches about self directed support are all just architectural wiring. What is going to make personalisation work is the workforce.”

Earlier in the day, the conference explored the issues of integration between adult and children’s services. Speaking as part of a panel discussion, Mike Wardle said:

“To understand children, you need to understand what’s going on for the adults, families and communities around them. This means structures which facilitate joint working with other professionals – in health, housing, education, youth justice - whether in traditional settings, social work practices, extended schools, or any other settings. We all live not in isolation but in families and communities. Even though adult and children’s services are split, we cannot split people in half.”