NIASW briefs Westminster hopefuls on social work priorities

Ahead of the General Election on 8 June, the Northern Ireland Association of Social Workers (NIASW) has issued a pre-election briefing to political parties, highlighting the priorities of the social work profession.

Speaking about the document Carolyn Ewart, NIASW Country Manager, said: “responsibility for social work is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. However, given the current political uncertainty, NIASW is bringing a number of critically important social work issues to the attention of Westminster candidates in case we return to Direct Rule.”

“Of central importance to the profession is the need to improve workforce planning to ensure vacant social work posts are filled and bureaucracy is reduced to enable social workers to spend more of their time directly in contact with service users.” 

Ms Ewart continued “At a time where we effectively have no local accountability for Health and Social Care, plans are being developed to deliver significant changes to primary care services. This would see social workers working in teams based around GPs alongside Pharmacists, District Nurses, Health Visitors and Allied Health Professionals. We are calling on all Westminster candidates to support the involvement of social workers in the development of this model to ensure our unique skills in addressing social problems are fully utilised.”    

ENDS

Notes to Editors

·         The Northern Ireland Association of Social Workers (NIASW) is part of the British Association Social Workers (BASW), which is the largest professional body  for social workers across the UK. The Association has 22,000 members employed in frontline, management, academic and research positions in all care settings.

·         The NIASW 2017 General Election Briefing is available here

·         The BASW General Election 2017 Manifesto is available here

Contact: Andy McClenaghan, Campaigns Officer

Phone: 028 9064 8873

Mobile: 07702 517560

Email: a.mcclenaghan@basw.co.uk