SASW Team Weekly Roundup

Find out what the team in Scotland were doing on behalf of members last week

Last week, we closed our survey exploring the reality of Vaccines and Testing for social workers across Scotland. This found that 68% of respondents were satisfied with information they received regarding the vaccine, whilst 31% weren't; 66% were satisfied with information they had been given on accessing tests, and 33% weren't; 76% felt they were getting tests when they needed them, and 20% felt they weren't and lastly that 70% have had their first dose of the vaccine, with 29% still waiting. We will reshare this survey later in the month to gauge if experiences have changed over time. 

National Director, Alison and Chair, Jude met with Colin Turbett and Nick Kempe from Common Weal and enjoyed an energised discussion about the role of social workers in local authorities and their initial views on the Feeley report. They intend to publish a paper about the social work role shortly which we have agreed to share with you to promote discussion and debate about ways forward for the social work profession.

We submitted our response to the Consultation on the Revised Child Protection Guidance, which can be found, here. Special thanks to those who shared their views at our discussion group. 

Alison met with Karen Hedge from Scottish Care, and discussed the problems in managing infections levels in care homes whilst enabling access for social workers particularly where people needing support cannot engage through digital technology.  

We attended the Workforce and Resources Committee at Social Work Scotland where the agenda covered the role of the Society for Personnel Development Scotland in developing workforce policy alongside COSLA and the Scottish Joint Council (Unite, Unison and GMB unions).  Public sector leadership desire for common pay scales and terms and conditions and the need for greater opportunities for career progression for social workers were discussed. 

With technical support from Lisa, Sarah delivered the first module of the Safe & Together™ Model CORE Training, which provides a framework for partnering with domestic abuse survivors and intervening with domestic abuse perpetrators in order to enhance the safety and wellbeing of children. 

The team progressed plans around World Social Work Week, including our Hustings and the launch of our Manifesto. 

Karin attended the Cross-Party Group on Dementia. The group discussed how its still a very difficult time for the elderly and their families as visits are still extremely limited and dependent on care home provider. Care provision in general has been poor for many families. The need for respite for carers was highlighted, but the vaccination process in care homes provides a silver lining. 

We have 16 Children's Books to give away following our Book Week Scotland events. If you are a SASW member and you work with children as part of your role, send an email titled ‘book giveaway’ to scotland@basw.co.uk by 12th February & win a free book to gift a child.