Social Work Policy Panel newsletter May 2024

Agenda this month

• Date for your diary: Next SWPP: 3rd September 12-1pm
• Notes from May’s meeting – Rural Social Work
• About the Social Work Policy Panel

Decide what topics the SWPP covers by completing our survey here.

Notes from May’s meeting: Rural Social Work and the National Care Service

We heard from Dianne Henderson, Social Work Team Lead, Highland.
Here are some key points from the presentation:

• Social workers often have dual roles in rural communities: social worker and members of the community they support.
• Close professional relationships across discipline while retaining social work identity is a common feature.
• The best things about the work are the sense of community and relationship-based practice.
• The challenges are the lack of resources and easily accessible services, professional isolation, accessibility and housing costs.
• Rural fuel, food and financial poverty are exacerbated by seasonally affected housing costs and availability.
• Whilst a demand for better resourced services is common across social workers no matter where they work, the need appears to be more acute in rural areas.

Discussion points included

• Rural social work is creative out of necessity: there is much for social work systems in cities to learn.
• Digital support mechanisms proved to be very useful during COVID but cannot replace good relationship-based work delivered face to face.
• Pressure on housing is pricing out professionals such as social workers.

The SWPP partners are grateful to Dianne and her colleagues for the presentation and to our audience for the discussion. These contributions will be invaluable in the development of the NCS and the National Social Work Agency.

Our next Session

3rd September 12 – 1.00pm
Mental Health Officers and The National Care Service
We look forward to talking with you soon.
 

Upcoming events

• June 18/19th BASW UK Conference in Edinburgh: A Sustainable Future for Social Work
• September 25th Social Work Scotland Conference: Developing Leaders for the Future
• Sept 28th SASW’s Skills & Knowledge: Next Steps in Trauma Informed Practice. These Next Steps sessions combine theory, research and policy with practice tools to support your CPL.
   

About the Social Work Policy Panel

All students, newly qualified and experienced social workers are welcome to come along to our events.
The panel is jointly run by the Scottish Association of Social Work, the Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser, and Social Work Scotland. The panel was created to bring frontline workers and policy makers in Government together to address the issues affecting social work today. It is an opportunity to influence those policy makers and the future of social work with your experience and knowledge.
 

As a social worker, we know you’re busy and facing lots of competing pressures. That’s why we want to make the panel as influential and meaningful as possible. In September 2023, you told us that you wanted to know more about:

•Workforce development
•Disparities in role focus eg adults’ and children’s services, and rural and urban services
•Self-Directed Support implementation
 

We have delivered sessions from:

• Supporting the social work workforce short life working group presented by OCSWA professional advisor Phillip Gillespie
• The Advance Practice Framework presented by OCSWA professional advisor Ian Ramsay
• Social Work identity research presented by researcher Harry Bark
• SDS standards redesign by SWS SDS team presented by Jane Kellock
• A Vision for Social Work presented by the SWPP partners and UNISON
• Rural Social Work from the Rural Social Work Forum presented by Dianne Henderson

We are seeking your views on what the panel should present in the coming months here.

You also told us that a facilitated conversation after a presentation is your preferred format for the sessions. We will aim to deliver this model but there may be sessions where breakout rooms are the most effective way of engaging with some subjects. We will ensure that future sessions are designed with your preferences in mind.

Get in touch with us through the panel mailbox: SWPP@basw.co.uk

What is the Social Work Professional Support Service (SWPSS)?

Free coaching service for all social workers and social work students in Scotland.

• A FREE and independent peer coaching service by and for social workers
• Has an ambition to have an impact on the culture of practice enabling social workers to be able take care of yourselves
• Facilitated by experienced and trained social work coaches who volunteer their time
• Provides you with a safe and empathetic space to think through any professional and/or personal challenges you may be facing
• Offers a confidential peer to peer listening space
• Supports self-care, wellbeing and empowerment
• Supported by the Scottish Government 

The service is geared to provide coaching support whether you are a student, social work practitioner or manager. We have coaches from different fields and the whole range of experiences - choose your own coach and set up a session at a time that suits you.

Social workers have used the service to talk through their career planning and development needs, the impact of the work role on their personal life/health, placements, to gain confidence, to process the experience of being bullied/racially targeted or to manage change/turbulences in the organisations they work for.