Social Worker for a Day

During the summer NIASW worked in partnership with the Western Health and Social Care Trust to facilitate a Social Worker for a Day event for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Health Committee. The day was part of a series of events which are being held to provide MLAs with insights into the vital work undertaken by social workers.

On 28 July Mark H Durkan and Gary Middleton met with staff at a number of social work teams in Derry/Londonderry. The programme for the day was planned around areas of service delivery the MLAs had expressed an interest in finding out more about. The day included visits to the Western Trust’s Gateway service, a children’s home, a children’s learning disability respite unit and an adult mental health service.

The Social Worker for a Day event provided the MLAs an opportunity to speak directly with social workers to gain a better understanding of the challenging work they undertake on a daily basis. It also enabled social workers to explain first-hand the pressures they face, preparing the ground for NIASW’s forthcoming workload pressures report Above and Beyond.   

Over the coming months NIASW intends to facilitate further events for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Health Committee to improve their understanding of the role of social work and to raise their awareness of the pressures and challenges social workers face.