SASW National Care Service (NCS) Position Paper- Stage One

This Position Statement reviews the National Care Service Bill (Stage 1) and the key recommendations by SASW.

National Care Service Bill (Stage 1) 

The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW) is part of the British Association of Social Workers, the largest professional body for social workers in the UK. There are over 10,000 registered social workers in Scotland, around 1,500 of whom are SASW members. 

This comprises staff working in local government and the independent sector, across health and social care, education, children and families, justice services, as well as a growing number of independent practitioners. 

SASW’s key aims are: 

  • Improved professional support, recognition, and rights at work for social workers 
  • Better social work for the benefit of people who need our services 
  • A fairer society Social Work

 Where are we now? 

Eligibility criteria has raised thresholds to access help, making social workers gatekeepers of resources. Social workers are often only able to get involved at crisis point. They are perceived as the punishers of people for whom prevention and early intervention were not available or did not work. The social contract between the profession and those it serves is at best strained. 

The Setting the Bar report published in June 2022 showed that social workers feel debilitated by fear of getting something wrong, are exhausted and burnt out from spiralling caseloads. They work in an environment in which they are not supported to learn and develop throughout their careers. Social work has been subject to years of under-funding at local government level. 

This, in addition to demographic changes resulting in more people needing support as they age and the continuing impact of poverty, has compounded the problems experienced by people who need support and increased pressure on the social work workforce. The profession is at a vulnerable point. The workforce is demoralised and, if things don’t change, people will continue to leave. 

The subsequent impact on everyone who need services and those who remain in the profession will be catastrophic.