By Sammie Jones- Social workers need more flexible hours to keep them in permanent employment, according to new research.
A research study of more than 1,300 practitioners, based mostly in England and Northern Ireland have concluded their mental and emotional well being scores to be below those of the general population. This has led to many social workers weighing their options as they get older.“People in their forties are now expected to work until they are 68, and it’s expected that trend will continue,” Led by Paula McFadden, a senior social work lecturer at Ulster University , the research shows social workers in general are discontent with their working shift and want more flexibility in their working hours.
Supported by Community Care, an online publication that often finances research in aid of the profession, the findings of the research call for more funding and varied working schedules to help social workers deliver their jobs more effectively.
One in three social workers surveyed expressed plans for a career change by their middle age due to the stress of the job.. More flexibility around hours and working duties could encourage social workers to stay in work almost half of respondents said. Respondents also said that being able to work part-time, take a break of a month or more, or switch to a less demanding role could help keep them in the profession. The claim of a stressed working schedule may account for some of the negligence and half hazard services provided by social workers that has led to punitive measures in the past two years by tribunals.
The results of the survey support the reasons given by social workers for leaving permanent employment. Agency staff interviewed by Community Care have said that the ability to set their own work patterns and take periods away from work has mitigated burnout and kept them in careers they might have left otherwise.
Community Care also made reference to another study conducted by Bath University in conjunction with of British Association of social Workers (BASW) and the Social Workers Union, found many social workers were working through illness to keep up with caseloads.
Jude Cooper, editor of Community Care, told The Eye Of Media.Com that inadequate funding was much to blame for the heavy load faced by social workers. ”Councils are finding it difficult because they don’t have enough funding. Workload is increasing because of increasing demand and austerity demands. Councils are having to make reduction in demands. There are just not enough services to fill in the gaps, Cooper said . Community Care work closely with a lot of academic research in relation to social services and have funded a number of research in their strive to gain more insight into the challenges facing social workers and recommend changes.
McFadden told Community Care that while it was impossible to predict whether the new study’s sample was representative of the national social work workforce, the numbers of respondents taking longer-term sick were also “worrying”. More than 10% had taken more than four weeks off – with a recent BBC investigation revealing increasing numbers of social workers taking at least a month’s sick leave.
URGENT
Maris Stratulis, England manager at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) told Community Care that the research highlighted the need for the British Government to support social workers in order to reverse the flow of dedicated professionals leaving the job they trained for”. ASW, she said, plan to lobby the government to increase funding across the sector to relieve pressure caused by increased demand and diminishing resources.
“This is in the interests of everyone, particularly those on the receiving end of care, for the last thing vulnerable people need is a burnt-out and exhausted worker suffering from ill health,” Stratulis said. She added: “Not to promote effective strategies and actions to promote resilience and wellbeing of staff is not only wasteful of human resources but of financial ones too, both of which come at unacceptably high cost.” The Eye Of Media.Com supports those objectives, though a burning question is how far increased funding will improve the situation. ”There are many children in care from vulnerable backgrounds who need therapy, and this can be expensive”, Community Care’s editor, Judy Cooper added to her comments.
Given the importance of social services to society, it is highly vital the problem is addressed one way or the other, to prevent a continuous state of affairs in which social workers are overburdened, which can and has been seen to many times lead to a compromise of standards.