By Charlotte Webster-
The British government has published a £20m tender seeking a provider to train up to 480 mental health social workers on a fast-track scheme from 2020 to 2026.
The funding designed for the training of three cohorts of 100-160 students to be placed in local authority or NHS mental health teams in the first year of the programme will lead to their employment as social workers in their second year. Mental health is a serious issue in society, present in almost every facet of normal and professional life , most controllable through training, implementation and expertise. Social workers encounter issues of mental health on a regular basis, particularly in both children and adult services. Social workers themselves are not suffer from mental heath issues because of work overload and the pressure to manage it well.
The students will receive training in leadership skills. Students will receive a bursary in their first year of £17,200 outside London and £19,100 inside the capital.
The model used by Think Ahead has been funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to deliver a fast-track scheme for the past 3 years. However, the proposal does not make reference to participants doing a six-week grounding in social work at the start of the programme – the so-called ‘summer institute’ – or completing a master’s in their second year, both of which Think Ahead involves.
.Applications for the tender close on 29 November 2019, with the successful bidder will be announced early next year. The fast-track provider first started with 95 participants on its first cohort and has now grown to 106 students. It set up an academic partnership with Middlesex University this year after taking over from the University of York and the University of Central Lancashire.
Think Ahead delivers all its academic teaching through university staff, but also use a few external professionals to deliver one off sessions or key-note lectures on specific topics. The contract has a six year plan with the NHS planning to recruit 600 more mental health social workers over the next five years, 360 of which are specifically in adults’ mental health.