Sometimes, being proud of your profession is not enough. Whilst we have every right and reason to proclaim our professionalism and leadership from the rooftops, we still need to demonstrate our effectiveness and value each and every day. It’s an obligation I take very seriously. It is why I continue to bang the drum for raising standards in social work and promoting frameworks for education and supportive employment - to strive relentlessly for world class excellence in social work practice.
Our Wednesday morning plenary ‘Practice leadership in social work: a new lever for better standards and standing’ (11.20 – 12.20 Purbeck Lounge) will be another opportunity to explore what more we can do as leaders and practitioners to raise standards and demonstrate the vital role of our profession within the broader health and care system.
As the Chief Social Workers for Children and Families and Adults respectively, Isabelle Trowler and I will make the case for creating a system that empowers students, educators and practicing social workers alike, as we seek to make lasting, positive changes in peoples’ lives.
Between us we will set out our vision for creating the next generation of practice leaders and a clear and transparent assessment process against which social workers at all levels can benchmark their knowledge and skills with confidence.
For my part, I’m looking forward to celebrating the great work of our Principal Social Workers (PSWs), their guidance and leadership, not just as voices of expertise within English councils, but as mentors to our profession as a whole. I will also seek to build on our increasing prominence as expert practitioners in the realms of care and support, mental health, dementia and autism. As health and care services continue to align, there has never been a more exciting time to be a social worker!
Join us for more conversation
And in the hope that our joint session inspires you with more thoughts and questions about modern social work – and the specialisms within it – please join me and our invited PSWs in the Department of Health (Bourne) Lounge later that afternoon (Wednesday 14 October 3.15 – 3.45pm) where I’ll be showcasing our recently published CPD guides dedicated to social work in the fields of mental capacity, dementia and autism.
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