This week, the Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with NHS England, launched the Change NHS campaign. This is the beginning of an ongoing conversation with the public as, together, our government and healthcare leaders seek the widest range of views possible to shape a new 10-Year Health Plan for England.
Taking a strengths based, co-production approach to achieving the best lives for people and communities is the contemporary call to action for all of us working in social care and social work. Asset based community development approaches recognise that solutions …
As someone of Italian heritage, supporting and caring for immediate and wider family members has always been a part of my life and, no doubt because it is Carers Week, it’s been at the forefront of my mind more than …
‘Assessment’ – it can seem such a loaded term. When it comes to issues of health and wellbeing, often the process feels like something that is done to us, not with us. As social workers, we actively avoid such polarised …
I was very pleased to be able to support the first national Come Back to Social Work programme which was led by the Local Government Association and funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Education. I attended their …
No one appreciates having to repeat their medical history or care needs, especially when they find the information wasn’t accurately recorded the first time! As social workers, clinicians and care workers, we cannot allow these lapses to happen when individuals …
In response to Dr Ruth Allen's recent guest blog on the merits of strengths based practice, Colin Slasberg, an independent consultant in social care, says she is absolutely right to consider how we might sweep away old thinking, practices and bureaucracies …
I'm very pleased to be publishing my annual report on World Social Work Day. Its theme of promoting community and environmental sustainability chimes well with the direction of travel we find ourselves on for adult social work in England. It …
The Department of Health, in partnership with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Principal Social Worker (PSW) Network, has published a joint social work integration advice note. Integration has many different interpretations. Sometimes it is about …
I was delighted recently when Dr Ruth Allen joined me and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) for a workshop focusing on ‘strengths based social work with adults’. The former Director of Social Work at South West London and …
At the end of last year, I announced in my blog that the Department of Health would be funding six local authorities across England to pilot deployment of a ‘named social worker’ programme for people with learning disabilities, mental health …