Due to chronic underfunding, increased demand and an unrelenting turnover rate of social work staff, the social care crisis continues to threaten the UK. Worsened by the Covid-19 crisis, we are now seeing a higher turnover of staff than ever before as people look elsewhere for more flexible, hybrid roles. To add to this, councils are having to come up with new solutions as the cost of living rises, adding more strain to local communities. Overall, we are left with a gross imbalance of staff versus those needing care - not to mention financial uncertainty. So, how do we promote change and ensure that local councils keep up with the demand for social workers?
Could agency partnerships be the answer?
Following a recent review of Hull City Council’s children’s services, The Department for Education has withdrawn its intervention. This marks significant progress since Ofsted deemed its children’s services ‘inadequate’ in January 2019.
Over the past two years, Hull City Council has identified a need for extra capacity and worked with numerous agencies to enhance its social care services. This initiative was overseen by Government-appointed commissioner, Paul Moffat, who in his most recent inspection, commended the “stable and determined leadership team,” who have provided “greatly improved support”.
As a result, vulnerable children and young people in Hull now have access to around the clock support thanks to the appointed dedicated social workers and Hull Council’s proactiveness. The council also saw an increase in quality of work, team morale and throughput of cases.
While the DfE is content with the progress made by Hull, it has issued an improvement notice as it notes that there is “still some distance for the Council to travel”. Indeed, this highlights the extent to which local councils are being pushed to continuously innovate and improve the quality of service, despite the high turnover of social workers.
That being said, it is important not to overlook Hull’s significant progress in stabilising staff numbers and reducing the level of risk to its children and young people.
The important role of Self-Managed Services
Our recent implementation at Hull City Council aided in stabilising staff numbers, which in turn improved team morale and throughput of cases.
Once Imperium Solutions’ recognised a need for additional capacity, our specialist team provided one head of practice, one team manager and 6 social workers. This has been implemented over a six-month period, during which in agreement with Hull we have successfully capped caseloads at 22 children and divided cases into two cohorts of 125. As a result, we continue to see a steadier workflow, throughput and case completion/ handover.
Our service continues to help the council reach its goal in reducing the level of risk for children within Hull and improving the timeliness of support and intervention.
It is evident that collaboration between councils facing challenges and multiple agencies allows for maximum impact and that we are on our way to finding new and innovative ways to support our most vulnerable in society.
Imperium Solutions congratulates Hull City Council on its success, and we look forward to continuing our professional journey together.
Want to work with us? Get in touch at info@imperiumsolutions.co.uk and one of our specialists will get back to you.
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