Almost 800 people have been refused professional registration and 23 people have been barred from practice by the social work regulator in the last five years, a new report shows.
‘Raising standards: social work conduct in England 2003-2008’, published today (Weds) is the first report on conduct activity from the General Social Care Council, which started registering social workers in 2003. It looks at how the regulator assesses suitability for registration, deals with allegations of misconduct and takes action against those found to have breached the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers.
It showed that (up to 31 March 2008):
- 214 people were refused registration by an independent committee, following issues relating to criminal convictions, health conditions, disciplinary matters etc.
- 582 people were refused registration on the basis of qualifications
- 40 complaints about registered social workers or students received on average per month
Forty-nine hearings in front of independent conduct committees have taken place to date, with 23 people being removed, five suspended and 19 people receiving an admonishment, which is a mark against their name on the register. In the two remaining cases no misconduct was found.
Over a third of all cases heard have concerned inappropriate relationships between social workers and people who use services or their family members. The Code of Practice for Social Care Workers, which anyone signing up with the GSCC agrees to abide by, states that social workers must not form inappropriate personal relationships with service users. The regulator announced earlier this year that it is to start work on additional guidance for the profession.
Commenting on the report, Sir Rodney Brooke, Chair of the GSCC, said:
“Misconduct is very rare, and the majority of the 97,000 social workers and students carry out their work with true professionalism. Our report shows that where misconduct does exist, we have been able to take appropriate action to preserve public trust and confidence in social care services.
“Our first hearing took place just two years ago yet in that space of time we have been able to embed the standards expected of social workers through the Code of Practice and identify key issues such as those relating to inappropriate relationships.
“Perhaps more than any other profession, social workers should be acutely aware of the boundaries that should be in place in terms of their relationships with people who use services, their families and carers. Social workers must recognise and use responsibly the power that comes from their work, and ensure that nothing impairs their objectivity and ability to make sound judgements. Inappropriate relationships can potentially put people who use services at risk and we intend to work on a project to develop additional guidance.”