General Social Care Council Research Articles

The State of Regulation in England: From the General Social Care Council to the Health and Care Professions Council.

In this paper, we analyse the way in which social work, as a profession, has coped with and responded to the various forms of regulation to which it has been subject in England. First, we briefly detail the rise of external regulation of the professions, discussing both the rationale for, and criticisms of, such developments. Second, we take a closer look at developments within social work and the operation of the General Social Care Council (GSCC)'s conduct proceedings from its inception in 2001 until its dissolution in 2012. Third, we focus on the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and consider how it has begun its regulation of social workers since it took on this responsibility from August 2012. We conclude by outlining some of the concerns we have as well as discussing reasons as to why we feel this area of work needs to be explored further.

EXPLORING ARTICULATION AND PARTNERING OF SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMMES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN -WESTVILLE (UDW) AND NORTH LONDON (UNL)

As a result of an exploratory visit by Kasiram and Partab to the University of North London to investigate partnering possibilities between the two Universities, it was agreed that a comparative study of the Social Work programmes at both Universities be undertaken. The University of North London had already devised a post hoc student survey as part of the General Social Care Council feedback for quality assurance. The survey was adapted and adopted for use by the University of Durban-Westville, Social Work. The results of the two surveys were compared

Evaluating the impact of the IPOP (Improving Personal and Organisational Performance) programme

A host of recent UK social work publications have highlighted the critical importance of leadership and management development for social work managers. The lack of specialist leadership and management development is evidenced by the General Social Care Council’s figures on the uptake of post-qualifying leadership and management programmes. There is a limited amount of published research on the impact of this type of professional learning as most studies focus on programme delivery rather than on their impact on practice. Hence, this paper will report on an evaluation of the practice related impact of an introductory leadership and management programme, using data from pre-and post-programme questionnaires (n=75), follow up telephone interviews at 3-months (n=24) and an initial analysis of submitted assignments (n=32). Those data are drawn from consenting social work managers across 5 widespread local authorities in England. The programme, Improving Personal and Organisational Performance, is taught over 4-days in two, 2-day blocks and focuses on three areas of development: self-leadership, communication and resilience as a leader. A third-party testimony process, alongside assignment submission, ensures the involvement of, and validation from, the employer. The findings of the evaluation indicate positive, statistically significant evidence of initial programme impact on managers and longitudinal examples of actual programme impact on managers, their teams, organisations and services. The implications of these findings will be considered in relation to the new Professional Capabilities Framework.

Evaluating the impact of the IPOP (Improving Personal and Organisational Performance) programme

A host of recent UK social work publications have highlighted the critical importance of leadership and management development for social work managers. The lack of specialist leadership and management development is evidenced by the General Social Care Council’s figures on the uptake of post-qualifying leadership and management programmes. There is a limited amount of published research on the impact of this type of professional learning as most studies focus on programme delivery rather than on their impact on practice. Hence, this paper will report on an evaluation of the practice-related impact of an introductory leadership and management programme, using data from pre- and post-programme questionnaires (n=75), follow up telephone interviews at 3-months (n=24) and an initial analysis of submitted assignments (n=32). Those data are drawn from consenting social work managers across 5 widespread local authorities in England. The programme, Improving Personal and Organisational Performance, is taught over 4-days in two, 2-day blocks and focuses on three areas of development: self-leadership, communication and resilience as a leader. A third-party testimony process, alongside assignment submission, ensures the involvement of, and validation from, the employer. The findings of the evaluation indicate positive, statistically significant evidence of initial programme impact on managers and longitudinal examples of actual programme impact on managers, their teams, organisations and services. The implications of these findings will be considered in relation to the new Professional Capabilities Framework.

Developing professional boundaries guidance for social workers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the approach taken by the General Social Care Council to developing professional boundaries guidance for social workers.

A model to support the development of courtroom skills

Summary: There is widespread interest on the part of social work degree students in developing their courtroom skills within a framework of learning about social work law, but it is often not until they qualify and are ‘thrown in at the deep end’ that anyone gives any serious thought to the need for preparation and skills development in this area. As a result, students and newly-qualified social workers are frequently apprehensive about court work, which means that they do not always do themselves, or the people who use social work services, justice when faced with court involvement. This article offers a model for practice assessors to use with students in agencies where court work is undertaken, and encourages skills development against a foundation of critical analysis and reflection. The term ‘practice assessor’ has been adopted by the General Social Care Council in preference to the previously widely-used term ‘practice teacher’ to describe the person responsible for facilitating learning and supervising and assessing social work students in practice. Within this model, ‘practice assessor’ is interchangeable with ‘practice teacher’, and indeed most of the suggested learning activities primarily involve a facilitative or teaching, rather than an assessment, role.

An exploration of the motivations of service users and carers involved in student social work education and the challenges that such involvement brings

Since the inception in 2003 of the degree-based route for social work qualification, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) requires people who use social work services and carers to become involved in all aspects of a learners experience on qualifying social work programmes. This article reports on a qualitative study designed to explore the motivations and challenges such involvement brings. The aim was to incorporate the voices of those involved and add to the discourse on user and carer involvement in higher education. A series of focus groups occurred to investigate differing perspectives. Views from all parties regarding the learner experience were explored. Findings suggest that students had much to gain in terms of confidence and skills by involvement by users and carers from theoretical and practical perspectives. Service users and carers reported they enjoyed the experience and for some this also lead to an increase in confidence and abilities. Academic staff reported how the involvement of service users and carers brought value and ‘reality’ to classroom based learning. In conclusion, moving beyond the boundaries of ‘traditional’ classroom based learning, towards the myriad of possibilities user and carer involvement in the curriculum brings, enhances the experience of learners, academics, users and carers alike.

Do the Characteristics of Seconded or Sponsored Social Work Students in England Differ from Those of Other Social Work Students?—A Quantitative Analysis Using National Data

Amongst initiatives by social work employers in the United Kingdom (UK) to resolve recruitment difficulties is the use of secondment and sponsorship to attract entrants to the profession; commonly known as Grow Your Own schemes. This paper reports on part of a mixed-method research study that asked ‘What works in Grow Your Own (GYO) schemes?’ in England. One important research question for this study was whether the characteristics of seconded or sponsored social work students differ from those of other social work students. To explore this, the researchers analysed around 41,000 students' anonymous data records supplied by the General Social Care Council covering enrolments on social work programmes from 1998 to 2007. The findings indicate that GYO schemes have facilitated the participation of men, Asian groups and older applicants in social work qualifying programmes when compared to the general population of social work students. However, students from Black ethnic backgrounds and those with disabilities have been more likely to be under-represented in such schemes. The findings are discussed within the wider study remits and messages for educationalists and social work employers are drawn out.

Blurring Private–Professional Boundaries: Does it Matter? Issues in Researching Social Work Students' Perceptions about Professional Regulation

Social work students in England now have to register with the General Social Care Council and ‘sign up to’ the codes of practice. These specify that social workers must not ‘behave in a way, in work or outside work, which would call into question [their] suitability to work in social care services'. This paper describes a small and ongoing piece of doctoral research into social work students' perceptions of professional regulation. The policy context for social work regulation is outlined, including the implications for social work educators and students. The paper discusses the ethical and methodological issues which arose when planning the study. In conclusion, regulation has benefits for service users and professionals, but its implementation involves difficult ethical decisions. When students' suitability is called into question, there are implications for their personal and professional identities: exploring these implications will be the focus of the next stage of the research.

Change and Continuity: A Quantitative Investigation of Trends and Characteristics of International Social Workers in England

The UK has long experienced a shortage of social workers and has recruited internationally to meet demand. There have been few specific data quantifying the scale of social work mobility to the UK through which such experiences can be set in context. The analysis reported in this article uses data from October 2008, relating to registered social workers working in England. As part of a wider study of migrant social care workers in England, the article reports analysis of data records of over 7,000 non-UK social workers registered to work in England and compares their characteristics to UK-qualified social workers. These analyses are supplemented by analysis of more recent application and registration data from the General Social Care Council pertaining to social workers qualified within and outside the European Union during 2008 and 2009. The findings highlight several important observations in terms of non-UK-qualified social workers' profile as well as some possible trends in migration and variations in rates of qualification verification. Over half of all international social workers in England were trained in four countries: Australia, South Africa, India and the USA. Findings are contextualised with qualitative data obtained from the wider study and policy debates.

Personalisation, support brokerage and social work — what are we teaching social work students?

The authors describe how social work students on placement at the Realife Trust Student Unit have been able to explore the potential of support brokerage to promote self-directed support by disabled people and family carers. The students complete brokerage training as part of the placement and are required to compare and contrast the key competencies required by the General Social Care Council with the knowledge base and job description of support brokers defined by the National Brokerage Network in the UK. Lead author, Tony Phillips argues that brokerage provides an opportunity for the social work profession to return to its practitioner roots and reject the aberrations of the care management model as having little or no relevance to the development of a social care system based on the policy of personalisation. Three social work students from three different cohorts of the unit provide their own first-hand accounts of the challenges involved and insights gained.

Approved social worker to approved mental health professional: evaluating the impact of changes within education and training

The Mental Health Act 2007 (HM Government, 2007) replaced the approved social worker (ASW) with the approved mental health professional (AMHP), opening up the role to some nonsocial work professions. AMHP training, however, remains linked to the General Social Care Council (GSCC) post‐qualifying social work framework, with AMHP training now incorporated into the higher specialist social work award, set at masters level (level M) rather than first degree (level H) (General Social Care Council, 2007).Analysis of data from the first year of AMHP training at Bournemouth University illustrates some of the challenges that have arisen particularly in relation to the masters level study. Evaluation of the first year highlights some important areas for future consideration in terms of student selection, pre‐course preparation and student support. The data also demonstrate that there have only been a very small number of non social workers enrolling on programmes at the present time. This article will explore some of the possible reasons behind this.

Control and Social Work: A Reflection on Some Twenty-First Century Developments

The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed many changes in social work. This article discusses several of these developments in order to understand the rationale behind them and to consider how they impact on social workers and the social work role. Three separate but interconnected developments are highlighted. First, some key influences on statutory mental health and child protection services are discussed. Second, the author considers the role of the General Social Care Council (GSCC). Third, and related to the previous two points, the author looks at the way the term ‘vulnerable’, once considered a relatively rare condition or state, certainly for adults, has expanded to the point that to be considered vulnerable is no longer seen as an exceptional state but has, in many respects, become normalised. The purpose is twofold. First, to show the connections between developments in different services, and second, to highlight overarching societal developments that affect not only social workers but all of us, as procedural measures to protect the vulnerable become institutionalised. In the process, not only have social workers become more controlling, they have simultaneously become more controlled by procedural measures and regulatory authorities.

Social Work Admissions: Applicants with Criminal Convictions--The Challenge of Ethical Risk Assessment

The decision to admit an ex-offender to social work training may play a part in combating the social exclusion of people who have committed criminal offences, but it may also knowingly place social work service users and carers in positions of increased vulnerability. This paper brings together critical perspectives on both the nature of risk and ethical decision making in the context of social work admissions of applicants with criminal convictions. It locates the concepts of risk and risk assessment within General Social Care Council (GSCC) guidance. The epistemological assumptions underpinning risk assessments are explored and the differences in psychological and sociological approaches to understanding risk are outlined. However, decisions to admit or reject an ex-offender involve ethical and moral judgements. The contribution of ethical thinking to decision making, in relation the admission of ex-offenders, to social work training is described. The paper concludes by suggesting that social work admissions procedures need to be informed by: an explicit epistemological standpoint, transparent risk assessment procedures and clearly articulated ethical thinking.

‘You've Got to be a Saint to be a Social Worker’. The (Mis)operation of Fitness to Practise Processes for Students Already Registered onto English Social Work Training Programmes

This article seeks to promote a debate about the operation of fitness to practise procedures for students who have been registered onto social work training programmes in England. Information is provided about the General Social Care Council (GSCC) requirements, university procedures and five exemplars are used to tease out some of the key issues in relation to the operation of these processes. From this exploratory position major concerns are raised about the operation of the current process which promotes surveillance of students in all aspects of their lives, is secret, and lacks accountability. At present it is unknown whether these processes are being operated in a fair or just manner, whether they target particular student communities or whether they are being operated equitably across England. This is a highly unsatisfactory position and is in sharp contradiction to social work's avowed commitment to social justice.

Learning from African students

In response to the growing numbers of African students on the social work qualifying programme at the University of Northampton, three senior lecturers undertook a small-scale study in 2008 to evaluate African students’ particular learning experiences. This trend of increasing student numbers reflects the national picture as indicated by the General Social Care Council (GSCC, 2009). The African student experience is different and therefore different strategies are needed to ensure that learning and subsequent employability are maximised. The research identified two significant outcomes. The first was the need for a peer support group, which was set up in September 2008. The group named itself PADARE, a Zimbabwean term which means: meeting place. The second was the need for a qualified social worker as a mentor to support the students’ transition from academic learning into work-based learning and practice. This paper will focus mainly on the rationale and potential of these two initiatives from both an educator’s perspective and that of the students themselves drawing on relevant contemporary literature in the areas of Mentoring and Peer support groups.

Risk Assessments for Mental Health Service Users

• Summary: This article considers the nature and basis of risk assessments in mental health services, based on empirical research on the tools used within NHS Mental Health Trusts in England which found a wide variety of such tools in use within them. • Findings: The article examines the problems and potential benefits in the use of such tools, and argues for an inclusive and holistic approach to risk assessments which incorporate our knowledge of the risks of risk assessments. The article pays particular attention to risk assessment procedures as relevant to social workers who have to uphold the requirements of the General Social Care Council Code of Practice, which provides particular emphasis on issues of risk, and service user and carer involvement in assessments. Potential biases and limitations of risk assessment approaches, it is proposed, need to be taken into account in order to have a balanced view of the value of such approaches. • Applications : The article provides a critique of the validity and effectiveness of current risk assessment tools, focusing in upon one key area in mental health work, the assessment and management of potential violence.

A European Computer Driving Licence: integrating computer literacy in the new Social Work degree

'Informacy', the learning of information technology skills, is now a key element of all Social Work curricula in the U.K. following the General Social Care Council's accreditation requirements. These stipulate that all undergraduates acquire computer literacy skills to the level of the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) or its equivalence and require that all accredited Social Work courses assess students to ensure that this is achieved. However, many universities do not have the support of information technology departments in order to ensure that their students are taught how to use a computer. Nor do they have access to interactive web-based packages that assist the students in teaching themselves IT skills to the high levels required by the European Computer Driving Licence. The research suggests that an integrated e-learning teaching and assessment strategy can help to promote computer literacy among Social Work students. This paper explores some of the challenges that arise from integrating e-learning into the teaching and assessment of a Social Work degree, based on the experience of the Social Work Department at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (now Bucks New University).

Who Really Drives the Development of Post‐Qualifying Social Work Education and What are the Implications of This?

This article seeks to stimulate debate around the relationship between Post‐Qualifying Social Work education and social work practice. Whilst initially welcomed as a positive development for the continuous professional development of qualified social workers, the author questions if in a work climate increasingly dominated by concerns about meeting global market forces PQSW education has the potential to support discriminatory and oppressive practice and undermine social work values?Higher education in England has been given the task by the General Social Care Council to develop Post‐Qualifying Social Work (PQSW) education that delivers both academic and vocational learning as national occupational standards, workforce planning and concerns around globalisation drive professional development. Indeed, a positive selling point for the PQSW framework is its apparent ability to bring together practitioners' career choices with professional development, employers' workforce planning strategies and the government's modernisation agenda for public service provision. However, could a system of education designed to meet such a variety of agendas undermine social work practice and reduce higher education to primarily providing programmes designed to meet regulatory requirements rather than professional social work that promotes an anti‐discriminatory and anti‐oppressive approach to practice? The article concludes that whilst evidence suggests PQSW education does make a positive difference to practitioners and their organisations, debate is still required to ensure it supports agreed social work values and a commitment to anti‐oppressive and anti‐discriminatory practice.

The Social Worker versus the General Social Care Council: An Analysis of Care Standards Tribunal Hearings and Decisions

The General Social Care Council (GSCC) is the regulatory body for the social care workforce in England.1 It maintains the Social Care Register and has the power to refuse an applicant entry onto the Register and to instigate proceedings to have those on the Register removed if they deem the social worker in question has committed misconduct. As it is a criminal offence for anyone whose name is not on the Register to call themselves a social worker, the GSCC has extensive powers in relation to the social care workforce. This paper analyses cases in which social workers have been through the GSCC's regulatory process, disagree with the decision and have exercised their right to appeal to the Care Standards Tribunal. Using a critical content analysis, several themes are identified that give cause for concern about the workings of the GSCC, its Committees and the Care Standards Tribunal itself. It is noted that there is an inherent imbalance of power in the proceedings, which heavily favour the GSCC and are detrimental to the social worker's chance of receiving a fair hearing. In addition, areas in which social workers' ‘out of work’ lives have been considered to be within the remit of GSCC investigation and censure are highlighted. It is pointed out that a new morality of appropriate behaviour is being overseen by a government-appointed organization. The findings and areas of concern identified are of particular concern to social workers and social care professionals who find themselves increasingly subject to surveillance and censure by the GSCC. The conclusion considers some key points that require further discussion within social work and indeed the wider political realm.