Social workers should spend less time filling in forms and more time talking to children, the head of an independent review into child protection in England said today.
Who could argue with that? Any more instructions on those eggs, grandma?
Professor Eileen Munro also wants to strip Ofsted of the power to evaluate reports into the deaths of abused or neglected children.
And the icing on the cake? ‘Hey, how about we use the element of surprise to find out what they are
really up to?!’
And the regulator should scrap making pre-planned checks on children's services in favour of unannounced visits, the review found.
It’s a real /facepalm moment when you realise that those tasked with guarding the guardians think that a pre-arranged visit shows them
anything, isn’t it?
She said: "Everyone in the profession can think of meetings and forms that don't actually make a child safer.
"Whilst some regulation is needed, we need to reduce it to a small, manageable size.
"Professionals should be spending more time with children, asking how they feel, whether they understand why the social worker is involved in their family, and finding out what they want to happen.
"Placing a timescale on completing a form puts pressure on professionals which can distract from making decent quality judgments."
Well, cheers, professor, but most people could have told you that for nothing…
It also stressed the importance of giving health, police and family support professionals easier access to social work advice when they have concerns about abuse and neglect.
That’ll be good news, at least, it will if it’s
acted upon, rather than given lip service.
Prof Munro will submit her final report in April.
Plenty of time for the SS to entrench themselves and prepare for a long siege.
This principle could (and should) be applied across all walks of life. It's frequently observed that "Nothing Works in Britain" - largely because too many employees are spending too much time doing pointless box ticking and form filling. If they spent the majority of their days doing what their job title suggests, we wouldn't be in the sh1t...
ReplyDeleteWow report states the obvious, hold the press :-D
ReplyDeleteSounds like they are trying to save admin costs ,less box tickers less wages to pay.
ReplyDeleteCutting Labour's non jobs.
Social Workers .. the biggest waste of public funds since Politicians ..
ReplyDeleteSome social workers seem to view the world through rose tinted glasses.
ReplyDeleteThey still follow a left wing liberal agenda of being non-judgemental.
Someone should tell them that it is often necessary to kick ass.
"If they spent the majority of their days doing what their job title suggests, we wouldn't be in the sh1t..."
ReplyDeleteI suspect that's often the case in private industry too. I can think of a few where I work!
"They still follow a left wing liberal agenda of being non-judgemental. "
The 'Mail' yesterday afternoon made horrific reading. And again, they've failed to 'kick ass' where it needed to be done.