WIREDGOV

A recent poll carried out by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) shows that an overwhelming 89 per cent of social workers surveyed want the Social Work Degree to include training on drug, alcohol and substance misuse. Only 11 per cent said it should continue to just be offered within Post Qualifying (PQ) courses. The poll was open to readers of Social Work Connections, the GSCC’s newsletter for social workers and students and was completed by 881 respondents.

The Education Working Group of the Social Work Reform Board (SWRB) is reviewing the content and delivery of the curriculum framework for social work. As part of this, they will be considering whether there needs to be more emphasis on certain issues including drug, alcohol and substance misuse training in the Social Work Degree.

Hilary Burgess, member of the curriculum sub-group of the Education Working Group of the Social Work Reform Board and senior academic adviser from the Subject Centre for Social Policy and Social Work, University of Southampton said:

“All initial qualifying programmes should include issues of alcohol and substance misuse in their curricula, but the attention given to this topic must be weighed against the many other pressing demands on the qualifying curriculum - such as relationship breakdowns, behavioural and/or parenting problems, violence and abuse, mental distress and ill-health, physical ill health and disability, all of which need to be considered.
 
The curriculum sub-group of the Education Working Group of the SWRB is discussing how expectations in relation to different areas of need and user groups might be framed within the new requirements. However learning about this in greater depth is surely a matter for CPD of all kinds, both in-house and within PQ awards.”

Dr Sarah Galvani, Chair of the BASW Special Interest Group (SIG) in alcohol and other drugs and social work research fellow, University of Bedfordshire said:

“Both research and practice evidence tells us that social workers from many areas of specialist practice are working with individuals and their families affected by problematic alcohol and drug use.  Alcohol and drug problems stem from, and lead to, social problems.  This is not just a health or criminal justice issue. 

Social workers are ideally placed to respond to social problems and support people in their homes and communities but we need to give them the knowledge and skills to do this with confidence. We need to listen to the results of this survey and others like it. Alcohol and drug knowledge has to be a part of their core qualifying training. Specialist training alone post qualification is not enough to prepare social workers for the realities of practice.”

Don Shenker, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern said:
 
“Time and again social work staff have called for more support and training to deal with the alcohol and drug issues their clients face. We know that one third of social workers say they receive no training on substance misuse issues, which is very worrying. With over half of Serious Case Reviews involving alcohol, drugs or mental health issues, it is vital that core training for social workers includes robust training on these issues.

We call on the Government to wake up to the seriousness of this issue and provide social workers with the additional training they need. Government should ensure that parental substance misuse and related domestic abuse becomes a mandatory part of all social work degree courses and launch a rolling education programme for those already qualified.”

Sherry Malik, GSCC Director of Strategy and Social Work Education, said:

“Getting the right balance of all the knowledge, skills and values to prepare social workers for the complex and demanding jobs they do in many different settings is difficult. We know that a large number of social workers have dealings with matters relating to drug, alcohol and substance abuse and would benefit from this training.

This poll has revealed the strength of social workers’ feelings and we will convey their view to the Education Working Group at the next meeting on 13 December. We will also be discussing these findings with The College of Social Work to further empower them in their role of the champion and voice of social workers.  We would welcome social workers discussing this issue further with other professionals on our online forums.”

Notes to editors:

For more information, contact John Gaston 020 7397 5832, john.gaston@gscc.org.uk or Jenna Khalfan 020 7397 5802, jenna.khalfan@gscc.org.uk  

1. The Social Work Connections poll question was: Should training on drug, alcohol and substance misuse 1) Be included within the core learning of the Social Work Degree? 788 (89%) or 2) Continue to just be offered within Post Qualifying courses? 93 (11%)

2. The General Social Care Council (GSCC) is the regulator of the social workers and social work education in England. The GSCC protects the public by requiring high standards of education, conduct and practice of social workers by ensuring that only those who are properly trained and committed to high standards practise social work.

3. The Government recently announced that the GSCC’s functions will be transferred to the Health Professions Council which will happen no earlier than April 2012. This does not affect the requirement for social workers to be registered with the GSCC, and to renew their registration every three years, in order to practise and to adhere to the GSCC’s codes of practice.

4. Useful resources: Hidden Harm, Swept under the carpet, Final report for the Home Office. Available online at: www.beds.ac.uk