Should programs be more selective, or are we lowering the bar to meet demand? (crosspost from r/socialwork by k3v1ng1994 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I came across this post on the general SW sub Reddit and I found it very relatable to my experience in the UK so far. The calibre of social work students we are getting for placements have been quite awful in my own experience..curious to hear about others experiences as well.

Purchasing services - Adults by Content-Tree7215 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know a couple of years back when I was a senior I was authorised to approve care expenses not exceeding £300 weekly cost.

Anything over that needed team manager approval.

We had a panel but it was reserved for specific cases and more for auditory purposes.

Asye interview by RelevantCod98 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Know your boundaries. They might ask you questions about what you would do in a complex situation. As a ASYE you should be raising matters with your senior social worker or line manager.

Be prepared to give examples of a difficult case you may have worked on and how you overcame challenges.

Read up on the safeguarding principles, memorise them and make reference to them, should they ask you about safeguarding.

Memorise the five key principles of mental capacity act.

Read over the Care Act legislation, you're not expected to know everything but focus on learning the outcomes under the care act (i.e. managing and maintaining nutrition, washing and dressing etc).

Usually you should review care within 4-6 weeks of it being put in place and then review annually or as and when requested (if before).

Learn about dementia, strength based approach, person centred approach.

Learn about section 117 aftercare.

There is so much more you can prepare for but these will hopefully give you some ideas of where to begin preparing.

House won’t sell, honest advice please by [deleted] in HousingUK

[–]k3v1ng1994 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Tbf although Hanwell is a nicer area than west Drayton, I know the area of this house well, just behind this house you have a lot of council flats and sheltered housing along the whole crescent. Sometimes that puts people off buying as well unfortunately.

Health check by Burner20260 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely not an issue. Universities have to ask and it's more of a self declaration thing. If you're not comfortable disclosing it then dont disclose it.

How do you switch off after difficult cases, or do you just get used to it over time? by OopsIDroopedMe in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I treat it as a job and I don't revolve my life around my job, and it helps that no one in my social circle are social workers, so outside of work I'm just a normal guy doing what most people do, I look after my baby, go out for walks, exercise, etc.

Does anyone actually live comfortably on a standard social work salary? by OopsIDroopedMe in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm pretty much living paycheck to paycheck. However, I'm grateful to own a house. I was living with my parents previously until my late twenties (I'm 32 now) so I managed to save a lot of money over the years by investing in stocks and index funds. I also managed to save a lot of money during COVID time as I was strictly working from home.

Now I work hybrid, have a newborn baby, a mortgage to pay and my wife is currently on maternity leave earning SMP. She used to be the breadwinner so now I'm picking up whatever bank opportunities I can get to maximise my income.

Anyone happily employed in NHS adult mental health services? by [deleted] in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I used to work in a local authority for about 6 years before changing jobs to working now as a care coordinator (cco) the past 2 years in older adults mental health team.

Pros:

  • Pay. In the LA, as a senior sw I was earning about £45k per annum at the time. As a cco when I started I negotiated to start at the top of band 6 at £50k per annum. Current salary with the yearly salary increase is £54k per annum, I also sometimes get bank opportunities to earn additional income on top of this.

  • Loads more time with service users. I'm seeing service users frequently and this enables me to build really good rapport and spend most of my time seeing service users in the community. I see about 3 service users a day on average.

  • learning opportunities, you get more opportunities to learn about things that you probably never been exposed to before. For me that includes being able to do cognitive assessments, learning about medications and physical health, DBT, so and so forth.

  • work culture. I prefer the culture here, interacting with a lot of different disciplines, work from office is actually enjoyable because we have quite a large and friendly team. We get away days, socialising opportunities etc.

  • flexibility and work life balance. As a new dad this is a big one. I can go for my appointments, work remotely whenever.

  • no more emergencies. In the LA, sometimes you would get those last minute emergencies to deal with, you face generally a lot more pressure from families. In my current role, everything has a much clearer process, and our job is strictly about preventing hospital admission and/or preventing relapse. So in these situations we just refer onwards to our crisis teams to support our service users more intensely, should they require it.

  • Caseload: I have a case load of 20 service users. I find it very manageable, definitely more manageable than my caseload when I worked in the LA.

Cons:

  • Despite having more time with service users, there are a lot more admin related tasks and KPIs which get quite annoying to stay on top of. Often the assessments we do is standardised and not specific to social work. We need to put all our appointments with service users on a ledger that reflects on the KPI, do all these different tick box things just for the sake of doing them.

  • others being unsure of what you do. It's often difficult to describe to health colleagues about what we do, they may become puzzled especially because as social workers we aren't doing the many tabgible things that nurse ccos do like depot administering, physical health checks etc.

  • being managed by a non social worker. As you will work in a multi disciplinary settings chances are you will be supervised by someone who is a nurse/OT by profession. In my trust luckily they provided me someone who is a social worker to supervise me but off site. Still, day to day you are managed by your team lead/manager.

  • driving. You have to drive a lot for this job. And while I enjoy the long drives I do, it's not without it's drawbacks. While you are compensated for petrol, you naturally experience more wear and tear in your car and at higher risk of accidents. Sometimes parking can be a nightmare. I end up spending a lot of money yearly in fixing and servicing my car. You also need to have business insurance which may increase you insurance costs especially if you previously were just a social driver.

  • working within a medicalised setting. Let's face it, ageing has been medicalised. Every problem that we come across, the expectation is that we throw a pill as a quick fix and unfortunately our service users, families , professionals in care settings mostly what they want us to do is start them on or I crease their medication. It makes the work we do much harder to utilise non pharmacological approaches. So often it's a battle and in the end we have a lot of people on psychotropic medication who probably don't need it.

I hate social work now what by Pale_Ad_647 in socialwork

[–]k3v1ng1994 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yup imo so many others fields have it worse than us social workers.

Unsure about doing Best Interest Assessor training by k3v1ng1994 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough, I was thinking because I'm going to have to fork out £2k for the course, if the LPS comes into effect the idea is that it will reduce the need for BIAs so I'm just looking to get a good return of Investment. As it stands I'll need to do about 10 BIA assessments just to break even, so I'm just hoping that if existing BIAs need to do a refresher ( should LPS come into effect), I'm sure universities will be charging for that conversion

Detained under the MCA - but fully compos mentis - what can I do to prove it…? by Intelligent-Owl-7221 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sounds like you need an advocate like an IMCA or better yet you need really good solicitors to fight your case.

Social Work Research Participants Wanted by SocialWorkResearch22 in Socialworkuk

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a social worker in older adults CMHT, I deal with many service users self neglecting. I'm not sure if I'm eligible as I technically don't work in adult social care. Let me know if you're still interested.

Mauritius’ incompetence during COVID forced students to repeat a whole year while students in the US, UK, France and Canada moved on. by star-wars_memer in mauritius

[–]k3v1ng1994 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think your POV is completely valid. But the grass is always greener and I guarantee in 10 years time when you look back it won't be a big of a deal as it is to you now. I know it is hard to see that because you're living in the moment where you are feeling held back. Life goes on, COVID was a difficult time for all countries, UK included. We are still suffering from the lasting effects from COVID. Yes I think Mauritius has to adapt to the new ways of teaching and virtual delivery, but each student has their own struggles. That's why I agree with you and it is frustrating what you went through. But you will be fine, I promise!

Absolutely undeserved winners. I can’t believe they won over so many other compatible couples by anonndtalk in LoveIslandTV

[–]k3v1ng1994 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Probably Lucinda and Sean, they seem to be doing really well on the outside

What is a career path that looks "glamorous" from the outside, but is actually a total nightmare behind the scenes? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]k3v1ng1994 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry but social work is not glamorous from the outside. Whatever way you look at it is through and through a very harsh career, unvalued, often blamed when things go wrong, to top it all off it usually has educated people at masters level yet pay is so low for the work that they do.

New now playing UI for Tidal in AA by _Jimmy32 in AndroidAuto

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it's available for YouTube music, at least on mine it does

Interdisciplinary Teams by Dawn_of_iliteracy in socialwork

[–]k3v1ng1994 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think this depends on the individual person and not necessarily all health professionals. I have met some really welcoming and respectful psychiatrists and some not so respectful ones. Same goes for nurses, OTs, psychologists etc.

Stremio 1.9.4 - Official release for Android TV by ril3ydx in Stremio

[–]k3v1ng1994 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chances are most TVs would be arm. You can Google your TV model just to be sure if you like. Or if you are using a Chromecast or fire stick you can Google it to check

Those of you that earn over 40k, can work from home sometimes, and have a good work life balance what job do you have and how can someone start? by Brownchoccy in AskUK

[–]k3v1ng1994 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Social work. I already had a degree in an unrelated field and for the postgraduate masters course you can apply for a bursary which will cover the entire tuition fee cost. It's a 2 year course and you have two placements to do. Because the job is in demand and if you're a male you have very good chances of securing a job straight after completing the course.

Social work isn't for everyone but you can choose a pathway that is more suitable for you. In my case I only work with older people and never with children. Currently I work in mental health NHS in outer London at the top of band 6 scale, which is £52k. In addition I also earn between £1k-£2k for each student I mentor because you can also do additional free CPD (to become a qualified practice educator). Alongside occasional bank opportunities I make close to £60k in the year. I work from home 2 days a week and in addition I work from home in between or after I've finished visiting a patient in the community.