Firstly, Community Care magazine published another excellent article on the ongoing mental health social worker dispute.

You can read the article here.

‘We walked out for 81 days and the service is as unsafe as it was before’

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/10/21/we-walked-out-for-81-days-and-the-service-is-as-unsafe-as-it-was-before/

See some of the quotes below

‘We walked out for 81 days and the service is as unsafe as it was before’ (former Barnet Council mental health social worker).

“We walked out for 81 days and it made no difference. They aren’t listening to us. It’s as dangerous a service as it was when the dispute started.”

“Coming back after strike, the management don’t acknowledge it, we raise problems and they just don’t go anywhere,” says another social worker.

“My concern is, how can I practise safely as a social worker? I really can’t do a proper job. It’s just so frustrating.”

 “I’m not leaving because of the strike, I’m leaving because, through the strike, it’s become very apparent that nothing is going to get any better, as they don’t seem to value our opinion or our feedback.”

The reporting on the feedback is accurate. It is important the reasons for the exodus of social workers is recorded publicly. For some reason senior officers of the London Borough of Barnet have been ‘doubling down’ in their responses to social workers leaving. Both in meetings with senior managers and in exit interviews our members have been very clear why they have left, yet senior management is promoting a “nothing to see here, please move along” position to all press enquiries.

Feedback from our members is that morale is at rock bottom and it is highly likely more staff will be leaving as soon as they have secured their own escape plan.

The tragedy is that we are talking about mental health services. Last year the Guardian newspaper quoted hospital bosses: “Mental healthcare in England is a national emergency” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/09/mental-healthcare-in-england-is-a-national-emergency-say-hospital-bosses

Over a decade of underfunding alongside increasing numbers of people needing mental health services has devasted the workplace and services.

Earlier this month a major strike took place, “Nurses are among a group of mental health workers in Manchester who are striking today over “unsafe” staffing levels.”

“Unison North West regional organiser Paddy Cleary said: “These early intervention mental health workers take their duties seriously, but heavy workloads, insufficient funding and unsafe staffing levels have left them with no choice but to strike.”

https://www.nursingtimes.net/mental-health/manchester-mental-health-staff-strike-over-unsafe-staffing-16-10-2024/

Back here in Barnet the indifference being shown by senior officers to the huge turnover of both permanent and agency social workers is nothing short of scandalous. Each time someone leaves it means another relationship has ended for the service user. The other worrying fact is that senior management does not appear concerned that they are unable to recruit experienced mental health social workers. They are reliant on bringing in social workers with no experience of working in mental health or taking on former student social workers with little or no experience of working with service users with complex mental health needs.

“Barnet UNISON has been clear since the beginning of this dispute on 1 September 2023, that we will not tolerate our members working in an unsafe workplace. It is bad for staff and bad for service users. We understand why social workers have left and are planning to leave. Barnet Council mental health social work teams were once a trail blazing service for crisis work. Today it is a service that is out of control and the worst part is that as our members have said ‘they don’t seem to value our opinion or our feedback’.” John Burgess, Branch Secretary Barnet UNISON.

End.