Vulnerable children suffering as social workers ‘busted’ by budget and workload stress

A Belfast social worker has spoken of his concerns for vulnerable children as chronic staffing pressures erode vital services.

Last Thursday, social workers with Family and Childcare services in the Belfast trust area staged industrial action short of strike, with teams in other trusts to follow in the coming weeks.

NIPSA said staffing levels have been 30% below the required levels for a considerable time, meaning the service is not being provided safely, with staff carrying excessive caseloads and with stress and illness commonplace.

There is also continuing uncertainty this week after the Health Minister Robin Swann refused to endorse a new budget, stating it was £500m under what was needed to maintain current services.

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Social worker Damien Maguire is a Nipsa representative in Belfast.

“This isn’t just something that’s happened over the last six months, children’s social work is really suffering from the effects of the pandemic,” he told The Irish News.

“The number of children coming into care across Northern Ireland over the last three years has really shot up significantly.”

He said the Belfast trust had the highest rates of admission over the last three years, with around 1,095 children in care by January 2024.

Other figures for January include 521 unallocated cases in the South Eastern trust for Gateway and Family support and children with disability.

The Northern trust also had 139 unallocated Looked After Children cases, which Mr Maguire called the most concerning as the trust is the legal parent of the children.

“That has created massive workforce pressures because there’s a problem recruiting and retaining staff into these frontline child protection roles,” he said.

“The system has creaked and creaked while the cases have become more difficult and complex.”

He said the cost-of-living crisis and the associated mental health pressures on society, meant more families were struggling.

Mr Maguire said the cost-of-living crisis had greatly contributed to mental health issues across society, with the associated stress on families meaning more children were exposed to harm.

While much of the debate around public health focuses around hospitals and GPs, he said social care often felt “like the poor relation”.

“Our social work members are going above and beyond to try and support families and children.

“They’re working at a very high level and working excessive hours. They really care and want to help children, whether they’re in some sort of distress or on child protection plans.

“They feel more and more that they can’t deliver the service they want to.

“You just have people that are busted and don’t want to work in that type of environment anymore.

“It’s not because of a lack of commitment, it’s because they’re exhausted mentally and emotionally.

“They just feel like they can’t give anymore.

“That’s why this action has come about. We’ve told the Department (of Health) and health trusts that this is an emergency, we need to incentivise people to stay in these posts.”

While fully aware of the budget problems facing the health service, he warned Stormont leaders: “These decisions could potentially impact children for the rest of their lives.

“There’s a real issue here. Because society generally cares about the welfare of children.

“There can’t be compromise about what our political leaders, and particularly the Department of Health, need to do to safeguard these children.”