Social worker self care: more than a personal responsibility

Kelly has worked in the Trade Union movement for over 20 years, 12 years with public service trade union UNISON. She works in a specialised team in UNISON which provides advice, support and advocacy for UNISON members across a number of regulators including social worker members who are registered with Social Work England (SWE). A Social Worker who is referred or is considering self-referral to the regulator is fully supported by UNISON through what can be a stressful process. From representing social workers Kelly has gained first-hand insight into some of the many pressures they face such as increasing workloads, redundancy, restructures, shared service and outsourcing.

Kelly also work directly with SWE influencing policy and process on behalf of UNISON social worker members. Her enthusiasm for her role derives from empowering working people to take control of their working lives.

Gill has worked for UNISON and its predecessor union for over 30 years. Since the 90s she has held several national roles in UNISON’s local government section and has specialised in job evaluation and pay and grading.

She has also been a UNISON negotiator and Assistant Trade Union Side Secretary for national pay and conditions negotiations for staff employed on National Joint Council terms and conditions – the Green Book.

In her current role Gill is responsible for developing policy and campaigns on workplace issues raised by our social worker members and represents UNISON on various forums. UNISON is the biggest trade union for social workers and the wider social care workforce, with over 40,000 social workers in membership working across the whole range of social work employers including local authorities, NHS Trusts, the voluntary sector, agencies, Cafcass, and the care regulators. UNISON is the principal trade union recognised for social workers in the UK, negotiating on pay and conditions of service at national and local level and providing individual advice and representation to social workers.