Your social worker
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The Health and Care Professions Council is the regulator of the social work profession and social work education in England. They protect the public by requiring high standards of education, conduct and practice of all social workers. Social workers work with some of the most vulnerable people in society, so it is vital that only those who are properly trained and committed to high standards practise social work.
The organisation does this by maintaining a compulsory register of social workers and issuing and enforcing the codes of practice for the profession. The codes of practice set out the standards of professional conduct and practice required by social workers as they go about their daily work. They are intended to ensure that employers, colleagues, service users, carers and members of the public know what standards they can expect from registered social workers.
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Code of conduct
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Social care workers must:
- Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers
- Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers
- Promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm
- Respect the rights of service users whilst seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people
- Uphold public trust and confidence in social care services
- Be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills
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Social work training
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More than 80 universities and colleges in England offer the social work degree course which is available at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
All of the higher education institutions (undergo rigorous checks by the GSCC to ensure that they are suitable to offer the degree.
Once enrolled on one of these courses a student is eligible to apply for registration with the GSCC as a student social worker. Upon successful completion of one of these courses, graduates are eligible to apply for registration as a qualified social worker.
For information about how to get the most out of your relationship with your social worker, see our Tips for meetings with social services article.
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