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135
WELFARE SERVICES
(R.W. Hall, Chief Welfare Officer)
The long awaited Seebohm report with its implications of radical
change in our social service has been published but has been received
with caution in view of the multiplicity of other associated papers and
reports in connection with health, welfare, hospital services and committee
structures. The report from the London Boroughs Management
Services Unit which probed our organisation and methods has also been
received, some useful suggestions having already been implemented to
provide a more effective service within the Health and Welfare Department.
In this time of radical change, one wonders if too much emphasis
is being placed on reports, green papers and reorganisation, but the
welfare staff has always in mind its prime responsibility; and responsibility
to the client in the community. With the limited resources available
in our present times of financial stringency however, any genuine
endeavour to streamline and co-ordinate effective action within the
Social Services is as welcome to the Welfare Services as it is to those
who ultimately depend on the services, the less fortunate members of
our community.
Social Work
Staffing
The year in review has been a period of intensive reorganisation for
the social casework services of the Welfare Department. For some time
it had been apparent that the developing service with its personal
approach was being subjected to intense pressures. It is a fact of social
work that as soon as a beginning is made in seeing the needs of individuals
in the context of their personal situation, the complexity of the
problems revealed creates a need for more workers with more skill and
lower case-loads. This has certainly been the experience of the Department's
social workers for as the quality of service improved it was seen
to be cumulative in effect and loading to an increased demand on their
services. To meet these demands without a lowering of hard-won
standards was clearly impossible unless additional professional support
could be provided.
Early in the year a Principal Social Worker was appointed to be
responsible for the organisation and direction of the social work section
and to give professional guidance to the field workers. To support him
in this task, three Assistant Principal Social Workers were appointed to
act as Team Leaders and assume responsibility for social welfare services
in geographical areas of the Borough. The filling of these senior