Social workers in England - hpc-uk.org

1 Sta ndard s of profi ciencySocialworkersinEnglandFore wo rd 1In tro duc tion 2 Stan da rd s of pr ofici en cy 6Co nte ntsSta ndar ds of profi ci en cy Socia l worke rs in Engl and1 For ewor dWe are pleasedto pre se nt th e Hea lth and Car e Pr ofessionsCou nc il s standardsof profi ci en cy for soc ial workersin Engla nd .We first publishedsta nd ard s of prof icienc y for soci al workersinEn gla nd in August re vi ew the stand ar ds regula rl y tolook at how they are worki ng and to chec k whetherthey continueto re fl ec t cu rrent pra ct ice in th e profe ssio ns we regula profess ion -spec ific sta nd ard s for soc ial workersin Engla ndinc lude d in this doc ume nt wer e de ve lope d throughthe inp ut ofour st akeh olders,inclu di ng a pu bl ic consultation. The reviewproc ess and consu lta ti on produ ce d valu ab le feed back and we aregra teful to all those who ga ve th eir ti me to help us in shapi ng thene w st an dar have madea small nu mbe r of ch angesto the sta nd ard sov er all, main ly to ref lec t dev elop men ts in educa tion and pract ice,to cl ari fy our intent ion s and to corre ct any err ors or om are conf ident tha t the st an dar ds ar e fit for purposeand reflec tsa fe and effectiveprof es si ona l pr ac ti ce for socia l workersin En gla se st andardsare eff ect ive from 9 Jan uary nda rds of pr oficie nc y Socia l worke rs in Engl and2 Thi s doc umen t sets out th e stan da rds of pr oficiency.

2 Thesesta nda rd s set out saf e and eff ec ti ve pract ice in the professionswe regu late. They are the th res hol d stand ar ds we considerne ces sa ry to pr otect me mbe rs of the publi c. They set out what astu de nt must kno w, under stan d and be ab le to do by the timeth ey ha ve completed their tr ai ni ng, so that the y ar e ab le tore gis te r with us. On ce on ou r Regis te r you must meet thosesta nda rd s of pr ofic ien cy wh ich re late to the ar eas in whichyou wor also ex pect you to kee p to ou r st andar ds of cond uct ,pe rf orma nce and eth ics an d sta nd ard s for continuingprofessionalde vel op men t. We pu bl ish the se in se par at e doc um ents, whi chyou ca n fin d on our web si st an dar ds of prof icienc y in th is doc um ent inc lude bot hgen eri c elemen ts , whi ch app ly to al l our registrants, andpr ofe ssi on-specific el eme nt s whi ch are releva nt to regi strant sbe longi ng to one of th e prof es si ons we curre nt ly regula te.

3 Thegen eri c standardsar e wr itte n inboldand the profession-speci ficsta nda rd s are writte n in plai n ha ve numberedthe st an dar ds so that you can refer to themmore eas ily. The sta nd ard s are not hierar chicaland ar e al l eq ua llyimp ort ant for pract ice .A no te abou t ou r ex pec tati ons of youYou mu st meet all th e sta nd ard s of profic iency to re giste r with usan d me et the stand ard s re levan t to your scop e of pract ice to st ayre gis te re d with is impor tant that you re ad an d und ersta nd thi s docum ent. Ifyou r pra ctice is call ed into qu es ti on we will consi der thesesta nda rd s (and our stan da rds of con duc t, performance andet hi cs) in deciding wha t ac ti on, if any , we nee d to ta st an dar ds set out in th is docu ment com ple ment informat ionan d gu idance issuedby oth er orga ni sations,such as yourpr ofe ssi onal body or your emp loy er.

4 We recognisethe val uablerol e play ed by pro fe ss ion al bodi es in pro vid ing guid ance andIntr oduc ti onadv ice about good pr act ice wh ich can help you to meet thest and ar ds in th is docu men r sc ope of pr acti ceYou r sc op e of pr acti ce is th e ar ea or ar eas of your professioninwhi ch you have th e kn owle dge , ski lls and exp erienceto prac tiselaw fu lly, safelyand ef fe cti ve ly, in a wa y that meet s our sta nd ar dsand doe s not pose an y da nge r to th e pub lic or to recogn ise that a regi st ra nt s scope of pract ice will changeov er ti me and th at th e pra ct ice of experie nced regist rant s oft enbec ome s more fo cu se d an d spe ci ali sed than that of new lyre gi st er ed colleague s. Th is migh t be bec ause of sp eci al isat ion in acert ai n area or with a pa rt icu lar client gr oup , or a movementintorol es in ma nagemen t, ed uc at ion or resear ch.

5 Every time youre new your registr ati on, you will be aske d to sign a declarationtha t you con tinu e to mee t the st an dar ds of profi ciencythat ap plyto you r scopeof pr ac tic r particularsco pe of pract ice may mea n that you areunabl e to cont in ue to de mons trate that you meet all ofthe standards that apply for the wholeof your pr long as you make sur e th at you are pract ising sa fe ly andeffe ctively with in your giv en sc ope of pract ice and do not pract isein the are as whereyou are not prof icient to do so, this will not bea pr obl em. If you wa nt to move out si de of your scop e of pract ice,you sh oul d be cert ain th at you are ca pab le of workinglawfully,sa fe ly and effectively. Thi s me an s tha t you nee d to exerci seper sona l judgement by un de rt aki ng any nece ssary trainingandexp er ience, beforemovi ng int o a new are a of pract tin g the sta nd ar dsIt is imp ort an t that you me et our st an da rds and ar e ab le topra cti se lawfully,saf el y an d eff ect ively.

6 However,we do not dict at ehow you shou ld mee t ou r sta nd ard s. Ther e is norm ally more thanone way in whichea ch st an dar d ca n be me t and the way in whichyou me et ou r standards migh t cha nge ove r time be causeofimpr ove me nts in te ch nol ogy or ch an ges in your pra cti ce .Sta ndar ds of profi ci en cy Socia l worke rs in Engl and3We ofte n receivequ es ti ons fr om regi strant s who are concernedth at some thing they ha ve bee n aske d to do, a pol icy, or the wayin wh ich they work mi ght mea n the y ca nnot meet our st and ard y are of ten wor ri ed tha t thi s mi ght hav e an ef fe ct onth ei r re gi str an aut onomousprof es si ona l, you need to make inform ed,re asone d decisionsab out you r pra ct ice to ensurethat you me etth e sta nd ards that appl y to you . Thi s includ es se eking ad vice andsup por t from education prov ide rs , emp loyers,colle agues,pr ofe ssi onal bodies, un ion s an d oth ers to ensur e that thewe llbeing of serviceuse rs is saf egu ardedat al l ti mes.

7 So long asyou do thi s and can jus ti fy you r deci si ons if askedto, it is veryunl ikel y th at you wi ll not mee t our standa ua geWe re cognisethat ou r regis tr an ts work in a rangeof di ffer entse tt ings, whichincl ud e cl inical pra ctice , educa tion, resear ch androl es in indus tr y. We al so re cogn ise that the use of term inologyca n be an r regi st rants work with ver y di ff ere nt peop le and use differ entte rms to describeth e gr oup s tha t use, or ar e af fe cte d by, theirse rv ices. Some of ou r regis tr an ts work with pat ient s, ot hers wit hcl ien ts wh ich can incl ud e or gan isat ions and ot hers wit h se rv iceuse rs . The termstha t you wi ll us e depe nd on how and wher e youwor k. We have us ed ter ms in the se st and ar ds whichwe be lievebe st re fl ect the grou ps th at you work the st an dar ds of prof icienc y, we us e phrasessuch as und erst and , know ,and be abl e to.

8 This is so the st anda rd sre ma in ap plicableto cur re nt regi st ra nts in mainta ining thei r fit nessto pra cti se , as well as pros pec ti ve regist rants who have not yetsta rte d pr actisingand are ap ply ing for regi st rat ion for thefir st ti me .Sta nda rds of pr oficie nc y Socia l worke rs in Engl and4 Sta ndar ds of profi ci en cy Socia l worke rs in Engl and5 The se stan da rd s ma y cha nge in the futureWe have producedthe se st an dar ds after sp eakingto ourst akeh old ers and hold ing a forma l pub lic consultati will continueto list en to ou r sta keh old ers and wi ll keep ourst and ar ds undercon ti nu al rev iew. Th er efor e, we may ma kefu rt he r changesin th e fut ure to take into ac countchangesin pra cti will always pub licis e any ch an ges to the sta nd ar ds that wema ke by, for instanc e, pu bl ishi ng noti ce s on our web site andinfor min g pr ofessional bodie nda rds of pr oficie nc y Socia l worke rs in Engl and6 Regi st ra nt socialworke rs in En gla nd must.

9 1 be able to pr ac tise sa fel y an d effectivelywith in thei rsco pe of prac th e limi ts of the ir pr ac tic e and when to se ek ad vic e or re fe rto anot her pr ofessi ona cogni se the nee d to man age their own workl oad and resourcesef fe cti ve ly an d be abl e to practise ac cord abl e to under ta ke ass es smentsof risk, need and cap acit y andre sp ond abl e to recognise an d re sp ond app ropria tel y to une xpec tedsit ua tion s and man age un ce rt ain abl e to recognise si gns of harm,ab use and ne gle ct and kn owhow to res pond appr opr iat el y, incl uding rec ogn ising sit uat ionswh ich re qu ire imm edi at e ac ti on2 be able to pr ac tise with in th e legal and ethicalbo undaries of th eir erst and cur ren t legi sl at ion app licab le to soc ial work wit had ul ts, chi ldr en , youn g pe ople an d familie erst and the ne ed to pr omotethe be st int ere sts of servic euse rs an d carersat al l erst and the ne ed to pr otec t, safeguard, promoteand prioriti seth e wellbeing of chi ldr en , you ng peopl e and vulnerable ad ult erst and, and be abl e to add ress, practi ce s whi ch pre se nt ari sk to or from serv ice us er s an d ca rers, or ot ab le to ma nage and weigh up competing or confl icting va luesor int er ests to make re as one d pr ofe ss ional jud ab le to ex erci se au th or ity as a soci al workerwit hi n theap prop ri at e legal and et hi cal fr ame worksand boundari erst and the ne ed to re sp ect and so fa r as possibl e uphold,th e righ ts , dignity.

10 Va lues an d au ton omy of every servi ce useran d care rSta nd ar ds of profi cienc ySta ndar ds of profi ci en cy Socia l worke rs in Engl cogni se that relationshi ps wit h servi ce users and ca rers shouldbe base d on respe ct an d hone st cogni se the powerdyn ami cs in rel at ionships with se rv ice usersand car ers, and be ab le to ma nage thos e dynamics ap propriat der stan d what is requ ired of them by the He alt h and Car eProfe ss ion s Coun cil3 be abl e to ma inta in fitnessto der stan d the need to ma intai n high standards of pe rsonalandprofe ssi onal der stan d the imp ort an ce of ma intai ni ng the ir own he al thand der stan d both th e nee d to keep ski lls and knowl edge up todat e and th e impor ta nc e of ca ree r-l ong lear ni ab le to establishan d ma inta in personal andprofe ssi onal boundar ab le to manageth e ph ys ical and emot ional impac t ofthe ir pra ab le to identifyand ap ply st ra te gies to buil dprofe ssi onal resilience4 be abl e to practi se as an autonomousprofessional ,exe rci sin g their own prof essional jud ab le to assessa situa ti on.