Research has emphasized the importance of practice learning to social work qualifying education but has tended to feature social work educator and student perspectives more strongly than the views of those responsible for assessing students' practice in the field. This article draws on 195...

After many years of debate in the UK about the need for a degree-level qualification in social work, the arguments for a minimum degree-level qualification were accepted. The requirements for the degree in England were developed drawing on work from a number of sources, including a benchmark...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of media reactions to the BBC Television Panorama programme, Behind Closed Doors ’ and to set this in the context of interviews with care staff about their reflections on publicity about poor practice in the care sector....

There has been no large-scale study looking at the proportion of social work students in the UK who achieve the professional qualification, although there is some evidence that different groups experience different rates of progression. This article examines progression rates among students...

Purpose Opinion is divided on whether a new power of entry should be introduced for social workers in cases where individuals seem to be hindering safeguarding enquiries for community-dwelling adults at risk in England who have decision-making capacity. The purpose of this paper is to...

Purpose Whether social workers should have a power of entry in cases where individuals seem to be hindering safeguarding enquiries for community-dwelling adults at risk is a topical question in England. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a re-examination of relevant sections...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore debates about the powers social workers may need to undertake safeguarding enquiries where access to the adult is denied. Design/methodology/approach The paper takes as a starting point a scoping review of the literature undertaken as part of a...

Purpose Being able to speak in private to an adult about whom there is a safeguarding concern is central to English local authorities’ duty under the Care Act 2014 to make enquiries in such cases. While there has been an on-going debate about whether social workers or others should have new...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present findings from one element of a study exploring the relationship between personalisation, in the form of personal budgets (PBs) for publicly funded social care and safeguarding. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were...

This article describes research investigating the steps involved in recommending to the Secretary of State for Health whether a care worker should be included on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list, which records individuals barred from working and volunteering with vulnerable adults...