EPL Director Makes Front Page News
25/09/2009
EPL Strategic partner The Social Work Co-operative has made it onto the front page of Community Care, the leading national trade journal for the Health & Social Care sector
'We are thrilled by the level of interest attracted by the co-op, and it clearly signals that the sector is ready to embrace a new way of working,' said Dr Guy Turnbull, EPL director and one of the co-operatives founding members. This view is share by co-director, Walter Young.Five months ago Walter teamed up with EPL director and co-op specialist Dr Guy Turnbull to create the co-operative in North East England which supplies social work staff to local authorities. There are no external shareholders and the staff receive a share of the profits on top of their "competitive" rates of pay. They also have a say in how the Social Work Co-operative is run.
"We are still at an early stage," says Young. "But our first supply staff have just started work. At the moment we are supplying locum staff providing specialist assessments."
Interest in the co-operative has come from a range of social workers, from both adults' and children's services. Many have been keen to explore new ways to deliver social work, says Young.
Frustration at bureaucracy
"I think it's true that a lot of social workers are demoralised, and that is partly due to how people have been managed. I don't think the problems have been about personalities or groups of people; you can't say it's all the fault of managers. It's much more of a systemic problem. But we hope we can produce a new model.
"Obviously, during the early days, we have to fit in with the system that is already in place. Ultimately though, we'd like to see a change in the way that social work is delivered."
Young says the response from local authorities generally has been positive, although Turnbull expresses his frustration at the bureaucracy surrounding procurement policies and CRB checks. "It's been a slower burn start-up than we envisaged," he says.
However, Young believes that the co-operative nature of the venture means that staff have been a lot more willing to invest their time, energy and ideas than might otherwise have been the case.
"I think if this had just been a private company then I wouldn't have been able to ask as much as I have of people," he says.
"But because we have set out with an ethical set of values, I think we have attracted a lot of people who share those values. It has made us more creative."
This article is published in the 24 September 2009 edition of Community Care under the headline "History in the re-making"