Points to ponder: Wellbeing, wellness, and the current state of the public sector

Health, social work, and social care workers are at a point of existential crisis.
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Let me be clear; it is vitally important for workers in public services to be able to work safely, within contracted hours and without considerable risk of burnout, some might say enabled by the state. Being well cannot be an add-on or an after-thought. It is not something that anyone should have to demand when they have reached a crisis point. Nor should those asking for healthy and supportive, basic workplace conditions and work environments be cast as difficult, aggressive, or lazy employees.

With working conditions as they are, initiatives that encourage staff to ‘find time’ to get outside for 30 minutes or go to yoga at lunch between home visits are insulting and misguided. Employers cannot walk away from their responsibilities whilst pointing to a ‘treats fridge’ and a head massage claiming that their contribution to wellbeing is done. Wellbeing plans and initiatives have their place in supporting employees, but without the basics they are at best seen as well-meaning incompetence and at worst actively mocked by those they aim to support. How many times have we been told workers need better conditions not pizza?

Health, social work, and social care workers are at a point of existential crisis. New and experienced workers are leaving in droves. This crisis impacts most on those who remain, carrying evermore complex and increasing workloads, as recruitment and retention spiral out of control. These issues are not going unnoticed, not least because I and many others, across sectors, raise them constantly. The Scottish Government responds by creating an Improving Wellbeing and Working Cultures Framework and Action Plan, developing a wellbeing pledge, and pursuing a charter for the social services workforce as part of the National Care Service programme. At those meetings with talented, values driven and enthusiastic civil servants I am asked, ‘what do social workers need for their wellbeing?’  My answer is simple, constant, and almost entirely outwith the remit of these plans:

  • Enable social workers to train without fear of student and post qualifying poverty. Establish a social work bursary to grow the workforce.
  • Make working within working hours for social workers the norm, not the exception. Stop social workers being individually responsible for their caseloads. This creates a culture of fear so that they work all hours ‘just in case’ they miss something and are held to account for a systemic issue.
  • Address root causes. Reduce and ideally fix poverty so fewer people will need public service support. This will reduce the demand for social services (and health services incidentally).

The wellbeing of those workers we rely on to look after us at our times of need is a necessary part of the social and employment contract. While we fiddle with words, pledges, and charters, and until social workers have manageable workloads, psychological support and development opportunities that are the basics of being able to do the job, Rome burns.

To put this fire out will require a concerted effort from Government and employers – that is why we have launched our campaign, One Deal for Social Work to call on these most basic requirements to be met before we discuss workplace wellbeing charters.