took up his fi rst social work role in a mental health team at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Here, he saw that the power in multi-disciplinary teams resided predominantly with psychiatry and psychology because of their scientifi c evidence base. ‘They can articulate with confi dence what they do and the outcomes; that is the crucial diff erence to social work,’ he says. ‘Social workers were respected for their
knowledge of the law, but the frustration for me was that social workers were not
I saw social work practitioners doing good work, but it wasn’t evidenced or
communicated in the same way as psychiatry or psychology
recognised for their ability to address and to intervene in the social context of people’s lives. That is predominantly the work of the community mental health team. ‘Although there is the medical and
psychological component, underpinning all this is a strong sense that we are working
with a cross-section of society that is incredibly disadvantaged. Social justice is about recognising that, confronting it and doing something about it. I saw social work practitioners doing good work, but it wasn’t evidenced or communicated in the same way as psychiatry or psychology.’ The uniqueness that social workers
brought to the team was missed, he says. ‘Social workers typically have a good knowledge of what is going on in their community, and they can plug people into the right resources that they need at diff erent points in their engagement with services. It is what social workers do with that knowledge that is the unique aspect. ‘I found that health staff might have that
knowledge but social workers make more of an investment in getting people engaged with their own lives. It’s saying you’re not just a person with a diagnosis, you have a life and interests and strengths.’