CONCERNS have been raised over Dumfries and Galloway social workers continually putting in an average of 25 percent more hours on top of their contracts.
The stressed-out staff members have such huge caseloads that they work an average of 44.65 hours per week – despite their full-time employment contracts with Dumfries and Galloway Council being 36 hours.
“At times it doesn’t even stop at that,” admitted Charles Rocks, the council’s head of children, families and justice social work.
The issue was discussed at the council’s social work committee last week where a report underlined the huge pressures social workers are under in this region and nationally.
Lochar Councillor Linda Dorward said: “The hours worked per week are 44.65, which is as far as I’m aware way above what you’re meant to be doing – even if you’re on an all-hours worked contract, which some people probably are.
“But is not a 35-hour week for frontline staff?
“So, if there anything we can do – apart from making folk do everything by (Microsoft) Teams – to reduce that?”
Charles Rocks replied: “It’s not comfortable reading to see that.
“In an ideal situation, we would have that as close to 36-hours contracted week that our staff have as possible.
“We recently had a couple of thematic inspections from the Care Inspectorate, and their observations were that our staff go above and beyond.
“We can’t underestimate what that means, and that’s additional hours.
“I’m incredibly appreciative and thankful for that, but I don’t take that for granted.
“For our staff, they do need to see this changing because the report does highlight the pressure that has around it.
“National research from Social Work Scotland talks about that moral panic that our social workers hold in terms of risk and level of need.”
Mr Rocks then added that the additional workload doesn’t just stop there because social workers are often doing extra work on their laptops and phones beyond typical working hours.
Figures released last year also showed that the caseloads for social workers in Dumfries and Galloway are significantly higher than Scottish targets.
Of the 44.65 hours worked per week, a breakdown was given for how that time is spent.
Direct time with families accounts for 28 percent, case recordings/admin work is 27 percent, while travelling typically accounts for 21 percent of a social worker’s time.
Meetings, telephone calls, lunch breaks, and training/development make up the rest of the working week.
The council report states: “Benchmarking with other local authorities shows social workers spend 40 percent to 60 percent direct time with families in comparison to our average time spent of 28 percent.
“This is mainly due to our rural setting and geographical spread, with a fifth of social workers time spent on non-negotiable travel time.
“Our commitment is to widen out the time and motion study to other service areas and to monitor and review for all areas.”
The council is currently progressing with a pilot scheme of using an AI tool called Magic Notes to improve productivity, strengthen inclusion, and further reduce the administrative burden on social workers.
