Social workers are always running out of time

Summertime has officially arrived, with the heavenly aroma of BBQ and the sounds of children splashing in paddling pools emanating from many of the gardens I pass by on the way to complete visits.

For many, the summer of 2022 will provide an opportunity to spend time with family and friends - never again to be taken for granted - enjoying the glorious sunshine.

For social workers, however, this merriment is preceded by what has been (unaffectionately) dubbed ‘hell week’ by my colleagues and I - the week before the schools break up, when an influx of referrals into the inboxes of front door teams everywhere will find social workers with 99 problems, none of which have a flake on top.

Ultimately this means that instead of running a mile a day to tone up my summer body, my mind will be busy running a mile a minute as I try to make sense of genograms with more interconnecting lines than a map of the London Underground, chronologies with a word count equal to War and Peace, and a caseload that is expanding faster than my waistline.

With school out for the summer, it is no surprise that safeguarding takes priority for the teachers who have spent the academic year monitoring students welfare, and supporting families without statutory involvement.

The warmer days are accompanied by a significant reduction in professional oversight and, as temperatures rise, so too do caseloads.

With many families having been supported through the academic term by schools, early help finds itself stepping in as a substitute over the summer break to provide continued support with food parcels, finances, and full support for those who require it. Even with the warmer weather providing some respite from soaring energy costs - with more time spent outside, less need for heating, and lighter evenings - the impact of our current cost of living crisis on even the most pivotal of provisions, means these preventative teams may well be in for a long summer.

In my own office, my colleagues and I will be vying for pole position next to the windows (because air conditioning is not a perk of the job) whilst we respond to an increase in alcohol fuelled incidents as a result of the seasonal draw of pub gardens and

social events, which each year bring with them an increase in recreational drinking, corresponding with an upswing in referrals. This, combined with the increased stress of having children present without the reprieve of the term-time routine, will find us all needing a holiday, rather than enjoying one.

That being said, with schools not in session, we do find ourselves having more time to spend with families during our working days, and (usually) good weather enables us to promote families to spend quality time together, outside of cramped contact rooms with condensation pressing on the windows.

And although the chances of a summer holiday seem slim, I did raise an observation with my manager that, as overdue visits are usually a cause for outrage, it may be an entirely appropriate use of funding to send me out to Majorca for a day or two, to complete a statutory visit that will be due whilst a family are away…

I was, of course, advised the better solution would be to complete additional visits either side of the family's break.

Still, I suppose I might be able to catch a bit of a tan on my right arm, if I rest it on the car door whilst driving all over the city.

By Millie Glass