The Highlands is facing a social work staffing crisis that is affecting its ability to protect children from serious harm.
A shock report from Highland Council’s health, social and wellbeing committee said the region could face a “critical to catastrophic” risk as numerous jobs remain unfilled.
There are 78 children’s services social worker posts in the Highlands. But 32 of them are vacant, a rate of 41%.
And it is becoming harder to retain the staff that the service already has, because of the strain the empty posts are putting them under.
Number of experienced staff leaving the industry
Fiona Malcolm, the council’s head of integration (adult social care), said the situation could cause the local authority to be unable to carry its basic statutory duties.
She said: “The risk in terms of the council in [its] duties is considered to be high to very high.
“The impact could be described as critical to catastrophic in terms of the risk to people and the associated risk to the council’s reputation.”
There are more than 1,000 jobs within the council’s health and social care department.
The vacancy rate among child health jobs is only 8%. That’s as a result of a successful training programme for nurses.
But it’s a different story in social work.
The pressures are being felt across Scotland.
The Scottish Association of Social Work warned earlier this year that a number of experienced workers were leaving the industry.
That was leaving newly-qualified staff without support and putting the quality of services at risk.
But these pressures have been even more severe in the Highlands.
Rural areas bearing the brunt
Ms Malcolm added: “The challenges associated with recruitment are not unique to Highland Council.
“However, there are geographical challenges, specifically in rural areas, which add a
more complex dimension to recruitment and retention of social workers.
“There is recognition nationally that the social work profession, particularly in terms of the delivery of children’s services, is in crisis.”
The staffing problems have forced the service to stump up for agency workers to plug the gap.
Generally, the Inner Moray Firth area centred around Inverness has not suffered the same level of pressure.
More rural locations are bearing the brunt.
The service spent just over £1 million on agency workers in 2022-23, a similar level to previous years.
But the quality of staff available recently has meant this isn’t always the best solution.
Ms Malcolm said: “While Highland has a long experience of utilising agency social workers, our recent experience is that the quality and standards of practice is variable.
“And generally not in keeping with the standards we expect. As such, there has been a decrease in the use of agency staff.”
Members of the council’s health, social care and wellbeing committee will discuss the report on Thursday.
Conversation