Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A subject of concern
T2 - The experiences of social workers referred to the health and care professions council
AU - Worsley, A.
AU - McLaughlin, K.
AU - Leigh, J.
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - In order to practise social work in England, all social workers must register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Only those who are registered can legally work as or call themselves a social worker. Once registered, if concerns about their practice are raised, social workers may find they are then made subject to a 'Fitness to Practise' (FTP) process. This article reports on the findings from interviews with social workers who were referred to the HCPC for practice issues. Our rationale was to hear and report on the lived experience of those going through the investigatory process. We carried out semi-structured interviews with eight social workers and used thematic analysis to analyse our data. The three main themes to emerge from our findings were organisational issues, representation and cost and emotional toll. This paper discusses these findings in detail. We suggest that the current regulatory system situates social workers in a position of disadvantage during the FTP process, and conclude by making a number of recommendations for consideration if future changes are to be made to the social work regulatory process. © The Author 2016.
AB - In order to practise social work in England, all social workers must register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Only those who are registered can legally work as or call themselves a social worker. Once registered, if concerns about their practice are raised, social workers may find they are then made subject to a 'Fitness to Practise' (FTP) process. This article reports on the findings from interviews with social workers who were referred to the HCPC for practice issues. Our rationale was to hear and report on the lived experience of those going through the investigatory process. We carried out semi-structured interviews with eight social workers and used thematic analysis to analyse our data. The three main themes to emerge from our findings were organisational issues, representation and cost and emotional toll. This paper discusses these findings in detail. We suggest that the current regulatory system situates social workers in a position of disadvantage during the FTP process, and conclude by making a number of recommendations for consideration if future changes are to be made to the social work regulatory process. © The Author 2016.
KW - Fitness to practise
KW - HCPC
KW - Regulation
KW - Social workers' experiences
KW - human
KW - human experiment
KW - occupation
KW - personal experience
KW - semi structured interview
KW - social work
KW - thematic analysis
U2 - 10.1093/bjsw/bcx005
DO - 10.1093/bjsw/bcx005
M3 - Journal article
VL - 47
SP - 2421
EP - 2437
JO - British Journal of Social Work
JF - British Journal of Social Work
SN - 0045-3102
IS - 8
ER -