VULNERABLE adults in Wirral will be assessed by unqualified social workers if council plans go ahead.
Wirral council wants to remove social workers with university degrees in favour of those with no relevant qualifications.
The idea is part of the push to allow service users to choose how they receive their care, a system known as the “personalisation agenda”.
The borough’s 200 access and assessment branch staff in the adult social services department were told about the plans in meetings last Thursday.
The branch’s 40 social workers could lose their jobs or be deployed elsewhere. They are responsible for assessing eligibility for social care and arranging support if needed.
There will be an anticipated loss of 21 social workers and 14 practice managers. But the borough will recruit 25 new social care staff, five extra full-time supervisors and one extra part-time supervisor, and the department will take on 60 more home assessment staff.
John Webb, director of adult social care, and department head Richard O’Brien, gave a presentation to the staff affected.
Union representatives say those who have degrees could feel undervalued by the council.
But Wirral say the plans will allow employees to do work more suited to their qualifications.
Neil Beacall, Unison’s Wirral branch officer for adult social care, said: “The message that’s coming out is not good.
“He (John Webb) is deleting social workers and employing unqualified social workers.”
“People who have gone to the trouble of getting a degree in social work could feel under-valued.”
Mr Beacall is meeting Unison stewards today.
He will then begin six months consultation with the council.
He added: “I’m hoping it’s a meaningful consultation and we hope to lessen the impact of this.”
Wirral Council stressed the branch was part of a larger department which would continue to employ qualified social workers.
A Wirral Council spokeswoman said: “To achieve the ‘personalisation agenda’, as agreed by cabinet in March of this year, the access and assessment branch is being restructured. As a result, new posts within the branch will be established to ensure that going forward, social care staff have the right skills and experience to respond to the changes in the social care sector.
“A number of the new jobs in the branch will not require the postholder to have a social work qualification. This will mean that qualified social workers are deployed more effectively and can carry out more appropriate duties.”
