Sheffield social workers quitting job after 'burnout'

The council has found it difficult to recruit and retain qualified and experienced social workers and has become reliant on agency staff, says the Children's Social Care Task Group.

Neighbouring authorities and agencies are also enticing Sheffield social workers with higher rates of pay, says a report by the Task Group.

'The main issues being faced by the council are the recruitment and retention of qualified and experienced social workers. This has led to the employment of a significant number of agency workers,' says the report.

'Burnout is an issue and high caseloads have a detrimental impact, even though the council's efforts to reduce these have been extremely successful and this is continuously being monitored.

'As a result, the council has become over reliant on inexperienced staff with high levels of churn in the workforce. In terms of pay and reward, it was felt that the council had lost out to neighbouring authorities and also potentially to agencies, both of whom are able to pay higher rates than Sheffield.

'The Task Group received evidence that social workers' rewards following qualification and higher level of experience were to take on more complex and child protection cases, but with only small increases in pay. They felt very strongly that this needs to be addressed.'