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Practitioner tasks and skills

As a practitioner you will always respect the dignity of the people you work with and promote their rights and potential. Many of the people you are likely to encounter may be frail and vulnerable or experiencing difficulties in their lives. Your duties as a practitioner may include:

care and support
keyworker responsibilities
co-ordinating and implementing care plans

Your duties as a social work assistant may include:

handling enquiries
support to service users
home visits
maintaining records
interacting with other agencies
contributing to assessments and care planning

Induction, supervision and learning
Even though you may be an experienced worker, you should receive induction when you first start a job at practitioner level to enable you to learn about:

your workplace and organisation
the tasks and skills of your job
specific knowledge and skills about the service you are employed in

You should also have supervision from someone more experienced than you are and opportunities for on-going development. There should be opportunities to gain the qualifications for registration with SSSC (Scottish Social Services Council) if registration is required for your post.You should take some responsibility for your own learning and development.

Click here to view SSSC’s Induction Guidance

Click here to find out more about SSSC’s registration requirements

Lynne Ryan
(Social Work Assistant)

I work for Angus Council in the Social Work and Health Department, based in the Monifieth office. In emergencies we provide a service throughout Angus.

What is your current job role?

My role is predominantly to support older people living in the community. On a typical day I visit people in their own homes for a number of different reasons. I play a key role in assessing people for community alarms, provide social stimulation through encouraging and supporting people to join in in the community, organise and sometimes provide a shopping service, show people round residential and nursing homes, take people to appointments who can’t use public transport or arrange this for them. Some of the role is to work as a support worker until services are up and running. I also take part in assessment, including assessment for community alarms, care planning and reviews. In assessing the need for a community alarm I may pick up on other needs and refer the person for other services such as occupational therapy or physiotherapy. If there is a need for home care I can hand over to colleagues who are Home Care Assessors, Care Managers or Mental Health Officers. I am often first on the scene in terms of assessment.

Although I was appointed to work in a job-share post, I am currently working full-time at least for the next couple of months. I undertake extra work as and when required.

What qualifications did you have when you applied for your post?

When I started as a Social Work Assistant I had SVQ2 in Health and Social Care. I undertook this with Angus Council in my previous post as a Social Care Officer. I also had a knowledge and understanding of needs and issues of older adults from my experience working in residential care.

Have you done any qualifications or since taking up your current post?

I was appointed as a Social Work Assistant in March 2009. Since then I have gained more understanding of the roles in Health and Social Services and I am due to go on further training starting in September, run by Angus Council. This will include updates on Moving and Handling and Dealing with Violence and Aggression which I completed in my previous post, as well as courses on values, case recording and policy awareness, and Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults. I would like to undertake SVQ3 in the future.

How did you get to where you are now?

I was a sewing machinist for 12 years but I was always interested in the care side. When we were all made redundant I saw this as an opportunity to try social care. I went to work in a private sector nursing home and then saw an advertisement in the newspaper to work with Angus Council in the residential care of older people. There were better hours and conditions. I worked for 7 years in a residential care centre which included a high dependency unit for people with dementia and also a day centre. Similarly, I saw the advertisement for the Social Work Assistant post in the newspaper, applied for that, was interviewed and got the job.

What are your future plans and goals, and what is involved in attaining them?

I would like to stay in the job I’m in, but in the long-term may progress to being a Home Care Assessor or a Care Manager. I am happy working with Angus Council which is supportive and approachable.

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Where next?

You may decide that you wish to stay at the level of practitioner. If you wish to move to another level, click on one of the following for information about progressing to supervisor and/or professional posts

Click here for information about becoming a supervisor

Click here for information about becoming a social worker, occupational therapist or other professional

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