Chief Social Worker for England visits Number One Riverside

Chief Social Worker for Adults in England Lyn Romeo praised the passion and enthusiasm of Rochdale’s social workers following her visit to Number One Riverside, during which she met adult care social workers.

She said: "I was very impressed by my welcome to Rochdale borough, from meeting the council leader to chatting to one of the newly qualified social workers about her work with older people at the end of their life. The feedback from a family of an older couple she had recently been working with truly showed social work with adults at its best. These are challenging times for adult social work, with more people needing support and the council facing the impact of cuts to local government spending. I was bowled over by the positive attitude of social workers in Rochdale to meet the challenge head on."

Ms Romeo was appointed by the government as Chief Social worker for adults in September 2013 to improve the quality of social work across adult services and act as a champion for service users and social work professionals working in the sector.

During her visit to the Social Workers’ Forum Mr Romeo found out about the work that they do through a presentation by social worker Jelilat Ajani, who has finished her first year in the job.

Jelilat said: “I am really enjoying my first year and love what I do. I think the most important thing for social workers like me is to respond to the individual needs of each family, even if it means doing something in a different way or doing something that is unusual.  I’ve had some lovely feedback from people I’ve supported during my first year which is really encouraging.”

Also on the agenda was a talk by Ms Romeo about the new care Act, which will come into force in 2015. The Act will bring about a number of key changes to Adult Care and has good social work principles and practice at its heart .

Richard Farnell, Leader of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It was an honour to meet Lyn and welcome her to Rochdale. Lyn talked about the work being done nationally to develop new standards for social workers and for councils that employ them. We are working hard to achieve these in our borough and Lyn’s visit has given us an extra boost."