The Social Workers in Health Group membership comprises BASW members, Experts by Experience and co-opted members with a specific specialism relevant to the group.
The Chair of the group is Angie Button. Angie is an experienced social worker with over two decades of experience of working in a variety of areas, including Adult Care Management teams and Older People Community Mental Health. Angie, qualified as an Approved Social Worker and is also a Practice Educator. In more recent years Angie has been a social work lead for a social enterprise mental health organisation and is now a lecturer in social work at the University of Hull. Angie is passionate about promoting understanding of the role of social workers and gaining equity in terms of CPD and career progression for social workers in health organisations.
The group provides regular, peer support forums for members (see our events page) and has key areas they wish to focus on:
- Promoting parity of esteem for career progression and CPD
- Identify ways of maintaining social work identity
- Engaging partners to improve understanding and awareness of the role and value of social workers in health organisations
- Providing opportunities for social workers to explore their experiences of working within health organisations and provide peer support to each other
For more information about the group please contact denise.monks@basw.co.uk
RESOURCES
- Lighting the Way: Supporting the growth of health-based social work through effective assessment of practice-based learning | Member Blog - In this blog, member Lisa Brett condenses key lessons learned from her consultancy work in supporting the growth of social work in different sectors, focusing primarily on social work in health settings.
- Social Work Journeys through CAMHS - This webinar took place on the 4th Feb 2025 to coincide with Children’s Mental health Week. The speakers explore the wide variety of social work roles within in children’s mental health services, working across a variety of settings ranging from inpatient roles, to community based roles and specialist therapeutic roles. Speakers shared their journeys, from being a student on placement in a CAMHS team, all the way to being a strategic lead for social workers in an NHS Trust. This session will also discussed the challenges and benefits of being an NHS employed social worker.
- Technology & social work: who's leading the conversation? Social workers use technology all the time, we use it in our own lives and we increasingly use it as part of our working life. Whether it’s for recording case notes, for communication or to support people with their care and support needs technology is increasingly part of a social worker’s every day life. Yet, how much are we taught about technology as social workers and how much on going training do we receive about social work and technology? If we get it right it can advocate for and amplify the voice of those we support, if we get it wrong it could be quite damaging. Hear from social workers working in the Digitising Social Care Programme within DHSC/NHSE as to their response to Social Work England’s readiness to practice consultation and how awareness of digital technology must play a central role in every social worker’s toolkit of skills. This session is led by Tommy Henderson-Reay, a social worker in the NHS England Digitising Social Care Programme.
- An introduction to NICE, what we do, and how NICE can support social workers' practice and CPD - recording of an open forum delivered by Jade Stacey - Implementation facilitator in the NICE field team.
- What does the social worker bring? Complex mental health work with children and young people - this webinar, put on by the Mental Health group for Mental Health Week 2024, explores the value and identity of social work in CAHMS as well as the specific complexities in assessing children and young people under the Mental Health Act.