Medical Social Worker

Also known as:

Almoner
Hospital Social Worker
Social Worker, Medical

Introduction

Medical social workers help people to cope when they are ill, or have to care for sick friends and relatives. They give practical advice on the financial, social and emotional difficulties people may have.

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Work Activities

Medical social workers give support and advice to help people cope when they are ill, or help those who have to care for sick friends or relatives.

For many people, an accident or the sudden appearance of a medical condition brings with it not just physical pain but also anxiety and confusion in the short term, and then concerns for the future. Medical social workers provide immediate practical help, for example, using counselling skills to help people adjust to and come to terms with their new situation.

Most medical social workers are employed in hospitals but they may work in health care centres, general practices, and outpatient and special clinics, for example, HIV or AIDS clinics.

Hospital based social workers are members of assessment teams. At their first meeting with a patient, the medical social worker will find out what their personal needs are. They work closely with other professionals, including consultants, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to discuss the client's condition and the type and level of support they are likely to need after their discharge from hospital.

Medical social workers also investigate clients' social backgrounds, looking for factors that may have led to their being in hospital, or that may present them with problems once they leave medical care. They may discover that social factors, like unemployment, inadequate housing, financial problems, or a drug or alcohol dependency, have contributed to a client's illness. These factors could delay the client's recovery or make it likely that they will need further medical care in the future.

Based on their assessments, medical social workers make sure the client has all the necessary support and services to be discharged safely, to cope in the community and in their own home. Medical social workers are responsible for arranging all the support services their clients may need. For example, they may arrange local authority services (or purchase services from a private agency) such as daily visits to the client by a home care assistant, the delivery of meals or the fitting of special aids and adaptations, such as devices to help people get into and out of the bath.

Social workers may also liaise with housing associations and benefit offices, making sure the client receives all the welfare benefits they are entitled to. If the client needs long-term support, the medical social worker will refer them to the local area social work team.

Medical social workers may also help the patient's relatives. For example, parents may need temporary accommodation if their child is in a special hospital far from home. Medical social workers may give the parents of children with disabilities advice on welfare benefits or practical aids and adaptations to help them care for their children at home.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

As a medical social worker, you must enjoy working with people and helping them to solve their problems. You must be able to empathise with people, have a sympathetic and caring nature, and the ability to win the trust of people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Good communication skills are very important. You should be able to listen carefully, and ask the right questions to find out more about the client's needs. You must be able to empower clients and help them to make choices about their future.

You will need strong team-working skills to work closely with other professionals such as consultants, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. You must have good negotiating skills, to arrange or purchase support services and to put forward your case for how much care the client needs. To do this, you must know the local area and be aware of available resources.

Medical social workers also need good organisational skills. They must be able to work well under pressure, manage their time and prioritise their workload.

This career can be emotionally and intellectually demanding. There might be disagreement with a decision you make. A client or the client's family might react with hostility. As a social worker, you must be resilient, use your negotiating skills, and be able to defuse potential confrontations with a calm, professional approach.

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Pay and Opportunities

Pay rates for social workers vary.

The pay rates given below are approximate.

Qualified social workers in Scotland earn in the range of £28,000 - £35,000 a year. Higher earners in management roles might earn in the range of £36,000 - £43,000 a year.

Medical social workers generally work a regular 37-hour week, Monday to Friday. However, you may need to do early starts and late finishes.

Local authority social work departments employ medical social workers to work in hospital specialist wards, like maternity or geriatrics, or in general practices, clinics and day centres.

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Adult Opportunities

It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

In order to qualify as a social worker, it is necessary to have completed an Honours degree in social work or to have taken a degree in another suitable subject followed by a two-year postgraduate course.

Most social work courses require entrants to have 6-12 months' relevant experience. This can include, for example, care work or community work - either paid or voluntary. Organisations such as CSV (Community Service Volunteers) provide relevant volunteering placements in social care.

The Open University offers a BA (Honours) Social Work (Scotland) degree by open and work-based learning. The programme is only available to staff who are working in social care agencies in Scotland and are sponsored by their employer.

If you have a non-graduate qualification in social work, you can study part time for an Honours degree while working in a social care job. You should get time off for practice placements. This route is much less common as your employer has to sponsor you, providing you with suitable placements and funding.

Some local authorities offer training schemes leading to a social work qualification. Contact the social work departments in the local authority areas you are interested in for information.

• 22% of social workers work part-time.
• 35% have flexible hours.
• 7% of employees work on a temporary basis

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