Leading Adults and Children Social Work: A roundtable discussion

Leadership is now recognised an essential component of local government. It takes many forms, including democratic leadership through elected members, organisational leadership through community leadership through engaging voluntary and community sector, and system leadership through partnership vehicles such as health and wellbeing boards and local safeguarding boards.

Health care has recognised its important role of clinical leadership maintaining the standards of professional practice and the contribution that clinical leaders can make to effective delivery and commissioning. Despite some recent progress, social work’s understanding and establishment of professional leadership is though less advanced. 

This roundtable, chaired by Rt. Hon Paul Burstow, debated the meaning of professional leadership in adult and children’s social work. Building on the working paper it considered what, if any, lessons should be drawn from clinical leadership in health care and how professional leadership can become more embedded within adults and children social work practice and the systems that oversee them.

The event was hosted by the Social Care Institute for Excellence.