Honesty

 

I know that a lot of people don’t necessarily understand what Social Workers do but what I find most frustrating is when other professionals will tell someone we are working with that something is our responsibility when it’s not. I have had this happen quite recently where a GP told a family that for that specific issue to get sorted, they need to speak to the Social Worker because that is there job or even suggest that they go above me to my manager to get it sorted.

Luckily, I was able to explain that it is not my responsibility in this particular instance because it was regarding equipment. I could explain to the family member that I am not medically trained so would not be able to order equipment because I do not understand what they would need.

If this situation was the other way around, I would not want to signpost or refer someone somewhere if I was not sure it was the right place for them to be. I know if I was the person on the other side and was given a number to ring, rang them only to be told it wasn’t them that needed to deal with it I would find that extremely frustrating. I would much rather someone tell me that they do not know who deals with it but will find out and come back to me than just give me random incorrect information.

As far as I am concerned the whole point of us being involved is to support the people, we work with to achieve the outcomes they want, generally improving the situation. By not appropriately sharing information or giving answers because we are worried to admit that we don’t know all we do is make it worse and more frustrating for them.

Think of it this way, if you went to the doctor and were told that something needed more testing to find out what is going on and they referred you to the incorrect department and you had to spend your time going from person to person on the phone, you’d get so frustrated that you would want to give up. I imagine it is the same for the people we support.

In my team we work with older people and for some of them it can be difficult enough to keep in their mind who they have dealt with when it is a small number of people let alone numerous who they never actually needed to speak to. It all comes down to communication or lack thereof. Instead of just going away and finding what is needed its all about not making extra work for yourself to find out the right information.

I know that I am the first person to admit to people I am supporting when I don’t know the answer, when I need to discuss something with a colleague or find out who would deal with a specific situation because to me it gives a better experience to those we work with and makes it easier for you in the long run. You don’t want those people you have passed around from pillar to post to end up making a complaint about you or coming back to you repeatedly trying to get the information they should have got in the first place.