Care to chat? A podcast from the Northern Ireland Social Care Council Northern Ireland Social Care Council

A new episode of ‘Care to chat’ is now available. This time around we have a special conversation which shows a very different area of social care – social support – and demonstrates how special relationships can be for those that access support at a crucial time and those that give it.



Host Dr Wendy Austin MBE is joined by Teresa Miles, Social Care Manager, Belfast Central Mission, and her staff member Support Worker, Rebecca Simpson, alongside mum of three, Molly Lappin, who has had support from both Teresa and Rebecca to find suitable housing for her and her family, and who as a result is considering a career in social care herself.  

Working in partnership with people who user services and their families or carers is an important way to influence positive change.



In this week’s ‘Care to chat?’ podcast we hear from members of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council’s Participation Partnership which consists of people who use services and carers from a range of backgrounds and experiences.



Members of the Participation Partnership influence and advise the Social Care Council and develop principles and standards to encourage best practice in participation working. 

 

Dr Wendy Austin MBE hears from members Alan Ritchie, Grace Price and Anne Mallon about their experiences of being involved in advocacy and engagement in health and social care, what motivates them to participate and why they think others should consider getting involved. Hear from them about the importance of nurturing the service user and family’s relationship with social care and social work professionals and to view it as an equal and respectful partnership.



If you are interested in influencing just like Grace, Alan and Anne you can join the Social Care Council’s Participation Partnership by sending an email to: comms@niscc.hscni.net.  

On the latest episode of ‘Care to chat?’ podcast, we welcome the Northern Ireland Social Care Council’s (the Social Care Council) Head of Fitness to Practise, Helen McVicker. Helen sits down with our host Dr Wendy Austin MBE, to talk about the role and challenges of regulating social care workers and social workers, when it comes to protecting the public.

They speak about fitness to practise which is the public protection role of the Social Care Council, including the importance of registration and the Public Facing Register (the Register), community awareness this, how they work with others who have a role in public protection and what happens when a concern is raised about the standards of conduct and practise for a social care worker or social worker – proportionately, both for the practitioner and the person raising the concern.

This week is Loneliness Awareness week, so our next Care to Chat episode is a worthwhile listen. This year’s theme, ‘Random Acts of Connection’, encourages everyone to increase simple, everyday moments of connection which can help us build relationships with others and feel happier and less lonely. Loneliness is a significant problem in our communities and often arises from complex and multifaceted issues linked to mental and physical ill- health, discrimination, inequality and exclusion. So, how can social workers help people who are experiencing loneliness?



In our latest podcast Dr Wendy Austin MBE guides a conversation to find out more about why a newly qualified social worker, an early career social worker and a team leader ask the people they support about loneliness.



Jeanine Toner, Team Manager, Northern Ireland Refugee Support Service with Barnardo’s, Steven McMillan, Community Older People’s Team with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Aislinn Delaney, Social Work Lead with the NI Hospice share how they use their skills and relationship centred practice to have important and sometimes difficult conversations about loneliness in very diverse settings working with older people, refugees and people with life-limiting illnesses.

In our first episode of 2024, we focus on social work and leadership. There is a big conversation going on across the social work profession, around the Social Work Leadership Framework, a framework to help shape how leadership applies to social workers in Northern Ireland and how it makes a positive impact on their practice. This episode features Aine Morrison, Chief Social Worker, Department of Health, Marita McGuiness, Assistant Director for Social Work and Social Care Governance, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Eileen McKay, Deputy Executive Director of Social Work, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Louise Kearney, Children’s Services Manager, Action for Children. They answer questions about what the Leadership Framework is and why it’s important for social work to have one.

In this final episode in the Northern Ireland Social Care Council’s ‘Care to chat’ 2023 podcast series hosted by Dr Wendy Austin MBE, we are taking another look at social work and human rights specifically in the context of children’s safeguarding and young people in care. Experienced professionals contribute to the discussion including Jane Hynes, Senior Social Worker, Learning and Improvement Team, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Geraldine McGuigan, Manager, Voypic, Suzanne Cunningham, Assistant Director of Children’s Services, RQIA and Dr Nazia Latif, Right Practice.



This episode is a follow on from our previous episode (see previous related episode), where we talked with human rights expert Dr Nazia Latif. It explores further human rights in social work, and guests discuss how to make human rights real in practice.



‘Care to chat?’ will return with lots more important conversations in social care and social work in 2024. Have an idea for a future episode? Contact us on comms@niscc.hscni.net with your suggestions.