‘Before, there were peaks and troughs – with Covid, it’s relentless’: social work eight months into the pandemic
Social workers describe the exhausting impact of long-term working from home, increased pressures and paperwork, and navigating coronavirus transmission risks in Community Care’s survey
Photo: Mike/Adobe Stock
One social worker completed Community Care’s second coronavirus survey at the end of a week of long days attending court virtually:
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I haven’t seen my own child as a result. I haven’t seen any of my colleagues face-to-face and all my visits are out. I have done a hideous four-day sexual abuse final hearing from my own bedroom. I struggle to see anything good resulting from the pandemic. For a little while I thought maybe the powers that be had realised that meaningful contact with a family could be more than just forcing home visits on them, but as soon as [the first] lockdown was lifted, we reverted straight back. You can talk to a difficult