A survey of 354 staff found that some support workers are being routinely asked to take on work they don’t feel qualified for as employers struggle to cope with social worker shortages and rising demand.
Two-thirds of respondents said they were regularly given work with vulnerable children and adults when they didn’t feel they had the right qualifications or experience.
Seventy per cent of support staff said the number of cases they handled had increased while 79 per cent said the complexity of cases had risen in the past year.
Unison’s national officer for social care Helga Pile said: "Our survey shows that social work assistants and support workers are seriously struggling to cope with the pressures being piled on them, as demand continues to grow, while resources are drastically cut.
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