Social workers' workload survey: messages from the frontline: findings from the 2009 survey and interviews with senior managers

Abstract

"The research findings which have been reported emerged from work commissioned to inform
\nthe Social Work Task Force but they also make a contribution to issues discussed in this
\nsection and to other social work debates. It is important to recognise that this was the most
\ncomprehensive diary exercise conducted with social workers in this country. The findings
\ngenerated from the analysis of the diaries have provided the first systematic examination of
\nhow social workers use their time. Yet for the reasons examined in the report there are
\nprovisos regarding the representativeness of data which leads to the recommendation that
\nthe exercise should be repeated with an instrument which is redesigned to reflect lessons
\nfrom this survey and with a larger negotiated sample, along the lines of the Teachers’
\nWorkload Survey." - Page 138.