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BJSW Advance Access published online on July 18, 2005
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch218
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Article

Stress and Pressures in Mental Health Social Work: The Worker Speaks

Peter Huxley 1, Sherrill Evans 2, Claire Gately 3, Martin Webber 4, Alex Mears 5, Sarah Pajak 6, Tim Kendall 7, Jibby Medina 8, and Cornelius Katona 9

1 Professor of Social Work at the Institute of Psychiatry and Director of the Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King’s College, London
2 Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry and Social Care Work-force Research Unit, King’s College, London
3 Research Worker at the National Centre for Primary Care R&D, University of Manchester
4 Social Science Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry and Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College, London
5 Research Fellow at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Research Unit, London
6 Research Worker at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Research Unit, London
7 Deputy Director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Research Unit, London
8 Research Assistant at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Research Unit, London
9 Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, London


  Abstract

Two-thirds of councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs) took part in a UK survey of mental health social workers. A one in five sample of front line workers was drawn, and 237 respondents completed a questionnaire and diary about their work context and content, and their attitudes to their work, their employer, mental health policy and the place of mental health social work in modernized mental health services. The questions, that called for free-text responses, were completed in detail and at length. This paper reports the results of a qualitative analysis of these responses using NVIVO software. The paper is structured around the themes emerging from the analysis: pressure of work; staffing matters; job satisfaction and well-being; recruitment and retention issues; and being valued. The conclusions are that the social workers value face to face contact with service users, and that their commitment to service users is an important factor in staff retention. The most unsatisfactory aspects of their work context arise from not feeling valued by their employers and wider society, and some of the most satisfactory from the support of colleagues and supervisors. Without attention to these factors, recruitment and retention problems will remain an unresolved issue.

Keywords: Mental health social work, stress, job satisfaction, recruitment, retention.
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