"[Mental health] workforce shortages and retention issues are acute. High turnover, limited career progression and poor recognition of mental health social workers compromise continuity of care and integration." Health and Social Care Committee 2026 Community Mental Health Services Summary 2024-26 In the bottom right of the graphic is a front cover of the Health and Social Care Committee's report into Community Mental Health Services in the UK.

"The 10 Year Workforce Plan must deliver for the mental health workforce and we recommend every person with a severe mental illness have access to a named mental health social worker." Health and Social Care Committee 2026 Community Mental Health Services Summary 2024-26 In the bottom right of the graphic is a front cover of the Health and Social Care Committee's report into Community Mental Health Services in the UK.

The Health and Social Care Committee has identified priorities to improve community mental health services.

The bottom line: support and retain the workforce.

Read our recommendations:
thinkahead.org/news-item/five-prioritie...

#SocialWorkMatters

Nephrology Social Worker Certification (NSW-C) Program NKF Mega Menu

2+ years in a Nephrology Renal setting?
Two licensed SWs to vouch for you?
You could qualify for the NSW-C Certification!
Show your dedication to kidney care. #SocialWorkMatters #KidneyCare

23,000+ signatures and counting! The DOE could cap loans for future MSWs.
Don’t let social work get left behind—raise your voice now.
🖊️ Sign here: www.votervoice.net/NASW/Petitio...
#NASWPetition #SocialWorkMatters #StudentLoans #Advocacy

Mental health social work: a missing piece in the NHS workforce plan - Think Ahead In our latest blog, our External Affairs Officer, Florence, sets out why strengthening the mental health social work workforce is more urgent than ever. The workforce is the heart of the NHS, but right now staff across the system are under immense pressure trying to deliver high-quality care without the time, resources or support they […]

Mental health is not just a health issue - it's very much a social one.
We need more mental health social workers.

Read more from our External Affairs Officer, Florence Makin👇
thinkahead.org/news-item/mental-health-...

#SocialWorkMatters

Mental health social work is the missing part of the NHS workforce puzzle. We need more mental health social workers. #SocialWorkMatters

Social factors influence wellbeing:
- Stable employment
- Financial pressures
- Secure housing
- Relationships
- Isolation
- Trauma

So where is the recognition and investment in mental health social workers within NHS workforce planning?

#SocialWorkMatters #MentalHealth #SocialCare

About mental health social work - Think Ahead Stories from social workers and the people they support, what mental health social workers do, and their career development options.

Mental health social workers help people navigate social issues in their life such as housing, employment and relationships. 

Find out more about this vital role at thinkahead.org/our-training-programme/a...

#MentalHealth #SocialWorkMatters

Mental health social workers work with people to bring out their strengths, connect with communities and access peer support - all of which can help tackle loneliness.

#MentalHealthSocialWork #SocialWorkMatters

Documentation Automation Can Bring Big Benefits to Adult Protective Services

Have a take that deserves a platform?

#NASW members — share your perspective in Social Work Advocates’ Viewpoints column. Your ideas, your voice, your impact.

Email: swadvocates@socialworkers.org | buff.ly/04a3R0F

#NASW #SocialWorkVoices #SocialWorkMatters

We’re urging the government to fully recognise the value of mental health social workers by including them in the upcoming NHS workforce plan.

#MentalHealthSocialWork #SocialWorkMatters

Shutdown stress is real — and this time, it’s different.
“Federal employees are being held hostage,” says LCSW-C Davidra Bazemore-Blue. Here’s how #SocialWorkers can help folks regroup and heal:
🔗 www.helpstartshere.org/during-the-s...

#GovernmentShutdown #TraumaInformedCare #SocialWorkMatters

Blue background with white and yellow text that reads 'Working with a social worker really helped me. Unlike a doctor or nurse who looks at your symptoms and treatment for them, they look at your whole life.'

The difference mental health social workers can make is transformational.

For Harris, support of his social worker helped him to manage his severe anxiety  depression.

Everyone struggling with their mental health deserves the support that Harris got, to get well and stay well.

#SocialWorkMatters

Photo of a front of a house, with an orange filter over it. White and black text reads 'We need a social approach to mental health.'

Difficult social situations can contribute to mental health ill health, but improving the social factors in someone’s life can be transformational.

Mental health social workers empower people to manage the social factors in their lives, providing life-changing support.

#SocialWorkMatters

Responding to whether social workers will be in the next NHS workforce plan - Think Ahead Mental health social workers must be properly recognised as part of the NHS workforce. We were so pleased to hear Andrew George MP raise the vital question of whether social workers will be included in the next NHS workforce plan at this week’s Health and Social Care Select Committee session. This is something we said […]

This is something we said loud and clear in our evidence to the Committee earlier this year, and it's what we've been calling for in our #SocialWorkMatters campaign:

Congress and the Administration Are Using Paperwork to Discourage Enrollment in Marketplace Insurance Millions will lose health insurance because of new regulations, with losses driven by intentional inefficiencies, additional steps, and administrative burdens.

📄💔 Paperwork shouldn’t decide who lives or dies! Millions losing Marketplace coverage—POC, immigrants & trans/nonbinary folks hit hardest 🏥😡 #HealthEquity #Medicaid #AffordableCare #SocialWorkMatters #CoverageCrisis

Photo of Lyn Romeo, a white woman wearing a black top, sat down in front of microphone. There is a blue overlay across the photo. Across the photo white and yellow text reads 'to meet today's mental health challenges, their contribution must be recognised, properly resourced and expanded.'

To meet today’s mental health challenges, the contribution of social workers must be recognised, properly resourced & expanded: thinkahead.org/news-item/why-social-wor...

#SocialWorkMatters #SocialWork

Graphic of 8 icons of people. 7 of them are are a teal colour and one of them is yellow. Underneath the eight figures black text reads 'There are only enough mental health social workers in the NHS to support 1 in 8 people who have severe mental illness.'

🚨 There are only enough mental health social workers in the NHS to support 1 in 8 people who have severe mental illness.

Mental health social workers are vital professionals who can make such a difference to people’s life - but we need more of them.

#SocialWorkMatters

Why social workers are vital for mental health services - Think Ahead Lyn Romeo, Think Ahead Trustee and former Chief Social Worker for Adults, explains why social workers are vital for mental health services and supports our #SocialWorkMatters campaign – to ensure that everyone with severe mental illness has access to a mental health social worker. Nation’s mental health crisis At this year’s British Association of Social […]

The upcoming NHS workforce plan must recognise social workers as a vital part of the mental health workforce - and we’ll keep campaigning to make this happen: thinkahead.org/news-item/why-social-wor...

#SocialWorkMatters

Social work matters – our case for investment - Think Ahead Social work matters – but it’s continuously undervalued and overlooked by policy makers. This World Social Work Day we’re launching our Social Work Matters campaign to ensure that everyone with severe mental illness has access to a mental health social worker. We welcome the government’s commitment to investment in frontline roles but want to be sure […]

The government must invest in social work so everyone with mental health needs gets the support they deserve, like Elizabeth: thinkahead.org/news-item/social-work-ma...

#SocialWorkMatters

Children and Families Social Work Bundle Available only on the JKP Store  Looking to strengthen your practice with children and families? This essential bundle brings together four powerful resources to help you connect, communicate, and cre...

Social workers! New and exclusive to the JKP website, this discounted book bundle brings together four powerful resources. Save over 20% when you buy the bundle.
uk.jkp.com/products/chi...
#SocialWork #SocialCare #SocialWorkers #SocialWorkMatters #SocialWorkLife #FamilySocialWork

Children and Families Social Work Bundle Available only on the JKP Store  Looking to strengthen your practice with children and families? This essential bundle brings together four powerful resources to help you connect, communicate, and cre...

New and exclusive to the JKP website, this discounted book bundle brings together four powerful resources.

Save over 20% when you buy the bundle.
uk.jkp.com/products/chi...

#SocialWork #SocialCare #SocialWorkers #SocialWorkMatters #SocialWorkLife #ChildandFamilySocialWork

Next Cross-Party Group on Social Work: Tuesday 24 June, 18:15–20:00 (online).
Everyone’s welcome — social workers, students, lived experience — to help raise social work’s profile in policy.
📧 Join by emailing: cpgsocialwork@basw.co.uk #SocialWorkMatters

Scenes from #NASW2025 🔥 Insight. Connection. Momentum.
#NASW2025 #SocialWorkMatters #SocialWorkConference #SocialJustice #AdvocacyInAction #ProfessionalDevelopment #CommunityCare #TraumaInformedCare #ChicagoEvents #ChicagoConference

We’re supporting Social Work England’s #ChangeTheScript campaign – to challenge social work’s negative public image, which has a harmful impact on social workers and the people they support.

Including mental health social workers who we've been advocating for in our #SocialWorkMatters campaign. 💙

Mental health social workers support the *whole* person: offering holistic, social and rights-based support within clinical mental health teams.

Yet they make up just 2% of the total mental health workforce.

Our call to government: thinkahead.org/socialworkmatters

#SocialWorkMatters

Image shows a black male social worker and older man smiling at each other with text that reads: Mental health is a social issue. We need more mental health social workers. #SocialWorkMatters

Mental health is a social issue.

Problems with employment, housing and relationships can deeply affect a person’s mental health – and for many, it's hard to resolve one without the other.

We need more mental health social workers to address this.

#SocialWorkMatters

Social work matters – our case for investment - Think Ahead Social work matters – but it’s continuously undervalued and overlooked by policy makers. This World Social Work Day we’re launching our Social Work Matters campaign to ensure that everyone with severe mental illness has access to a mental health social worker. We welcome the government’s commitment to investment in frontline roles but want to be sure […]

The government are due to publish the NHS 10-year health plan in the coming weeks (spring 2025) and the NHS workforce plan this summer.

We sincerely hope social work in mental health services feature in both.

Read why #SocialWorkMatters in mental health:

Photo of a man and his female social worker, with text overlaid: The extra 8,500 mental health staff promised by government *must include social workers* #SocialWorkMatters

Social workers only make up around 2% of the mental health workforce.

But mental health is as much a social issue as it is a medical one.

We need to address the imbalance in our system and ensure #MentalHealth services provide social as well as medical support.

#SocialWorkMatters

Social work matters – our case for investment - Think Ahead Social work matters – but it’s continuously undervalued and overlooked by policy makers. This World Social Work Day we’re launching our Social Work Matters campaign to ensure that everyone with severe...

Mental health social workers are vital members of a stronger mental health workforce and can not be overlooked - they take a social approach to mental health and provide truly transformational support.

We're campaigning for their value to be recognised: bit.ly/41YkIoS

#SocialWorkMatters

Mental health social workers make up around 2% of the mental health workforce. #SocialWorkMatters Source: NHS Digital Workforce Statistics 2024, Benchmarking Network Workforce Census 2023

🔵 There are 8,700 social workers in adult mental health.

🔵 3,400 are in NHS teams in England.

🔵 This is only 2% of the mental health workforce.

We need more mental health social workers.

(24,000 more, over the next 10 years.)

Read our policy briefing: https://bit.ly/41YkIoS
#SocialWorkMatters