Social work teams combine and expand

Thursday 13th August 2009, 2:00PM BST.

A SHAKE-UP in Guernsey’s children law has forced Health and Social Services to hire more staff. 0818758
The Children (Guernsey and Alderney) Law, 2008 comes into effect this autumn.
To help deal with the increased workload, the Initial Assessment and Social Work team has merged with the Family Assessment and Social Work team to form the Assessment and Intervention team.
Although the two are combining, more staff have had to be hired and there are now 14.
Team manager Nicky Gallienne said islanders would get a smoother service.
‘People often start with one team and have to swap social workers if they need longer-term social work,’ she said.
‘This way, there will be less repetition of work. It is about the team cooperating and giving families a more-supportive environment.’