Preparing for Practice

Values

Any induction to the social services sector in Scotland must ensure that employees are reminded of the importance of the value base which must inform the practice of all workers in the sector. The common statement of this value base is contained in the Code of Practice for Social Service Workers which states that social service workers must,

protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers
strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers
promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm.
respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people
uphold public trust and confidence in social services
be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills

Familiarity with the detail in relation to each of these statements will vary for the new worker depending on their prior education, training and/or experience, nonetheless, it is worthwhile to address the values contained in the Code of Practice at the point of induction as a means of reinforcing expectations of staff in their conduct as social service workers and representatives of the employing organisation

Resources

SSSC has developed an iPad based learning resource focused on the principles of care for social service workers. This resource provides useful learning material on a range of values based issues in social service practice along with a series of practice activities to encourage staff to transfer their learning to practice. You can get this free learning resource here.