§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in what circumstances hospital social workers may be expected to perform the role of key worker for an individual.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonDecisions about who should be an individual's key worker should be made after consultation between professionals who are aware of the individual's needs. For hospital patients and people recently discharged from hospital who need social care, it will often be appropriate for hospital social workers to perform the role of key worker.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has to monitor and record the level of referrals to hospital social workers.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonLocal authorities have varying practices for the deployment of social workers responsible for hospital patients and people recently discharged from hospital. Statistics on these would be of limited value at national level and there are currently no plans to collect them.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many social workers were based in hospitals in(a) Renfrewshire, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole in each of the past five years.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe table below shows the whole-time equivalent number of local authority social workers based in hospitals for the most recent five years for which information is available centrally.
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Strathclyde 211 215 238 216 250 Scotland 478 496 500 486 511 Information at district level is not available centrally.