In the second of two reports into social work in Bromley borough, reporter CHARLOTTE McDONALD spoke to Ian Leadbetter, head of social care in the west of the borough.

MORE than 6,000 people were referred to Bromley Council’s referral and assessment unit last year.

Yet it is the one or two high profile cases in the media exposing the failings of social workers which most people know about.

Mr Leadbetter said: “You only need one incident when you get it wrong and it is a massive headline but day in day out hundreds of people are helped.

“We have lots of successes with working with adolescents and conflicts that they have with their families.

“We measure success by if the young person remains living with their family.

“Or one of our successes is removing someone from a volatile situation.

He said: “No one wants to celebrate the removal of a child but some children need to be removed from their families.”

Around 250 children are in care at any one time.

But even when social services believe it is necessary to do so, a magistrate will need to be convinced to grant an order for it to happen.

Mr Leadbetter said: “Removing children is always the last resort.

“The understanding of the procedures is very difficult for some people to grasp. It’s not very easy to promote our successes.

“Sometimes in social work you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

“If we work with a family and take a child away, we are damned by the family.

"If you leave someone and something goes wrong, you are damned in the press.”

What a typical day might look like Mr Leadbetter said that a typical day for a social worker might involve doing a home visit in the morning, afterwards they might go to a school to see how someone is doing.

They would then go back to the office afterwards to write up their findings.

Then in the afternoon they might have a meeting with other child protection agencies to discuss a case, and visit someone in care.

Mr Leadbetter said: “The work is demanding. If we get a referral at 4pm, we can’t go home.

"We can’t just say ‘I’m sorry I’m going home at 5pm.’ We have to go out.

“They often go into the evening. It’s not uncommon to go out until 7 or 8pm.”

To find out more about the council’s services visit bromley.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth

ANONYMOUS SOCIAL WORKER OPERATING ON THE GROUND IN BROMLEY :

“When you start out, it’s tricky.

“You get used to it and you learn more strategies.

“There are certain words that people don’t like, so on a different visit I would use different words.

“It’s always a learning curve.

“In my view a lot of good work has been shadowed by the Baby P case.

“I think it can be a stumbling block with establishing relationships with families.

“But I also think it has made families aware that we are going by legislation and procedures.

“I think it’s made families aware of the importance of having a social worker and seeing what they do.”