Summary of evaluation findings

Published: SCIE, Innovation Unit and York Consulting, July 2018

The impact of the Named Social Worker pilot

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) initiated the Named Social Worker (NSW) pilot to build an understanding of how a named social worker can help to improve outcomes for individuals with learning disabilities, autism and mental health conditions. Phase 1 ran from October 2016 to March 2017 and Phase ran 2 from October 2017 to March 2018.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Innovation Unit, worked with the six Phase 2 sites to assess the impact of the pilot on the individuals engaged in the pilot, the named social workers and the wider system. Three sites focused on transition cases while the other three worked with individuals who were from learning disability or Transforming Care cohorts.

This report draws from and summarises findings from the NSW Phase 2 programme evaluation report (SCIE) and NSW Cost Benefit Analysis (York Consulting). It is aimed at other local authorities or commissioners interested in learning how a NSW approach can improve outcomes, have a positive impact on social worker’s skills, confidence and motivation and reduce costs.

The report should be read alongside 'Putting People at the Heart of Social Work' (Innovation Unit) and 'Stories of impact: a service user journey' (Humanly).

Summary of key findings

Despite the short pilot timeframe, the evaluation evidence suggests that the NSW pilot had impact across three levels: on the individuals engaged in the pilot, on the named social workers themselves and on the wider system, as outlined below:

Impact on the individuals and the people around them

Impact on the named social workers

Impact on the wider system