# Supported to thrive: adult social care in Wokingham

An episode of [The Social Work Community Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1714472159), 21 Apr 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/14f60c17-0074-476d-8548-b3680082530f/c840856e-aaf1-41c7-9e14-b3e700cdd2aa/b8d4cb59-f222-4a4f-ac89-b43200a1f599/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=a30296c8-4875-4ee0-ae8d-b3e700cdd2b8

In collaboration with Wokingham Borough Council adult social care, social workers from the hospital discharge team team tell us why they love working there. Josh, Noku and principal social worker Vicky describe what it is like working in this market town west of London. Hospital discharge teams aren't often spoken about but the work social workers do is of immense importance to adults who require care after a stint at hospital. Listen to the support they get, and why they continue to choose Wokingham. If you're interested in a career at Wokingham check out current vacancies or take a look at the employer profile. The Social Work Community podcast is where social workers come to discuss the key issues affecting their profession. Whether you are a student or an experienced social worker - whether you are frontline or management, this podcast is for you. You will hear direct from social workers in your community about their successes and their challenges. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up-to-date with the latest news and join the Social Work Community for all things social work. For all news stories and features visit Community Care. Produced by Sharmeen Ziauddin for Community Care See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Hi and welcome to another episode of the Social Work
[0:04] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Community podcast. This episode is in collaboration with Wokingham Borough
[0:09] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Council Adult Social Care. I'm Sharmeen Ziauddin, one of the
[0:13] Sharmeen Ziauddin: editors here at Community Care. So today we're going to
[0:16] Sharmeen Ziauddin: be talking to two social workers from the hospital discharge team,
[0:20] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Josh Ferguson and Noku Moyo, and the principal social worker
[0:24] Sharmeen Ziauddin: for adults at Wokingham, who is Vicky Scotford.
[0:28] Sharmeen Ziauddin: So thank you all for joining. I'm just gonna ask
[0:30] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you quickly just to say hello and introduce yourselves, so
[0:33] Sharmeen Ziauddin: we can start with Vicky.
[0:35] Vicky Scotford: Hi, Sharmeen. Thank you for asking us to be part
[0:38] Vicky Scotford: of this podcast today. I'm Vicky Scotford. I'm head of
[0:42] Vicky Scotford: Social Care Academy and principal social worker for adults in
[0:46] Vicky Scotford: Woking Borough Council.
[0:48] Josh Ferguson: Josh Ferguson, a social worker in the Hospital discharge team.
[0:51] Josh Ferguson: We also call ourselves HLT. So if we say HLT,
[0:54] Josh Ferguson: that's what that means.
[0:56] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Thank you for clarifying that.
[0:58] Noku Moyo: Hi, my name is Noku Moyo. I in the same
[1:02] Noku Moyo: team with Josh, Hospital discharge team and Thank you for
[1:07] Noku Moyo: this opportunity.
[1:08] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Thank you so much to all three of you for
[1:10] Sharmeen Ziauddin: joining me. So, let's just start with a little overview. Vicky,
[1:15] Sharmeen Ziauddin: as the PSW at Wokingham, can you give us a
[1:18] Sharmeen Ziauddin: bit of a lowdown on Wokingham? Where on earth is it?
[1:21] Sharmeen Ziauddin: and just a little bit about adult social care and
[1:23] Sharmeen Ziauddin: how it works at Wokingham?
[1:25] Vicky Scotford: Sure, of course. So Wokingham's a unitary authority in Berkshire,
[1:29] Vicky Scotford: and it's one of unitaries. We're kind of west of London,
[1:35] Vicky Scotford: straight down the M4, and we're, we're relatively small, really,
[1:38] Vicky Scotford: something like 180,000 people, I think, around there, which is
[1:44] Vicky Scotford: obviously a bit smaller compared to some of the bigger, um,
[1:47] Vicky Scotford: county councils. We have a really great adult social care workforce.
[1:51] Vicky Scotford: I know I'm biassed, but we do. Um, really committed
[1:54] Vicky Scotford: to the.
[1:55] Vicky Scotford: People we work with. Um, and we have a number
[1:58] Vicky Scotford: of different social work teams, and also an established therapy team,
[2:02] Vicky Scotford: which is, um, for, with our occupational therapists. And, we
[2:07] Vicky Scotford: had our first Care Quality Commission assessment this year, the
[2:11] Vicky Scotford: CQC assessment, which was quite an experience, but, um, also
[2:15] Vicky Scotford: an opportunity to show the good work we do in Wokingham.
[2:19] Vicky Scotford: We're so pleased that we've got a good rating of, um,
[2:22] Vicky Scotford: a score of 81, which was such an achievement and a,
[2:25] Vicky Scotford: a real recognition of the good work that happens here.
[2:28] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Congratulations. Was that, was that last year?
[2:31] Vicky Scotford: It was, yeah. We had our on-site, um, inspection in March,
[2:36] Vicky Scotford: I think, and then we had our report August, I think,
[2:39] Vicky Scotford: or something around then.
[2:41] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Fantastic. So you've all been with Wokingham Borough Council since
[2:45] Sharmeen Ziauddin: the beginning of your social work career I think. I
[2:47] Sharmeen Ziauddin: think that's quite rare because you all have quite a
[2:50] Sharmeen Ziauddin: few years' experience on you. So what has made you stay?
[2:54] Vicky Scotford: OK, so I have been at Wokingham for quite a long time.
[2:58] Vicky Scotford: I started as a newly qualified social worker in 2001
[3:03] Vicky Scotford: in the learning disability team. We didn't have the ASYE then, um.
[3:08] Vicky Scotford: But we've, I've been really fortunate, I think, to have
[3:11] Vicky Scotford: had the opportunity to do a number of different roles
[3:14] Vicky Scotford: in Wokingham, progressing from social worker to senior social worker,
[3:19] Vicky Scotford: and then team manager and service manager, and then moving
[3:22] Vicky Scotford: into the, the principal social worker role. I think it
[3:25] Vicky Scotford: was around, um, 2020, I think, just before COVID. Um,
[3:30] Vicky Scotford: I think I've stayed with Wokingham. Uh, it's such an innovative,
[3:34] Vicky Scotford: forward thinking local authority, I think. There's always, always a
[3:38] Vicky Scotford: drive to do things better. Um, and we try and, um,
[3:42] Vicky Scotford: involve the people we work with as much as we
[3:44] Vicky Scotford: can where possible, and co-production's really kind of at the
[3:48] Vicky Scotford: heart of everything that we, that we do.
[3:51] Vicky Scotford: And I think something else about, um, Wokingham is the
[3:53] Vicky Scotford: people and the, the culture of support in Wokingham. And it,
[3:58] Vicky Scotford: you know, for me it's been second to none and
[4:00] Vicky Scotford: it's one of the, the, you know, the core reasons
[4:02] Vicky Scotford: that I've stayed in Wokingham, I think. Um, and we
[4:05] Vicky Scotford: get feedback from our staff teams as well that they
[4:08] Vicky Scotford: feel supported and that it's a real key thing for them. Josh,
[4:11] Vicky Scotford: how about you?
[4:13] Josh Ferguson: Wow, gosh, I, I mean, I haven't been, no offence, Vicky,
[4:15] Josh Ferguson: I haven't been here quite as long as you have,
[4:18] Josh Ferguson: but I started in, in 2015 when I was, I
[4:21] Josh Ferguson: was 24 when I started, which feels like, it feels
[4:24] Josh Ferguson: like a long time ago, it's what, almost 11 years ago,
[4:27] Josh Ferguson: as a, as an assessor as they were then, uh,
[4:30] Josh Ferguson: which is like a non, not qualified, no, like a,
[4:32] Josh Ferguson: not a social worker, the other one, non-qualified.
[4:35] Josh Ferguson: And yeah, did my apprenticeship here, that was, that was 2019. actually, Vicky,
[4:40] Josh Ferguson: I remember you interviewed me because you were the ser
[4:42] Josh Ferguson: you were acting up service manager then, so you were
[4:44] Josh Ferguson: on the interview panel, like when we were like putting
[4:47] Josh Ferguson: it together and then.
[4:49] Josh Ferguson: Yeah, and then the next year you were the PSW
[4:52] Josh Ferguson: so you would have been, so almost every year you
[4:54] Josh Ferguson: got to interview people for it, which is wild,
[4:56] Vicky Scotford: wow, it seems a long time ago, Josh.
[4:59] Josh Ferguson: Ah it was, it was a shoot end before we,
[5:01] Josh Ferguson: you know, no one was going in because it was COVID, um,
[5:04] Josh Ferguson: and yep, did my apprenticeship, was supported by the council,
[5:08] Josh Ferguson: did my ASYE. Then I qualified in, well that'd be 22,
[5:14] Josh Ferguson: I guess, so been here for, I mean, for ages,
[5:16] Josh Ferguson: and you know, I mean like, like, like Vicky said. I've,
[5:19] Josh Ferguson: I've literally just never thought of working anywhere else because
[5:22] Josh Ferguson: it's er, Wokingham is although a very small authority, we're
[5:25] Josh Ferguson: small but plucky, you know, it's like um, there's a something,
[5:29] Josh Ferguson: a real sense of, I don't know, I don't want
[5:30] Josh Ferguson: to sound like cheesy about it, but it's sort of
[5:32] Josh Ferguson: almost like a sort of community of social workers, you know,
[5:34] Josh Ferguson: sort of you collaborate on ideas, there's a lot of
[5:38] Josh Ferguson: support for working quite creatively to solve problems sometimes, you know,
[5:42] Josh Ferguson: I feel like I can always go to my manager
[5:46] Josh Ferguson: or or, you know, to try different things to to
[5:48] Josh Ferguson: get the absolute best for our, for our residents, and
[5:51] Josh Ferguson: I think, again, like Vicky, you also, you said, you know,
[5:54] Josh Ferguson: that it's so supportive, you know, that.
[5:57] Josh Ferguson: You know, we, we work as a team, you know, we,
[5:59] Josh Ferguson: we have our little teams chats, whereas, you know, back
[6:02] Josh Ferguson: in the day it used to be, you'd just sort
[6:03] Josh Ferguson: of lean back in your office chair and go, oh,
[6:06] Josh Ferguson: has anyone had worked with someone in this sort of
[6:08] Josh Ferguson: situation before? You know, and straight away, especially in our team, I,
[6:12] Josh Ferguson: you know, we straight on, you know, can, can someone
[6:14] Josh Ferguson: help me with this, can, yeah, yeah, great, I'll be there,
[6:16] Josh Ferguson: you know, can I, does someone want to come on
[6:18] Josh Ferguson: a joint visit with me, can someone help me move
[6:19] Josh Ferguson: a bed up and down this, do you know what
[6:21] Josh Ferguson: I mean, like, all sorts of different things, and we're just,
[6:23] Josh Ferguson: you know, there, and it's, it feels like a really
[6:26] Josh Ferguson: supportive and and sort of yeah, lovely environment, so I've
[6:29] Josh Ferguson: never thought of going anywhere else.
[6:32] Vicky Scotford: Good, I'm, I'm pleased to hear that.
[6:35] Sharmeen Ziauddin: What about yourself?
[6:38] Noku Moyo: Wow.What can I say? I think I can loudly say
[6:41] Noku Moyo: I am proud. I am super proud to be part
[6:45] Noku Moyo: of Wokingham because of the support, because of the culture,
[6:51] Noku Moyo: because of investing on the staff. I joined Social Wokingham
[6:56] Noku Moyo: as a social care practitioner. Now talking as a qualified
[7:01] Noku Moyo: social worker through the apprenticeship.
[7:04] Noku Moyo: Which I was supported all the way through the journey.
[7:08] Noku Moyo: Support from the management, support from the staff, support from
[7:13] Noku Moyo: my supervisor, you know, reflective supervision, you know.
[7:18] Noku Moyo: To be very organic without being judged, and it has
[7:23] Noku Moyo: made me discover who really I am as a person
[7:27] Noku Moyo: and professionally.
[7:29] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Wow, that's quite a description of Wokingham that you've given,
[7:33] Sharmeen Ziauddin: and that's really nice to hear because very few people
[7:36] Sharmeen Ziauddin: can say such good things about the, where they work
[7:39] Sharmeen Ziauddin: for such a long time. Um, so that's actually really refreshing.
[7:43] Sharmeen Ziauddin: You both did an apprenticeship. And Noku, you were in
[7:46] Sharmeen Ziauddin: a different job, but within Wokingham and then you did
[7:49] Sharmeen Ziauddin: the apprenticeship. How did that go and how, how long
[7:52] Sharmeen Ziauddin: was the apprenticeship? You mentioned support. What kind of things
[7:55] Sharmeen Ziauddin: really helped you get through the apprenticeship?
[7:58] Josh Ferguson: I started mine in 2019. No, you were the next year,
[8:00] Josh Ferguson: weren't you? You were 2020. What, what an interesting time
[8:04] Josh Ferguson: to study. What an interesting time to. So I think
[8:07] Josh Ferguson: the support was was really important then because obviously 23
[8:11] Josh Ferguson: months into the course, I think it started at the
[8:13] Josh Ferguson: end of 2019, so a couple of months into the course,
[8:15] Josh Ferguson: suddenly we weren't allowed into, we weren't allowed in the hospitals.
[8:19] Josh Ferguson: The hospitals didn't want us because, you know, we go
[8:21] Josh Ferguson: to care homes, we go to see people's homes, we'd
[8:23] Josh Ferguson: be a, we'd be a super spreader, so they just
[8:25] Josh Ferguson: said no. So you know, we had to rethink a
[8:27] Josh Ferguson: lot of the ways we were working, so there was
[8:29] Josh Ferguson: a lot of support and I think, you know, Noku's
[8:30] Josh Ferguson: hit the nail on the head there with the supervision,
[8:33] Josh Ferguson: you know, within our team, we have really good, like
[8:37] Josh Ferguson: experienced social workers who are supporting and guiding us as
[8:41] Josh Ferguson: much as you can guide through sort of a, you know,
[8:43] Josh Ferguson: a once in a 100 year pandemic that no one's
[8:46] Josh Ferguson: been through. So I think things like that, that sort
[8:48] Josh Ferguson: of supportive nature and, and sort of working with us, and,
[8:53] Josh Ferguson: and I think, you know, again, Noku, I'm just, I'm
[8:56] Josh Ferguson: stealing all of your answers, Noku because they were so good.
[8:59] Josh Ferguson: So we have the, the learner groups with Sharon. And
[9:02] Josh Ferguson: then actually, we set up our own little informal one
[9:05] Josh Ferguson: in HLT um on going I actually run it now
[9:09] Josh Ferguson: at the moment. And yeah, Noku, you, you were, you
[9:11] Josh Ferguson: were me and you were the first ones, weren't you,
[9:12] Josh Ferguson: it was me and you that did it.
[9:14] Vicky Scotford: I think that was the first time we did it
[9:15] Vicky Scotford: was when you were, cos you you came to HLT.
[9:18] Vicky Scotford: On your 2nd 3rd year.
[9:23] Josh Ferguson: Yeah, on my final placement, yes.
[9:26] Sharmeen Ziauddin: How were you able to do placements or uh in,
[9:29] Sharmeen Ziauddin: in the pandemic or when we were in lockdown, or
[9:31] Sharmeen Ziauddin: was it just before?
[9:33] Josh Ferguson: The way it was going to be done was, so
[9:35] Josh Ferguson: we would do one placement in our team and one
[9:38] Josh Ferguson: placement outside of our team, and the original way they
[9:40] Josh Ferguson: put it forward to us was you'd do a short,
[9:43] Josh Ferguson: the short 70 day placement.
[9:45] Josh Ferguson: In another team, and you would do your longer placement
[9:48] Josh Ferguson: in the, where you wanted to finish, so then, that
[9:51] Josh Ferguson: was 2nd year, so that would have been 21, which
[9:53] Josh Ferguson: was still very. Lockdown, I think they just, we switched
[9:57] Josh Ferguson: them so that I was doing my 70 day placement
[10:01] Josh Ferguson: in HLT in the hospital team, so I already kind
[10:05] Josh Ferguson: of knew what I was doing, because I think that's
[10:07] Josh Ferguson: the really, Difficult thing is that when you join a
[10:10] Josh Ferguson: team trying to learn a, a sort of a, you know,
[10:13] Josh Ferguson: sort of a new, I mean it's all sort of
[10:15] Josh Ferguson: the same ish processes, but a new job and, Being quite,
[10:20] Josh Ferguson: I mean, quite isolated, you know, I mean, there's obviously,
[10:22] Josh Ferguson: there's people at the end of the laptop, whenever you
[10:24] Josh Ferguson: want them, but it, but do you know what I mean,
[10:25] Josh Ferguson: it's not the same as sitting in an office, being
[10:28] Josh Ferguson: supported in that way. So I think that's, that's what
[10:30] Josh Ferguson: we did there. We were things back to normal for
[10:32] Josh Ferguson: your second year? Yeah, normally, we are just out of
[10:35] Josh Ferguson: uh COVID when I did my placement, yeah. Things were
[10:39] Josh Ferguson: returning to normality, if I can say.
[10:43] Sharmeen Ziauddin: And and Noku, what about you in terms of the
[10:45] Sharmeen Ziauddin: support that you got in your apprenticeship? What kind of
[10:47] Sharmeen Ziauddin: things really helped you get through and and despite, you know,
[10:50] Sharmeen Ziauddin: and there was a pandemic at the added, uh, difficulty
[10:53] Sharmeen Ziauddin: of that, which no one, as you said, Josh, expected.
[10:56] Noku Moyo: Well, as I said, my placement was when things were
[11:00] Noku Moyo: returning to normality, but they were not that normally, there
[11:04] Noku Moyo: were still trauma everywhere, you know, still fear, uncertainty. What
[11:11] Noku Moyo: was really gonna happen given the pandemic that really, you know,
[11:17] Noku Moyo: caught everyone unaware. But I can say. The support I got,
[11:23] Noku Moyo: you know, through my SYE and being away from my,
[11:28] Noku Moyo: because I've got my children here and
[11:31] Noku Moyo: My husband, but being away from my family, Wokingham truly
[11:36] Noku Moyo: made me feel home, away from home with me getting
[11:41] Noku Moyo: that opportunity to study the degree. And then my children
[11:45] Noku Moyo: were still at that age that they really needed attention
[11:49] Noku Moyo: during the schooling and all that and doing the assignments.
[11:53] Noku Moyo: Taking my weekend away, but I didn't have to take
[11:57] Noku Moyo: my most of weekends away because I had support. I
[12:01] Noku Moyo: had the study time during my workdays to be able.
[12:05] Noku Moyo: All I needed was me to be good time management,
[12:08] Noku Moyo: to get the work done, which most of it, I
[12:11] Noku Moyo: really managed. So I managed to balance my degree.
[12:16] Noku Moyo: And the family time and being a mom without anything
[12:20] Noku Moyo: being compromised there. To me, that's really outstanding for me.
[12:25] Noku Moyo: That's amazing support because when I look back, I wouldn't
[12:29] Noku Moyo: have done it without the support from Wokingham and the
[12:33] Noku Moyo: flexibility and that protected time I had to study.
[12:38] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Yeah, I think for parents that time, especially with school
[12:41] Sharmeen Ziauddin: age children was so difficult and the fact that you
[12:45] Sharmeen Ziauddin: were supported and got through it the way you did is,
[12:48] Sharmeen Ziauddin: is a real credit to your employer who made accommodation
[12:53] Sharmeen Ziauddin: and there would have been so many people similarly in,
[12:56] Sharmeen Ziauddin: in the, in the same boat really, you know, in
[12:58] Sharmeen Ziauddin: the sense that, you know, social work is predominantly female
[13:02] Sharmeen Ziauddin: and generally the mothers do take on.
[13:04] Sharmeen Ziauddin: That load of childcare usually. Josh, you are, you are male.
[13:09] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Obviously there's lots of male social workers, but in adults,
[13:13] Sharmeen Ziauddin: there's not that many. Would that be correct? I mean,
[13:15] Sharmeen Ziauddin: I know generally in social work, I think 85% of
[13:19] Sharmeen Ziauddin: social workers are female. I've not met many male social
[13:23] Sharmeen Ziauddin: workers in adult social care.
[13:25] Josh Ferguson: Yeah, I mean I could probably count on maybe not
[13:27] Josh Ferguson: one hand, maybe two hands, the other, the other men
[13:29] Josh Ferguson: in the office in adult social care.
[13:32] Josh Ferguson: I guess it's uh, I don't know, it's one of
[13:34] Josh Ferguson: these sort of, I, I reflect sometimes on, on why
[13:37] Josh Ferguson: I did choose this path, and, you know, it's, it's
[13:41] Josh Ferguson: pretty obvious to notice, you know, there's not many of us.
[13:44] Josh Ferguson: It's a really hard one to pin down. I, I,
[13:46] Josh Ferguson: I suppose when I think about it, as a man,
[13:48] Josh Ferguson: it's maybe not something that you necessarily consider as an option.
[13:53] Josh Ferguson: Not that I didn't consider it, but I think I
[13:55] Josh Ferguson: sort of, sort of fell into it in a weird way,
[13:58] Josh Ferguson: cos like when I finished university in 2013.
[14:02] Josh Ferguson: When I had a, this is not my social work degree,
[14:04] Josh Ferguson: this was my incredibly useful er career defining degree in
[14:08] Josh Ferguson: screenwriting that I use all the time. um, and er we,
[14:12] Josh Ferguson: we worked so far away from the recession then that
[14:15] Josh Ferguson: jobs were not so common, and I ended up, uh
[14:18] Josh Ferguson: my family worked at West Berkshire Mencap, so I, I
[14:20] Josh Ferguson: did a bit of work there, um, and then I
[14:21] Josh Ferguson: moved across and worked for Optimus, who is the company
[14:25] Josh Ferguson: Wokingham own the day centre, and then just I I
[14:28] Josh Ferguson: saw a job at Wokingham Borough Council doing.
[14:31] Josh Ferguson: Health, it was a health liaison, I think it's what we're,
[14:34] Josh Ferguson: I think we're still, are we health liaison or hospital liaison?
[14:36] Josh Ferguson: There was a rumour we were changing our name, I
[14:37] Josh Ferguson: don't really know what happened with that. And that and
[14:40] Josh Ferguson: that's how I kind of got into it, so you know, again,
[14:43] Josh Ferguson: not that I think that there's a sort of prescribed
[14:44] Josh Ferguson: list for men and women of jobs you're allowed to
[14:46] Josh Ferguson: go for, but do you know what I mean, I'm
[14:47] Josh Ferguson: not necessarily sure it's a, a job option that a
[14:50] Josh Ferguson: lot of men maybe think about, I suppose is the
[14:52] Josh Ferguson: answer I can only give.
[14:55] Sharmeen Ziauddin: No, that, that's a great answer. I think, Josh, I, I,
[14:58] Sharmeen Ziauddin: I think you're right, and I think it links to um,
[15:01] Sharmeen Ziauddin: kind of society as a whole. People don't really know
[15:04] Sharmeen Ziauddin: what social care is or what social workers do and.
[15:07] Vicky Scotford: I think, you know, you're right, and females are more
[15:09] Vicky Scotford: likely to go into that profession, but, but why? And
[15:13] Vicky Scotford: I think we're trying to do some, you know, going
[15:15] Vicky Scotford: to careers fairs and things like that to really kind
[15:17] Vicky Scotford: of promote working in adult social care for just that reason,
[15:21] Vicky Scotford: because people, people don't consider it, you know, I've got
[15:24] Vicky Scotford: two adult children and they don't, um, they, I think
[15:27] Vicky Scotford: they probably still would ask me what social workers do
[15:29] Vicky Scotford: if I'm, if I'm completely honest, but it's not, you know,
[15:32] Vicky Scotford: a talked about career path when you're at, um, school
[15:35] Vicky Scotford: or sixth form. I, I don't think.
[15:37] Sharmeen Ziauddin: But we need to change that. I've spoken about this
[15:40] Sharmeen Ziauddin: on the podcast quite a few times. We ran a
[15:42] Sharmeen Ziauddin: campaign on in 2024 called Choose Social Work, and that
[15:45] Sharmeen Ziauddin: was directed at people outside within social work and outside
[15:49] Sharmeen Ziauddin: of social work because it starts at school level, doesn't it?
[15:52] Sharmeen Ziauddin: When you go to, when you're thinking about what A
[15:54] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Levels to do or what career choices, you're thinking about
[15:57] Sharmeen Ziauddin: whether you're gonna go to university or whatever, uh, but
[16:00] Sharmeen Ziauddin: social work is not like one of those.
[16:02] Sharmeen Ziauddin: In your face professions like teaching and or police or
[16:06] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you know, law is just you only would come across
[16:08] Sharmeen Ziauddin: a social worker if you've had someone in a social
[16:12] Sharmeen Ziauddin: worker in your life or in your family. So it
[16:14] Sharmeen Ziauddin: is really tricky and it's a really hard thing to overcome.
[16:18] Josh Ferguson: Well I, I think that social work in itself is
[16:20] Josh Ferguson: actually very wide in what it does, you know, you,
[16:22] Josh Ferguson: there's lots of different types of social workers doing lots
[16:24] Josh Ferguson: of different things, but actually,
[16:26] Josh Ferguson: Society will think a social worker is a children's social worker,
[16:30] Josh Ferguson: that if you ask somebody what a social worker does, it's,
[16:32] Josh Ferguson: you know, probably their answer would be take kids into care,
[16:35] Josh Ferguson: do you know what I mean, like that's, that's the
[16:36] Josh Ferguson: sort of public image we've got, and I think actually, I,
[16:39] Josh Ferguson: I have lots of friends who work in the private
[16:41] Josh Ferguson: sector and they're forever, you know, complaining about their job stability,
[16:44] Josh Ferguson: and I'm like, actually, here's, here's the most stable job
[16:46] Josh Ferguson: in the entire world. You basically always need social workers.
[16:50] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Absolutely, and that's, and that's really great that you've highlighted,
[16:53] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you know, being an adult social care because you've.
[16:56] Sharmeen Ziauddin: You've both been in the hospital discharge team for years
[16:59] Sharmeen Ziauddin: now and I'm, I'm quite interested in, in knowing why
[17:03] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you've stuck in that team and what, what is it
[17:05] Sharmeen Ziauddin: that you do for people who might not know who
[17:06] Sharmeen Ziauddin: work in children's or who don't know about adult social
[17:09] Sharmeen Ziauddin: care that much. Can you tell me a little bit
[17:11] Sharmeen Ziauddin: about your day to day jobs? So I mean, hospital
[17:15] Sharmeen Ziauddin: discharge and a hospital social worker, you know, in a nutshell.
[17:19] Josh Ferguson: It's basically if someone has gone into hospital and for
[17:21] Josh Ferguson: whatever reason needs support coming out. So a good example
[17:24] Josh Ferguson: might be if someone's had, you know, like unfortunately a
[17:26] Josh Ferguson: stroke or a fall, or any kind of sort of
[17:30] Josh Ferguson: medical condition that as they're gearing up and they're sort
[17:32] Josh Ferguson: of not having any medical treatment from the hospital anymore,
[17:35] Josh Ferguson: the hospital will let us know this is, you know,
[17:37] Josh Ferguson: such and such and.
[17:39] Josh Ferguson: They need help with washing, they need help with dressing,
[17:41] Josh Ferguson: they need help with making meals, they need help when
[17:43] Josh Ferguson: they walk. So, you know, we would get involved, work
[17:46] Josh Ferguson: with that person. Often we will use a pathway we
[17:51] Josh Ferguson: called reablement. Again, I, I don't know if reablement is
[17:53] Josh Ferguson: the word used up and down the country, but rehab, I,
[17:57] Josh Ferguson: I explain it to hospitals sometimes cos they're not familiar
[17:59] Josh Ferguson: with the word often.
[18:01] Josh Ferguson: So we'll do that for a couple of weeks, build
[18:02] Josh Ferguson: someone back up again with community physios or our occupational
[18:06] Josh Ferguson: therapy team, um, and then, you know, assess and work
[18:09] Josh Ferguson: out what somebody needs as they come out of that, so,
[18:12] Josh Ferguson: and you know, and again, lots of different things, so
[18:14] Josh Ferguson: you know, it can be equipment, it, you know, sometimes
[18:16] Josh Ferguson: unfortunately it's something like a care home, just about that
[18:19] Josh Ferguson: sort of change in someone's life and how we best
[18:23] Josh Ferguson: support with it.
[18:24] Josh Ferguson: And then obviously, you know, all the other million random
[18:27] Josh Ferguson: things that happen with people and they need help with.
[18:30] Josh Ferguson: And do you find uh people are quite surprised when
[18:33] Josh Ferguson: you tell them what you do in terms of being
[18:35] Josh Ferguson: in the hospital discharge team?
[18:37] Josh Ferguson: When I tell people that I'm, I say I'm a
[18:39] Josh Ferguson: hospital social worker, which is I actually think I confuse
[18:42] Josh Ferguson: people with it because one, people don't expect a social,
[18:44] Josh Ferguson: people expect a social worker to be like I said
[18:47] Josh Ferguson: A children's social worker, and then people assume I work
[18:50] Josh Ferguson: for the hospital, which is, which, you know, I, I
[18:53] Josh Ferguson: am at work at the hospital, but I do not
[18:55] Josh Ferguson: work for the hospital. So I think, yeah, it's not
[19:00] Josh Ferguson: a job that's expected. I, I remember as well sometimes
[19:02] Josh Ferguson: going and seeing people. I'll always remember very clearly actually
[19:05] Josh Ferguson: one person I went to see when I had just started,
[19:08] Josh Ferguson: and she was really upset because they got, they told
[19:10] Josh Ferguson: her a social worker was coming to see her.
[19:12] Josh Ferguson: And she had been taken into care when she was
[19:14] Josh Ferguson: a child. So for her, she had a really clear
[19:16] Josh Ferguson: image of what a social worker was, you know, this,
[19:18] Josh Ferguson: this is a lady who's taken into care in the 50s,
[19:21] Josh Ferguson: you know, so I can't imagine, you know, what probably
[19:23] Josh Ferguson: wouldn't be what we consider to be amazing processes followed then.
[19:27] Josh Ferguson: Then just going and expect, you know, I'm here to
[19:29] Josh Ferguson: help you, you know, this is all sort of consent-based care,
[19:32] Josh Ferguson: you know, we, we're here to help you, how can
[19:34] Josh Ferguson: I make, you know, how can I make the services
[19:37] Josh Ferguson: we've got fit into your life, not how can you
[19:39] Josh Ferguson: fit into the services we've got, if that makes sense.
[19:43] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Yeah, it does. Noku, you mentioned before we went online
[19:47] Sharmeen Ziauddin: about how you joined Employee Network and how that was
[19:51] Sharmeen Ziauddin: helpful for you.
[19:53] Noku Moyo: The um sort of like, you know, the EDI, yeah,
[19:56] Noku Moyo: equality and diversion, inclusion. Yes, um, I found it really
[20:01] Noku Moyo: a very good network because it gives, you know, that platform,
[20:05] Noku Moyo: you know, to express feelings and most of this network
[20:10] Noku Moyo: are people from other countries where we have travelled here.
[20:16] Noku Moyo: So having such a platform in Wokingham, you know, it
[20:19] Noku Moyo: just gives that platform to sort of like express, explore,
[20:23] Noku Moyo: and sort of like be yourself and be who you
[20:27] Noku Moyo: are and just be proud of your identity, which that's
[20:30] Noku Moyo: what really I find it really outstanding. Times, you know,
[20:34] Noku Moyo: they are sort of like barriers and assumptions if you
[20:39] Noku Moyo: are people of colour, people that will put a lot
[20:42] Noku Moyo: of barriers and limitations and fears, which really working in Wokingham,
[20:51] Noku Moyo: I've found really I am. I am me. I am
[20:54] Noku Moyo: who I am with my values, with my cultures, without
[20:59] Noku Moyo: trying to be something that I'm not, but come to share.
[21:04] Noku Moyo: And just be one big happy family.
[21:51] Sharmeen Ziauddin: OK. And what made you choose Wokingham in the first place?
[21:55] Noku Moyo: Well, because my sister was already living in Wokingham when
[21:59] Noku Moyo: I came. It was before I had a family. So
[22:03] Noku Moyo: I lived in Wokingham and she loved Wokhingham as well.
[22:08] Noku Moyo: She spoke so highly of Wokingham because even then we
[22:12] Noku Moyo: had the of moving to other areas, but she was like,
[22:17] Noku Moyo: you know what, I found Wokingham so accommodating. So relaxing.
[22:23] Noku Moyo: And we had really good neighbours as well where we lived.
[22:28] Noku Moyo: They talked to us. They wanted to know more about
[22:31] Noku Moyo: our culture.
[22:41] Vicky Scotford: Yeah, I was gonna say, I think we just, we
[22:43] Vicky Scotford: really value diversity in, in Wokingham. We have, um, uh,
[22:47] Vicky Scotford: an equality of diversity and inclusion policy, and we're also, um,
[22:52] Vicky Scotford: part of the Workforce Race Equality Standards Project, the RES.
[22:55] Vicky Scotford: So we're kind of currently looking at this year's, um, information,
[22:59] Vicky Scotford: and then we'll, we'll work on an action plan because
[23:01] Vicky Scotford: we're always looking to, to improve, I think, and make
[23:05] Vicky Scotford: things um equitable and equal and really promote diversity where
[23:09] Vicky Scotford: we can. So I'm really pleased Noku that that's your
[23:12] Vicky Scotford: experience as well and that's how, how you feel because
[23:15] Vicky Scotford: that's the uh, that's the main thing isn't it, is
[23:17] Vicky Scotford: the impact that it makes for people, I think.
[23:20] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Yeah, absolutely. All three of you, as we mentioned, have
[23:24] Sharmeen Ziauddin: been here a long time in Wokingham and your roles
[23:28] Sharmeen Ziauddin: have evolved, um, in what you've been doing. I just
[23:31] Sharmeen Ziauddin: want to ask you what kind of training have you
[23:34] Sharmeen Ziauddin: had in your time at Wokingham because with legislation that
[23:38] Sharmeen Ziauddin: keeps changing, or how do you keep up in adult
[23:40] Sharmeen Ziauddin: social care with things changing around you?
[23:44] Vicky Scotford: We have, we're really fortunate in Wokingham that we've got
[23:47] Vicky Scotford: a practise development team. And that's a team, really, that's
[23:50] Vicky Scotford: kind of, uh, committed to professional and practise development. So,
[23:55] Vicky Scotford: and we oversee a training plan, and to do that,
[23:59] Vicky Scotford: we kind of take feedback from people about, um, training needs,
[24:02] Vicky Scotford: and we look at new law, we look at things
[24:05] Vicky Scotford: that are changing, what's working well, not so well. Um,
[24:08] Vicky Scotford: and then we kind of roll out an annual programme of, uh,
[24:11] Vicky Scotford: mandatory training and developmental training. And we also kind of
[24:16] Vicky Scotford: offer
[24:17] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Post qualifying training as well, like the best interest assessor training,
[24:21] Sharmeen Ziauddin: and PES 1 and 2 for practise educator training. So
[24:25] Sharmeen Ziauddin: I'm hoping really that Josh and Noku, now that you've been, um,
[24:28] Sharmeen Ziauddin: qualified for a couple of years, that you've, you've got
[24:31] Sharmeen Ziauddin: one of those on your, um, on your horizon. But
[24:34] Sharmeen Ziauddin: I think, I think we, we do offer a, a
[24:36] Sharmeen Ziauddin: varied training training programme. But I think Josh Noku, what's
[24:40] Sharmeen Ziauddin: your kind of experiences of that? I think the, the
[24:43] Sharmeen Ziauddin: proof is in the pudding, really, isn't it?
[24:45] Noku Moyo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is, it is really just to
[24:47] Noku Moyo: echo what Vicky has said, I think in terms of
[24:50] Noku Moyo: really training, I think we are really well equipped because
[24:55] Noku Moyo: we have got e-learning as well with, you know, different courses.
[24:59] Noku Moyo: Look at what we do holistically from, you know, the
[25:03] Noku Moyo: mental capacity. We've got safeguarding, lunch clubs. We come together
[25:09] Noku Moyo: and review cases.
[25:12] Noku Moyo: Which I find that that's a very good learning opportunity
[25:15] Noku Moyo: as well because in this job, things do go wrong,
[25:18] Noku Moyo: but when things go wrong, what happens? What tools are there?
[25:23] Noku Moyo: How are we equipped as staff? So, reflecting and reviewing
[25:26] Noku Moyo: those cases, it has really been quite helpful and sort
[25:31] Noku Moyo: of building the confidence that you can.
[25:33] Noku Moyo: You are here to learn and how do you work
[25:37] Noku Moyo: proactively out there. And we've got TRACs as well, which is,
[25:42] Noku Moyo: is good because it's got updated policies. So you are
[25:46] Noku Moyo: up to date with changing and like Vicky said, you know,
[25:49] Noku Moyo: the learning, uh, development team, they're good at sending emails
[25:53] Noku Moyo: and any updated.
[25:55] Noku Moyo: You cannot miss training. You've got everything in front of you, really,
[26:01] Noku Moyo: so which is really good.
[26:03] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Well, that tells me communication is very good from, you know,
[26:06] Sharmeen Ziauddin: senior communication, yeah, which is so important, yeah.
[26:10] Josh Ferguson: Basically the same as what's been said. I think, I
[26:12] Josh Ferguson: think talking to social workers who work in other local authorities,
[26:15] Josh Ferguson: I think. We sometimes we don't know how spoiled we
[26:18] Josh Ferguson: are in Wokingham with our practise development team who toppingly
[26:22] Josh Ferguson: hung handcraft training for us, do you know what I mean?
[26:24] Josh Ferguson: I think that there's, uh, something great about them looking
[26:26] Josh Ferguson: at what's around. I mean, you can always go and
[26:28] Josh Ferguson: have a conversation with them about training that we think
[26:31] Josh Ferguson: is missing, you know, oh, well, I recently came across
[26:33] Josh Ferguson: this situation. Is there training around it, you know, oh,
[26:37] Josh Ferguson: I don't know, we'll go and look into it, you know, we'll,
[26:39] Josh Ferguson: we'll find something.
[26:40] Josh Ferguson: We also do, we have like a social work forum
[26:43] Josh Ferguson: where we'll meet, what is it like, is that like quarterly, Vicky?
[26:45] Josh Ferguson: It's like quarterly. Quarterly, yeah, we have er social work
[26:48] Josh Ferguson: forums quarterly and then mental capacity at forums bi-monthly. Yeah, bimonthly, yeah,
[26:54] Josh Ferguson: and that, that again, that's another one that's really interesting
[26:56] Josh Ferguson: because we're sort of looking around capacity, er mental capacity,
[27:00] Josh Ferguson: and sort of digging into specific topics. I think the
[27:02] Josh Ferguson: last one was around self neglect, wasn't it? And we've
[27:05] Josh Ferguson: done lots of ones on things like, you know, homelessness and.
[27:08] Josh Ferguson: Drug and alcohol, so again, you know, taking the time
[27:11] Josh Ferguson: to dig into these issues that are, well, they need
[27:14] Josh Ferguson: a bit more of a specialist eye often. We do
[27:16] Josh Ferguson: legal updates, that's pretty good as well. We do, we
[27:19] Josh Ferguson: often will do SARS as well, like as like group
[27:21] Josh Ferguson: learning of any of them that come out for the,
[27:23] Josh Ferguson: is it the west of Berkshire? Is it we do
[27:24] Josh Ferguson: it is it, is it, or is it all of Berkshire?
[27:26] Josh Ferguson: It's the west.
[27:27] Josh Ferguson: of Berkshire Safeguarding adult board, yeah, yeah, yeah. We just
[27:31] Josh Ferguson: look at it, we do little talks around it, you know, just,
[27:34] Josh Ferguson: you know, and, and I think that's something that's nice
[27:35] Josh Ferguson: about Wokingham is that it never really feels like it's,
[27:39] Josh Ferguson: it's not, what did they do wrong? It's like, you know,
[27:40] Josh Ferguson: how do we, how do we learn from this? How,
[27:42] Josh Ferguson: how could we grow and, and make sure that we
[27:44] Josh Ferguson: are supporting people better, you know, as, as we go forward.
[27:48] Josh Ferguson: We also have quite a lot of sort of drop
[27:50] Josh Ferguson: in sessions, so I'm thinking about safeguarding surgery.
[27:53] Josh Ferguson: The tech team surgery, I think there's one now for commissioning,
[27:57] Josh Ferguson: like for placing people in care homes and things, so,
[28:00] Josh Ferguson: come along to the, if you've got questions, or CHC
[28:02] Josh Ferguson: is another one, it occurs to me, you know, just again,
[28:04] Josh Ferguson: those ones that are a little bit more niche about
[28:06] Josh Ferguson: how you can come and so ask questions, how the
[28:09] Josh Ferguson: training is somewhat more informal as well, I suppose, that's, that,
[28:13] Josh Ferguson: that feels like uh really good opportunities.
[28:16] Sharmeen Ziauddin: And would you say, Vicky, that being a smaller local
[28:20] Sharmeen Ziauddin: authority has, has benefits and this is one of the
[28:24] Sharmeen Ziauddin: reasons why Wokingham is doing so well and you guys
[28:27] Sharmeen Ziauddin: all love working there.
[28:28] Vicky Scotford: I've worked in Wokingham a long time, so it's difficult
[28:31] Vicky Scotford: to kind of, to do a, a, a comparator. Um,
[28:35] Vicky Scotford: but I, I think that it does because I think
[28:37] Vicky Scotford: you can build relationships and you can really get to know,
[28:41] Vicky Scotford: and you can get to know the area as well
[28:42] Vicky Scotford: because it's a, you know, a smaller geographical area. So
[28:45] Vicky Scotford: you know what's happening in Wokingham, you know the people,
[28:48] Vicky Scotford: you know, all the, um, the voluntary and community sector.
[28:52] Vicky Scotford: And I think you, yeah, you can have kind of
[28:55] Vicky Scotford: more workshop style learning, you can have team learning. Um,
[28:58] Vicky Scotford: but having that, yeah, it being smaller, I think, I
[29:01] Vicky Scotford: think does help, definitely.
[29:04] Sharmeen Ziauddin: And I remember Josh, uh, before we came online, you
[29:07] Sharmeen Ziauddin: said about flexibility and how one of the reasons you're,
[29:12] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you know, you're here and you like you said, you
[29:13] Sharmeen Ziauddin: haven't even thought about going anywhere else other than Wokingham
[29:16] Sharmeen Ziauddin: is because of the flexibility it gives you in your
[29:20] Sharmeen Ziauddin: job and to balance your home and work life.
[29:24] Josh Ferguson: Yeah, absolutely. I think that again, you know, anecdotally speaking
[29:28] Josh Ferguson: to other social workers from other local authorities, other places
[29:30] Josh Ferguson: maybe aren't as good as, well, no, sorry, I know
[29:32] Josh Ferguson: other places aren't as good as Wokingham. Nowhere is as
[29:34] Josh Ferguson: good as Wokingham, um, but the flexibility we have, you know, I've,
[29:37] Josh Ferguson: I've got young children, so.
[29:40] Josh Ferguson: You never quite know, you know, what's going to happen
[29:43] Josh Ferguson: with a small child, and when you're gonna need to
[29:45] Josh Ferguson: take time, and I think that Wokingham is always very
[29:49] Josh Ferguson: supportive of that, you know, if, if your child is
[29:50] Josh Ferguson: sick and you need to take a day off, I
[29:52] Josh Ferguson: need to do X, or, you know, I've got this
[29:54] Josh Ferguson: or whatever, you know, I've got to go to the dentist,
[29:55] Josh Ferguson: you know, can I start early, can I finish, can I,
[29:58] Josh Ferguson: can I be flexible with my hours to help it,
[30:01] Josh Ferguson: you know, to help it, you know, make it work
[30:02] Josh Ferguson: with my life, you know, we're all busy, we've all
[30:04] Josh Ferguson: got lots going on.
[30:06] Josh Ferguson: You know, and, and Wokingham has never ever been an
[30:08] Josh Ferguson: issue with that, you know, it's always been, yeah, absolutely,
[30:10] Josh Ferguson: you know, obviously the work's got to get done, we've
[30:12] Josh Ferguson: got to support people, you know, that that's, you know,
[30:14] Josh Ferguson: really important, but.
[30:16] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Supporting the individual and supporting the worker, I think is really,
[30:20] Sharmeen Ziauddin: really important. It feels like it is to the to
[30:22] Sharmeen Ziauddin: the management at Wokingham, which is really nice. Yeah, and
[30:25] Sharmeen Ziauddin: I guess that goes hand in hand with what um
[30:27] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Noku was saying about when with her when her children
[30:31] Sharmeen Ziauddin: were younger and through the pandemic and you know, things
[30:34] Sharmeen Ziauddin: like that really do count for so much and as
[30:37] Sharmeen Ziauddin: a parent. I think most people will be able to
[30:41] Sharmeen Ziauddin: relate to that, who who are parents and having that
[30:43] Sharmeen Ziauddin: flexibility can, you know, really make or break your job.
[30:47] Sharmeen Ziauddin: So good to hear. That's a good note to end on.
[30:51] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Enjoyed speaking to all of you. Thank you for your
[30:53] Sharmeen Ziauddin: time and uh we'll meet again soon, I hope.
[30:57] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Brilliant, thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks. That was Vicky,
[31:02] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Josh and Noku from Wokingham. If you're interested in a
[31:06] Sharmeen Ziauddin: career with adult social care at Wokingham Borough Council, then
[31:09] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you can have a look at what opportunities are available
[31:12] Sharmeen Ziauddin: by clicking the link in the show notes. If you
[31:15] Sharmeen Ziauddin: want to get in touch with community care, you can
[31:18] Sharmeen Ziauddin: do via Instagram. We're Community Care Official, or drop us
[31:21] Sharmeen Ziauddin: an email at communitycare@marallengroup.com. And we're also on TikTok, Community
[31:27] Sharmeen Ziauddin: Care Official, so do give us a follow there. And
[31:29] Sharmeen Ziauddin: don't forget to follow us if you're listening to this
[31:31] Sharmeen Ziauddin: on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other podcast platform. That way,
[31:35] Sharmeen Ziauddin: you'll be updated every time a new episode drops. Thanks
[31:39] Sharmeen Ziauddin: for listening. See you next time.

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