Councils have been on a recruitment drive with 36,010 now employed in social work, says NHS Data REX FEATURESThere are more social workers than GPs in England after a rise in recruitment by local authorities, government figures show. Councils hired another 740 social workers last year, pushing their directly employed workforce to 30,670, while the number employed via agencies was static at 5,340, according to the Department for Education. The total workforce of social workers compares with 34,395 doctors in general practice, according to NHS Digital, although this excludes GPs working as locums, retainers or registrars. Even after allowing for people working part-time, the social workers’ workforce was equivalent to 32,500 full-time posts, while the number of GPs equated to 27,836 full-time roles. Although social workers employed directly by local authorities rose by 3 per cent, the second consecutive year of increases, a…

Source: The Times February 20, 2018 17:03 UTC