Think Ahead is to broaden its focus beyond social work following the government's decision to end funding for its fast-track scheme to train practitioners to work in adult mental health.
The charity plans to offer training to the wider mental health workforce, though will advocate for the reinstatement of a social work training scheme, with the last cohort of its programme having started their two-year course earlier this year.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s decision to end its funding of the scheme will remove Think Ahead's major source of income, requiring it to look elsewhere for revenue.
Offering training to wider mental health workforce
It is intending to launch a short course on supporting people with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues in the New Year, delivered by social workers but available to the wider workforce.It said this area of practice had been long undervalued, leading to many people falling through gaps in services.
Think Ahead also wants to work with NHS, local authority and independent sector employers to support recruitment, retention and development of mental health staff, while continuing to campaign for the growth of the workforce.
Earlier this year, it launched a campaign urging the DHSC to invest in 24,000 more mental health social worker roles in the NHS over the next decade, to add to the existing almost 4,000 full-time equivalent posts.
DHSC decision to end fast-track scheme funding
However, a few weeks later, in April this year, the department announced its decision to end funding for the fast-track training scheme - a major source of social work recruitment for NHS trusts in particular.It said this was because it was reviewing its funding for social work training to "ensure the best use of taxpayers’ money".
Under the scheme, trainees receive a five-week grounding in mental health, social work and the law and are then placed in small units in trusts or local authorities, managed by a consultant practitioner, for a year, after which they qualify.
In the second year, they complete a master’s in social work practice and their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) as an employee of the same organisation.
1,100 social workers trained through scheme
The programme trained its first cohort in 2016, when 95 joined the scheme, with cohorts of about 100 until 2020, and then of about 160 since 2021. Think Ahead said it has trained 1,100 people to work in social work during this time.While bringing people into the workforce more quickly than university social work courses, the scheme was more expensive per head to the taxpayer, including because of the relatively generous bursaries received by recipients in their qualifying year, currently worth £18,250 (or £20,250 in London).
Think Ahead said it was “hugely disappointed” by the decision to end the scheme, with chief executive Philippa Mariani raising concerns that "without a secure pipeline of mental health social workers going into the sector, there will be an impact on teams, on service user experience and on service user outcomes as well".
Think Ahead's future plans
According to its latest annual report, Think Ahead received £9m for the fast-track programme from the DHSC in 2023-24, 97% of its total income, with £234,000 from other sources for consultancy projects.Setting out its future plans, the charity's programme director, Olivia Cayley, said "We want to work alongside the sector to be part of the change that shifts resources and support to communities and puts social approaches at the heart of mental health care.
“We’ll continue to champion the whole mental health workforce, developing solutions with the sector to make sure the right people are in the right roles, with the training, support and career opportunities they need to thrive, at all stages of their career – because when staff are supported to grow, people receive better, more consistent care.
“The challenges facing mental health services are deep and complex, but we know that a skilled, well-resourced and compassionate workforce can transform lives.”
