Social Work Links and Learning #209
24 May 2026
Introduction
Back from a quick holiday now so a bit of a bumper edition. Mental Health Awareness Week came and went with a tangible policy response: the government has launched a call for evidence for England's first cross-government mental health strategy, open until 10 July. The children's social care reset implementation plan also landed this week. Lots to read and wishing all a good week.
Quote of the Week
Blogs and Articles
How Mental Health Act Assessments discriminate against autistic people - NSUN A first-person account of how MHA assessment processes systematically disadvantage autistic people, from communication to environment.
It just needs to be part of the toolkit - Nearest Relative Resources Impact report on a co-produced website helping Nearest Relatives navigate their role under the Mental Health Act, with 5,000+ views in six months.
Gretna Green and children’s capacity – in discussion with Jonathan Brown - Mental Capacity Law and Policy A discussion exploring children’s decision-making capacity, drawing on the Gretna Green marriage context and its implications for practice.
How the family courts fail survivors: Jasminder’s story - Refuge A first-person account of how family court proceedings mirrored and extended two decades of domestic abuse, coercive control, and institutional gaslighting.
Centralisation, silencing and control: likely flashpoints for the new Health Bill - Nuffield Trust A sharp analysis of the Health Bill’s three most contested provisions: ministerial power, a patient data grab, and the abolition of Healthwatch.
Wes Streeting has gone - King’s Fund A measured assessment of nearly 700 days as Health Secretary, what he achieved, what he left unfinished, and what it means for his successor.
Mental Health Awareness Week 2026: From Awareness to Action – Social Work with Adults A reflection from DHSC’s mental health social work lead on power, co-production, and what it means to move from awareness to action.
Fit for discharge and still in hospital five months later due to delay with eating and drinking plan - Open Justice Court of Protection A detailed account of systemic failures and missed deadlines keeping a woman with complex needs in hospital long after she was medically fit to leave.
Reorganisation Without Consent: What LGR Really Means for Care, Communities and Democracy - ermate.wordpress.com A forensic critique of what local government reorganisation will mean in practice for adult social care, safeguarding, and the social work workforce.
Boy’s adoption overturned after mum dates prisoner - BBC News A Court of Appeal ruling overturns a two-year-old’s adoption after his adoptive mother concealed a relationship with a prisoner, who had previous convictions and had been accused of child sex offences.
‘Cuckoo’ drug dealer jailed for killing frail man - BBC News A cuckooing case in which a vulnerable man was beaten to death over five weeks in a Hackney flat with the perpetrator has been jailed for 12 years.
Health and social care regulators sign up to new anti-racism principles - Healthcare Leader Nine regulators including Social Work England, CQC, GMC and NMC commit to shared principles advancing workforce race equity across health and social care.
Millions of unpaid UK carers ‘living in agony’, says Louise Casey - The Guardian The head of the adult social care commission tells a Carers UK conference that an outdated system still relies on predominantly female unpaid carers to absorb risk and stress so the system doesn’t have to.
Policy, Reports and Resources
Government to transform mental health care with new strategy - GOV.UK A call for evidence launched during Mental Health Awareness Week to shape England’s first cross-government mental health strategy which closes 10 July 2026.
Delivering the children’s social care reset - GOV.UK The government’s implementation plan for whole-system reform of children’s social care, covering early help, family networks, and placements.
Modern slavery: how to identify and support victims - GOV.UK Updated statutory guidance for first responders and NRM competent authorities, including recent changes to the public order disqualification process.
Annual Report 2026 - National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health Ten years of UK data on suicide among mental health patients, with findings on crisis care, inpatient deaths, post-discharge risk, and specific population groups.
ADASS and CQC refresh joint working protocol - ADASS An updated framework strengthening information sharing and collaboration between directors of adult social services and the Care Quality Commission, including on DoLS and safeguarding.
The Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty: why it matters - SCIE SCIE’s overview of its MCA and DoLS work, including the co-produced ‘get me to hospital’ resource and a course for practitioners working with children and young people.
Adult community mental health: rapid literature review - Care Quality Commission A University of Birmingham review covering good practice, patient and public safety, and medicine optimisation in adult community mental health settings, commissioned to inform CQC inspection.
Annual report and accounts 2024/25 - Care Quality Commission CQC’s statutory annual report to Parliament, covering organisational performance and progress rebuilding trust and inspection capacity after a period of significant change.
Mental Capacity Report May 2026 - 39 Essex Chambers The monthly round-up of Court of Protection judgments, MCA and MHA developments, and international capacity law news.
Bias and discrimination in patient safety investigations - NHS Race and Health Observatory A roundtable briefing on how racial bias and discrimination are routinely overlooked in safety investigations, with consequences for minoritised patients, families, and staff.
What is changing under the Sentencing Act 2026? And when? - Howard League Dr Helen Churcher unpacks which reforms are now in force — including the presumption to suspend short sentences and what remains without a start date.
Have You Seen Me Lately? Revisiting Our Understanding of Youth Mental Health - ACAMH An overview of the JCPP 2026 Annual Research Review, with links to open access papers on eating disorders, trauma, conduct problems, self-harm, and school climate in children and young people.
Audio and Video
The Cost of Good Enough: Learning Disabilities and the Healthcare Gap (Dr Sara Ryan) - Healthcare for Humans Dr Sara Ryan on stigma, the label of learning disability, and why systemic neglect of this group amounts to ‘social murder’.
Embedding children’s social care reform: professional development for child and family social workers - Social Work England (YouTube) A session exploring the workforce capabilities needed to deliver the children’s social care reform programme and create clearer progression routes.
Research
Establishing standards of care for forensic mental health: an international Delphi consensus-building study - Frontiers in Psychiatry An international Delphi study producing a consensus framework of 43 core components across 10 domains, from models of care to restrictive practices.
Putting the hope back in: making the case for solution-focused practice in AMHP interventions - Journal of Solution Focused Practices A qualitative study exploring the impact of solution-focused training on AMHPs’ communication, report writing, and person-centred practice.
‘Sufficiently Vague’ or ‘a Black and White System’? The Negotiation of Social Care Legislation by Mental Health Social Workers in England - British Journal of Social Work Examines how mental health social workers interpret and navigate social care legislation in practice.
‘You’re Not Crazy’: A Case of New-onset AI-associated Psychosis - Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience A case report of a woman who developed delusional beliefs through immersive AI chatbot use, with the chatbot validating and reinforcing her thinking.
Events and Training
MHSCRC Webinar: Co-production: Building Bridges, Scaling Mountains - University of York - 2 June A webinar sharing methodological insights from two NIHR-funded projects co-designing mental health support with Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities.
Learning Disability and Autism Housing Community of Practice - Learning Disability England - 30 June An online community of practice session on housing for people with learning disabilities and autism.
Online course: Nurturing Compassionate and Inclusive NHS Cultures - NHS England A free, flexible online course for those working in the NHS to build compassionate and inclusive cultures in health and social care through collective leadership; runs quarterly.
Pot Luck
A read
I knew my writing students were using AI. Their confessions led to a powerful teaching moment - The Guardian MIT fiction lecturer Micah Nathan on what happened when his students admitted using AI and what it revealed about authorship and sanctuary.
A listen
The 4 Attachment Styles and How They Show Up at Work - Squiggly Careers Applying the psychology of attachment theory to working relationships, with practical ideas for each style.
A watch
Portrait of a Confused Father - Storyville (BBC iPlayer) Norwegian filmmaker Gunnar Hall Jensen's 20-year portrait of his son, whose life takes a devastating turn when he is drawn into online influencer culture and toxic masculinity.