Social workers criticise HSE child protection process

SOCIAL workers are on a collision course with the HSE over a new standardisation process for dealing with child protection cases, including sexual abuse cases.

The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) will launch its opposition to the system tomorrow as part of a wider campaign.

It will claim that extensive research indicates that the proposed system, if implemented, would negatively impact on child welfare and would lead to social workers spending 60%-80% of their time at their desks.