Costs of social work input to assessment and care package organisation

<p>The study took place in three local authorities: a London borough, a metropolitan district and a county council. In 1996, 300<p><p>workers in 52 teams took part in a survey of front-line staff which included a time diary describing the previous day’s work.<p><p>Information was also collected about the last assessment of need they had undertaken and the resulting care package. Workers were asked to identify the total time they spent on this care up until the care package was put into place. Assessment time was not identified separately because during the pilot it was found that it was difficult for social workers to distinguish clearly between the time spent on activities associated with assessment and the initial setting up of the care package.