ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the state of contemporary hospital social work both within the UK and further afield. Practices range from country to country and, while discharge planning is consistently a key task, in many countries hospital social workers have a wider range of roles than in the UK. The heavily bureaucratic care management approach that dominates in the UK is contrasted with innovations in other countries in which hospital social workers are involved in more therapeutically orientated practices. A recurring theme throughout international examples of hospital social work is the continuing and ever-renewing relevance of social work to the issues encountered by hospitals and their patients and families. Innovations from a wide and varying range of national contexts demonstrate the potential of social workers to contribute to health care – both by providing direct support to patients and carers, and by contributing a holistic understanding of the patient to multi-disciplinary teams.
