OPINION Care Act will bring pressure but also an opportunity T he Care Act, which comes into force next month, will be warmly embraced by many practitioners despite the challenges it presents. It will be welcomed because it is personcentred, respects service users wishes and feelings, and gives them greater control over their care plans. This is a big opportunity for social work and local authorities should take note. For any practitioner, social work-qualified or not, there is a danger in seeing an assessment as a task. An assessment is a process where the social worker supports a person in making sense of their life, applying skills such as communication, negotiation, thinking creatively, and maintaining a successful dialogue with all those involved in an individuals care arrangements. But sometimes it seems that relationship-building is being removed from social work and subordinated to the smooth running of social care departments. Many agencies are overlooking the necessity of harnessing the combined skills and resources of the social worker and the service user to engage in problem-solving. What service users and families value most is being kept informed as they navigate through the system. It is positive to see the Acts broad definition of wellbeing for it helps social workers to identify how best to support the individual in all aspects of their life. At the same time it will put pressure on practitioners to weigh up how scarce resources can best be used to promote quality of life. Resources will be tightly scrutinised with an emphasis on prevention and reduction in statutory services. Older people are often anxious about what will happen to them and to take a typical example the transition from hospital back into their own homes requires skill, patience and thoughtfulness on the part of practitioners. These skills take time to acquire and are perfected through experience and reflection on practice. Social workers are the right people for the job. Imran Mohammed is a social worker at Dudley council IMRAN MOHAMMED It is positive to see the Acts broad definition of wellbeing