The Department of Health is to end the use of agency social workers by the end of this month with the aim of building a "stable and consistent workforce".
It has said that it is "fully committed" to ended the use of agency social workers by June 30, saying that it is vitally important that social workers services are "built upon consistent and trusting relationships".
The move has been supported by the British Association of Social Workers Northern Ireland, saying that when there is high staff turnover and a reliance on agency social workers on temporary contacts, relationships that are central to providing high quality social work cannot be formed, which impacts negatively on service users.
