My father, Tony Austin, who has died aged 89, was a social worker in London, Birmingham and Wales. He also had a spell as a lecturer before returning to practical social work and then moving into management.
After gaining a diploma in applied social sciences at the London School of Economics, he began as a trainee social worker at Hammersmith hospital in London in 1964 before becoming a medical social worker at the Birmingham Accident hospital (1965-68) and then senior childcare officer at Vale of Glamorgan council (1968-72).
