'We're not the Enemy': Exploring the relationships between social care practitioners, service users, community care lawyers and the law.

The extent to which social care practitioners and service-users are conscious of the underpinning and directive role of legislation and guidance (e.g. Care Act 2014) in informing adult social care provision; and the extent to which both social work professionals and service users are aware that they can have recourse to the law in case of dispute, is unclear. The extent to which the parties seek legal advice, and the impact/ implications of doing so is also unclear.

This is an initial scoping exercise and literature review to establish

1. What kind of legal knowledge and expertise is useful for social care practitioners in social work training?
2. How can social care and legal practitioners work together more productively?
3. What views do social care clients have about their legal rights?
4. How has the Care Act influenced the legal requirements of social care practitioners and rights of their clients?