FOUR in five social workers will abandon the profession if they receive bad press after being named in court cases, a new survey has found.

According to the Unison-commissioned poll, social workers feel they are rushed into serious court cases over vulnerable children “like a lamb to the slaughter” and left floundering in front of judges.

Last year, the Con-Dem government issued new guidance recommending that social workers should be publicly referred to by name in family courts.

But the survey’s results, published under the title Social Work, the Courts and the Consequences of Transparency, reveals shocking dissatisfaction with the system as it stands.

Half the social workers questioned admitted they were not confident when appearing before a judge.

One said thinking of their court appearance “still makes me shudder,” 10 years after the event.

And a whopping nine in 10 respondents said they were given insufficient time to prepare for court cases.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “If social workers feel under pressure and are worried about being publicly pilloried, they will not be able to perform to the best of their ability and their clients are likely to suffer.

“This is an issue that is obviously having a major impact and needs to be addressed before we lose more social workers, something the UK can ill afford.

“It is unacceptable that social workers are having to carry the can in court for decisions which their supervisors have overseen.”

Official statistics show that the number of social workers leaving the profession has increased by half in the past two years.