Spreading solace around after vacation — social worker’s responsibility? (8)
I believe the answer is:
caseload
'social worker's responsibility?' is the definition.
'spreading solace around after vacation' is the wordplay.
'spreading' indicates an anagram.
'after vacation' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (the inside letters must vacate).
'around' with its centre taken out is 'ad'.
'solace' is an anagram of 'caselo'.
'caselo'+'ad'='CASELOAD'
(Other definitions for caseload that I've seen before include "doctor's list" , "all doctor has to deal with?" , "Matters to deal with" , "Everyone patient with me" , "medico's responsibility?" .)