Low morale dogs commission staff

Senior managers at the National Care Standards Commission have been
accused of being “institutionally abusive”, letters sent to
Community Care reveal.

An open letter from a member of staff to NCSC chairperson Anne
Parker and board members claims staff morale is “worryingly poor”
and there is a “lack of trust and confidence in senior
management”.

Work is “unrealistic”, “unachievable” and “under-resourced”, with
targets being less about protecting people than scoring services,
it says.

A second letter from a London-based inspector who has been in care
and inspection work for 25 years claims inspectors regularly work
six to 10 hours a week on top of their contract and that it has
“become the norm in many offices that a 10- or 11-hour day is
worked just to keep on top of a routine caseload”. Staff morale is
low and the commission is in danger of either losing the goodwill
of staff or seeing staff sickness levels rise significantly, it
adds.

The NCSC took over registration and inspection of social care
providers in April 2002 but the government then announced it would
be replaced by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, which is
expected to start operating next year.

In response to the letters, NCSC chief executive Ron Kerr e-mailed
staff saying that, in an organisation with more than 2,000
employees, “not everyone will feel content and enthusiastic in
their working environment all of the time”.

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