Are you a rationer of services?

At a time of tightening eligibility criteria and funding cuts, more and more social workers are faced with the unpleasant task of breaking the news to service users that they are no longer eligible for services.

Later this week, an exclusive Community Care survey will reveal the extent to which social workers are prepared to go to deal with this very issue.(See 1st November issue of the magazine or visit www.communitycare.co.uk on Thursday).

A previous Community Care survey published earlier this year found that 30% of councils had either tightened eligibility criteria over the past 18 months or were reviewing their service thresholds with a view to increasing them.

And our latest survey reveals that 34 per cent of adult services social workers would be prepared to bend the rules as part of the assessment process to ensure clients were able to receive services (Find out more on Thursday).

We want to know how this is affecting you on the front line. Have you experienced animosity or, worse, aggression from service users frustrated at the situation? Has your role changed beyond recognition to a rationer of services? Email simeon.brody@rbi.co.uk with your experiences and they will be posted on the website later this week to coincide with our exclusive survey.