Whistleblowing dangers
It is very depressing that a worker can be suspended after speaking out on a television documentary, and this has far-reaching implications for the profession.
After all the scandals and inquiries, haven't we learned anything? At a time of increased workloads, pressures, stress, lack of resources, budget constraints and recruitment difficulties, we now have, to cap it all, another high-profile inquiry into the death of a child who was clearly let down by the "system".
And what do we get in this brave new world? A highly experienced worker suspended for highlighting his concerns about children. So much for the "responsibility" of the profession to blow the whistle. Would you?
Roy Walker
South Cave,
East Yorkshire
Don't cover up problems
I was saddened to see that Brent social services intake manager, Edward Armstrong, told the Climbie Inquiry that he closed 190 case files because the Social Services Inspectorate was about to visit.
Surely, if staff were walking out because of the pressure and frustration of their workloads, an inspection would have been an ideal way to get past the management and show the reality that case files are piling up on desks. A neat and tidy desk does not show the reality, so why do teams put added pressure on themselves by going along with what the managers want the inspectorate to see?
With this in mind, I am totally behind Charles Faber of Cardiff who was suspended after speaking out about the dire situation he and his staff face because of lack of resources.
I don't think suspension is the answer. Edward Armstrong should be given counselling for the guilt he must be feeling (as any of us would) and then compensation from his managers for feeling this guilt in the first place. Charles Faber should be left to do the work he is so desperately trying to do. I am only glad that his budget didn't stretch to a nice big carpet for him to sweep things under!
Celia Moody
Good Companions,
Essex
Controlling assessments
You quote an assistant manager referred to as "Mr Brown", who believes that the assessment form has become the tail that wags the dog. Would that it were. The dog of service needs rejuvenating whether by application of posterior pressure or otherwise.
For older people's services we can apply the pressure through the National Service Framework, intermediate care, and the single assessments. Come out of the closet, Mr Brown, and join with your health colleagues in taking control of the assessment process.
It is tempting to cling to forms in times of pressure. They then become an end in themselves, contributing to neither service commissioning nor user satisfaction. What do service users want out of it?
But the tools are there. Person-centred care and assessment to an appropriate depth and level of detail are the competencies required. The article concluded with positive evidence from children's services. We now have the best opportunity yet to do this for community care.
Charlie Clerke
Intermediate care co-ordinator, Newham Partnership Older People's Services,
London
Disability discrimination
The reasons for the Social Services Inspectorate finding that most local authority work schemes are focused on people with learning difficulties and people with mental health are fairly obvious when you look at the analysis of employment rates for different groups of disabled people in the Labour Force Survey.
I quote: "Employment rates vary greatly between types of disability. They are lowest for people with mental illness and learning disabilities." Without wishing to downgrade the employment needs of people with physical disability, they do not have to suffer the same degree of stigma as people with mental health problems and learning difficulties. They are also given a mostly excellent service by the Employment Service, who are geared up to provide the physical adaptations they need to work. It is to the credit of social services departments that they put their efforts where there is the greatest need.
Bob Grove
Institute for Applied Health and Social Policy, King's College London
Ageing and life quality
You make the point that people with learning difficulties who are placed in residential homes for older people do not have their quality of life taken into account. This has been the complaint of those of us who work with, and for, older people for many years.
Residential care for older people is, unfortunately, very much out of sight, out of mind. The reason I took such offence at this article was not that it was, very legitimately, demanding better services for people with learning difficulties, but that it accepted the poor standards and diminished quality of life that many older people in residential care face.
It accepted, indeed reiterated, the distressing loss associated with moving into residential care, and talked about such homes being suitable for the "prematurely ageing". What does this mean? Age is not a disease.
Many older people are forced into residential care because a combination of increased physical (or mental) frailty, poor housing, lack of community care services and inadequate social networks make it impossible for them to remain safely in their own home. They too deserve to have their quality of life taken into account.
Helen Dickens
Deputy director,
Age Concern Surrey
