A social worker who claims she became so stressed by her 100-hour-a-week caseload she suffered a mental collapse, has begun a high court bid for damages, writes Derren Hayes.
Maureen Pratley, of Honiton in Devon, says her work for Surrey council between 1994 and 1998 became so overwhelming she contemplated suicide.
Her barrister Brian Langston told Mr Justice Buckley that 49-year-old Ms Pratley's workload shot up from 75 to 150 cases at any one time after she was promoted to case manager for older people in the Leatherhead area in November 1994.
Soon Pratley was working from 8am to 10pm every day, taking work home with her to complete in the evenings and at weekends, Langston told the court in London.
In October 1996 she was signed off sick suffering from depression and ended up receiving treatment in west London's Priory Clinic. When she finally sought retirement on the grounds of ill health, she was refused, dismissed from her job in May 1998, and has not worked since.
The council maintains that Pratley was fit to return to work and say they have done nothing wrong.
Napo: funding cuts leaves sex offenders without rehabilitation
17 March 2008
GSCC committee bars social worker for relationship with user
14 March 2008
Darling to make child poverty his priority
12 March 2008
News round up: Darling to make child poverty his priority
12 March 2008
Children's homes and disabled people's services exempt from strike
'Parents use forced marriage as care option for learning disabled'
NHS London report finds inappropriate sexual contact over two decades
GSCC: Social worker suspended for relationship with child's father
Government Legislation
17 July 2008
Private Member Bills
17 July 2008
Details of government consultations
11 July 2008
