The Inspector

There will be no more posts on The Inspector for the time being as we have a shiny new blog where you can find all the latest news and views on social care - The Social Work Blog. See you there!

Community Care was one of a number of news organisations to trumpet the return of the delayed discharge as a political issue, after government figures this month appeared to show a 30% hike in the number of days patients spent in hospital when ready for discharge from 2005-6 to 2006-7.

Continue reading "Delayed facts and figures" »

Have you got clients anxious to discover what will happen to their income when incapacity benefit is replaced by employment support allowance in October next year?

Gary Vaux has listened in to parliamentary debate and found valuable clues from ministers’ statements as to how the Welfare Reform Act will operate.

Continue reading "Who gets what in the switch over from incapacity benefit?" »

In Community Care this week, there are two featured articles relating to the adults' sector.

Firstly we have "Stitching a deal together" - read Mark Hunter's report on the Midlands experience of cross region collaboration

Secondly "Vision, with one eye on Wanless", read Mark Ivory's feature on how public service agreements alluded to in the recent comprehensive spending review, could move social care towards a more preventative, inclusive service.

by Adam McCulloch

If you ever get bogged down with seemingly intractable problems in social work, and society in general, you could do worse than visit www.unltd.org.uk, the website of UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs. Here you’ll find reasons for optimism in the shape of dynamic ideas for improving quality of life for everybody in the UK.

Continue reading "Unlimited ideas for social workers" »

by Red Keith

Two momentous events are celebrated today (7 November)
First up is National No Bullying Day. It turns out that social care is rife with bullies.

Continue reading "How to stop the bullies" »

This year's pay deal for English, Welsh and Northern Irish council staff may have been agreed after a seven-month stand-off between employers and unions but the prospects for industrial conflict across the sector seem as great as ever.
Following four years in which the growth in council pay has not kept pace with inflation, let alone average wages across the economy, the government wants employers to ensure three more years of the same - with pay rises of just 2%.
In response, unions Unison, GMB and Unite have promised to join counterparts across the public sector in a unified action to counter ministers' ambitions.

Continue reading "Local government pay - let's get ready to rumble" »

There are a few bits and bobs relating to social care in the Queen's Speech. Check out latest information can be found on the Community Care site.

by Natalie Valios

Apparently Christmas should be downgraded so that festivals from other religions receive equal billing.

Continue reading "Don't downgrade Christmas" »

Adults' social workers are coming under increasing pressure from managers to ration services, according to this latest piece of research from Community Care. Worth checking out.