tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2012:/blogs/adult-social-work//52 2007-11-15T10:31:29Z Adult social care analysed Movable Type Enterprise 4.37 tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17575 2007-11-15T10:30:41Z 2007-11-15T10:31:29Z

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...

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ The Social Work Blog. See you there!]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17399 2007-11-13T12:04:33Z 2007-11-13T15:23:49Z

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...

Mithran Samuel, adults' editor, 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. ]]> announced by a sheepish government yesterday, entailed a drop of 5%. ]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17199 2007-11-09T10:31:31Z 2007-11-09T10:37:18Z

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’...

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ Welfare Reform Act will operate. ]]> Mental health problems However, it seems that clients with mental health problems may find that, although they qualify for ESA, it will then be difficult for them to get into that “support” group. This is because the 46 “descriptors” used to place people in the support group are weak on mental health matters. The minister did say though that “if (a person) has been treated under the Mental Health Act, they should meet one of the 46 descriptors…if for any reason they don’t, we would expect they would demonstrate that there would be substantial risk to their health…if they were found not to have limited capability for work-related activity”. It will be interesting to see whether the Department for Work and Pensions and tribunals take such an all-encompassing view. It is probably just as well that the minister agreed that “people with mental health problems or a learning disability may find it difficult to articulate at a face-to-face interview the full extent of their difficulties…it is entirely reasonable that such people should be able to make use of a spokesperson on their behalf; perhaps a member of their family or a care worker”. Work-related activity The minister also conceded, after opposition pressure, that ESA claimants who are in the support group will still be able to do work-related activity if they choose to do so, without it affecting their right to stay in that support group. This is very important, as support group claimants get a higher weekly rate of benefit than those in the work-related activity group. The rules on “permitted work” are being simplified anyway. Instead of there being a distinction between those on incapacity benefit (who can earn up to £86 before benefit is affected) and those on income support (just £20), the limits under ESA will, for all claimants, mirror the current incapacity benefit rules. This is good news but also illustrates one of the problems, because initially ESA will be introduced for new claimants only. Existing incapacity benefit and income support claimants will transfer across “over time”. Given that it has taken four years (and counting) to transfer families on income support on to tax credits, the timetable for ESA transfer may remain very flexible – but that, in turn, may not be a bad thing. Gary Vaux is head of money advice, Hertfordshire Council. He is unable to answer queries by post or telephone. If you have a question e-mail graham.hopkins@rbi.co.uk]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17114 2007-11-07T17:33:13Z 2007-11-07T17:36:05Z

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...

Gary Brigden, Webmaster 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.]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17096 2007-11-07T15:25:32Z 2007-11-07T15:29:25Z

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...

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ 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.]]> Case studies of projects such as Schoolfriend (after-school care in deprived areas) and Revolving Doors (for people caught up in perpetual crisis) showcase innovative, practical thinking. I particularly liked the ideas bank where you can read how the likes of The Fun Revolution will change the world. Quite a lot of tie-ins between social care and green thinking is in evidence here too. The site hasn’t been updated much of late but I’ve learned that it will be upgraded in the near future.]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17091 2007-11-07T14:30:01Z 2007-11-07T14:42:34Z

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....

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ 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.]]> social services came third in a league table of professions experiencing bullying, behind teachers and healthcare. <> Nushra Mansuri, professional officer with the British Association of Social Workers, says bullying in social services is endemic And there is plenty of advice out there to combat it including the TUC, BASW, even employers' should have policies on preventing it. The other event is the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution Now what lesson does the Russian revolution have for preventing bullying? Well, while I wouldn't call for the shooting of bullies or an insurrection against them, strong workers' organisation does guard against it. The Russian working class and peasants created unions, soviets, and factory committees that were able to defend their interests against the Czar and the provisional government intent on continuing the war with Germany. They also flooded into the Bolshevik party and urged it on to organise the insurrection. Now if some of that spirit was taken up in workplaces around the country then the bullies would be defeated, ­ in fact you would hear management complaining about being bullied by "Bolshie" staff. Also union leaders might find it a harder to call off action against a poor pay deal despite a democratic vote in favour of strikes. So one way to celebrate both events is to rebuild workplace organisation. You might not storm the Winter Palace but you might find work a bit easier. In the week that Unison member and NHS activist Karen Reissman was sacked for trade union activities now is the time to get involved. If you want to watch footage of the Russian revolution, I've found some on YouTube! ]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17042 2007-11-06T17:06:48Z 2007-11-07T15:43:02Z

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...

Mithran Samuel, adults' editor, 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.]]> worst settlement in a decade" for 2008-11 and will have their budgets capped by the Treasury if council tax rises stray too near to 5%. The Welsh assembly government looks set to grant authorities a paltry 2.2% settlement for 2008-9. Town hall leaders - as ever with pay negotiations, caught between their paymasters in Whitehall and those on their payroll - may recognise that 2% per annum will not get them a deal. But their room to offer more is small, and even three successive 2.5% increments will scarcely be acceptable to unions and staff who have already endured four years of pain. Perhaps the unions will back down and be picked off one-by-one, as happened this year, when the GMB and Unite decided to reluctantly accept the 2.475% deal following a member ballot, rather than call a vote on industrial action, as Unison did. But the rhetoric from the brothers (and sisters!) is one of unity across the public sector in the face of the government's insistence on 2% for social workers, nurses and civil servants alike. Even more unlikely is a government climbdown with public spending levels set for the next three years and the New Labour precept of never being seen to "give into the unions" as potent as ever. Ministers say their strategy is based on sound economics - that higher public sector pay deals will stoke up inflation and threaten recession. But many reject the thesis that the risks to inflation come from the public sector. Pay experts Incomes Data Services said last month that private sector wages were set to grow by 3% to 4.5% over the coming months, and that the major inflationary risks were from commodity prices such as oil. And when you are talking about a workforce where 70% of staff earn £15,825 a year or less, according to Unison, inflation risks need to be weighed up against other concerns, particularly for a government committed to social justice. The unions will undoubtedly get a lot of flak from ministers and the right-wing press - with the idea of a spring or summer of discontent sullying many an editorial - but they owe it to their members to hold the line on this issue. I for one am looking forward to a ringside seat. For more information read Community Care's news analysis on the pay dispute from this week's issue.]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.17019 2007-11-06T14:43:32Z 2007-11-06T14:45:14Z

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....

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ Check out latest information can be found on the Community Care site.]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.16790 2007-11-01T15:36:12Z 2007-11-01T16:33:12Z

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

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ by Natalie Valios Apparently Christmas should be downgraded so that festivals from other religions receive equal billing.]]> the story in the Independent and one in the Mail.]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.16757 2007-11-01T10:24:29Z 2007-11-01T10:29:01Z

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....

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ piece of research from Community Care. Worth checking out.]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.15998 2007-10-16T16:40:57Z 2007-10-18T11:36:17Z

As part of my new job as chief practice writer on the magazine I have recently been visiting a number of social services departments. On one such visit to an adult services team I witnessed an interesting debate. Speaking to...

Amy Taylor As part of my new job as chief practice writer on the magazine I have recently been visiting a number of social services departments. On one such visit to an adult services team I witnessed an interesting debate. Speaking to me about their day to day role one manager said the immortal line "well of course we are all care managers now, not social workers," causing one of his colleague to instantly look pained and argue that this was not the case for everyone. ]]> During my visits practically every social worker I have met has told me about their ever increasing caseload and the effect this has on their work with their clients - a lack of face to face time. In terms of adult services at least, arranging people's care packages instead seemed to dominate the days of many. It seems gone are days, if they ever were, when social workers could take the time to sit down with an older person and really get to know them to find out what makes them tick. The sheer volume of cases coming through in many areas now makes this impossible. So is social work 'as we know it' extinct? Not completely but it's certainly an endangered species. tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.15602 2007-10-09T16:06:14Z 2007-10-10T10:12:07Z

So the comprehensive spending review has finally arrived - 15 months later than originally planned. And for adult social care, the immediate news is grim - 1% real terms growth in spending for local government, a quarter of the level...

Mithran Samuel, adults' editor, comprehensive spending review has finally arrived - 15 months later than originally planned. And for adult social care, the immediate news is grim - 1% real terms growth in spending for local government, a quarter of the level accorded to the already booming NHS. However, the government has held out the prospect of a brighter future by promising a green paper on the funding and delivery of adult care services, designed to tackle demographic change. So a case of satisfaction delayed? I fear not.]]> half of what the Local Government Association claims was required to keep up with pressures on adult social care. The £2.6bn extra overall for councils from 2008-11 is precisely the level of extra cash the LGA claimed was required for adult social care alone. And it's not just local government leaders who are angry with the settlement. Charities such as the Alzheimer's Society and think-tanks including the King's Fund also believe it is too low. In his commentary on the review, Department of Health director general of social care David Behan gives three answers to the government's critics: 1) Councils have been set 3% per annum efficiency targets, which are designed to release £4.9bn in extra funding for services. 2) Direct Department of Health funding for adult care will increase by 2.3% in real terms to £1.5bn in 2010-11. 3) Watch out for the green paper! Sadly, one has to be sceptical about all three: Do councils really have the ability to release anything like £4.9bn in cash from improvements in procurement and back-office processes, given the level of efficiency savings they have made since 2005? Direct DH investment is a small proportion of overall adult care funding in England, and among the items included in the £190m of extra spending from 2008-11 is money already announced to move people campuses out of NHS campuses. This was worth £175m from 2007-10, meaning that it accounts for most of the £190m extra pledged in the spending review. Which leaves us with the green paper, described by Behan as a "historic advance". The paper is designed to create a funding and care system that, given demographic pressures, promotes independence, well-being and choice, is affordable and is "consistent with the principles of progressive universalism". That piece of jargon signals a move away from means-testing but any idea that the government will adopt a Wanless-style proposal of giving all adult care users a level of free care is tempered by the need for the system to be "affordable". What of course is needed, as Wanless laid out, is a commitment to spend an increasing proportion of public spending on adult care. With the economic good times looking a thing of the past, a political dogfight over the centre (or indeed centre-right) ground taking place between Labour and Tories and the government already emphasising affordability such a commitment looks deeply unlikely. ]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.15448 2007-10-05T16:08:07Z 2007-10-09T10:32:45Z

Yesterday I had my most full on work-related experience since joining the magazine almost five years ago. I spent part of the day at a hospital in the North shadowing the social work team. This involved interviewing a renal social...

Amy Taylor Yesterday I had my most full on work-related experience since joining the magazine almost five years ago. I spent part of the day at a hospital in the North shadowing the social work team. This involved interviewing a renal social worker, who works with people with kidney problems. When she asked if i wanted to go up to the dialysis ward to meet some of the people she worked with I nodded thinking it would be a good way to get an idea of what a usual day for her entailed. ]]> While there a girl who was undergoing dialysis was kind enough to be willing to talk to me about how it felt. While I spoke to her I looked out the corner of my eye at the dialysis machine with blood going through its tubes. That was when I started to feel slightly ill but carried on the conversation. A few exchanges later and she moved back a blanket to expose two large tubes going into her arm carrying her blood to the machine. That was it. Yellow and red spots, began to appear before my eyes, a cold sweat engulfed my body and a sick feeling began to build up in my stomach. I got up and left the room then stumbled only to be caught by three nurses who prevented me hitting the deck. I then foolishly said that I needed to lie down only to be told by one of the nurses "you'll be lucky". 10 minutes sitting down on a chair and a chocolate biscuit later I was fine. Apart from feeling like a total idiot the experience also left me thinking about the range of different experiences social care professionals encounter in their day to day practice and the range of skills they require to deal with them. I for one will never be able to be a renal social worker and I take my hat off to those who are, not to mention the thousand of people undergoing dialysis in wards across the UK at this very moment. tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.15408 2007-10-05T11:05:34Z 2007-10-08T15:13:43Z

Sex in public and car parking. Not two natural bedfellows, unless you are Stan Collymore of course (Google it). These two issues have recently highlighted the need for greater equality training and education....

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ Sex in public and car parking. Not two natural bedfellows, unless you are Stan Collymore of course (Google it). These two issues have recently highlighted the need for greater equality training and education.]]> Four firefighters from Avon Fire and Rescue in Bristol have been disciplined by their bosses and ordered to attend equality training after a complaint was made about their behaviour. Late one night in June the crew were on parkland - known as the Downs in Bristol - well known for dogging (having outdoor sex with strangers). The firefighters shone their torches into bushes and found four men engaged in sexual activities, one of whom complained about the firefighters behaviour – ultimately saying it was homophobic. The staff had no operational reason to be there and an investigation by Avon Fire and Rescue found they had breached their internal policies. Sex in public is illegal. However, would the firefighters haven been so zealous in searching for people getting their rocks off at 10.30pm in bushes had they thought they’d find men and women having sex? Or was it that it was men having sex with other men? Meanwhile in Scotland, research by the Scottish Executive has revealed that non-disabled drivers use parking spaces allocated for disabled people because they know they are unlikely to be punished. The report found there were five different types of parking abuser, ranging from those who pretend they have a disability when they do not to those who see other drivers breaking the same rules. It recommends the public are educated more about the needs of disabled drivers and what impact parking abuse has on them. But if equality for different people existed in the first place such education and training wouldn’t be necessary. ]]> tag:www.communitycare.co.uk,2007:/blogs/adult-social-work//52.15346 2007-10-04T13:40:56Z 2007-10-05T08:05:47Z

Birmingham council has raised concerns over large numbers of inexperienced social workers in its children's services who are at risk of burnout. But the problem is not just Birmingham's - it goes hand in hand with the territory....

Simeon Brody, community editor, http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/mental-health/ Birmingham council has raised concerns over large numbers of inexperienced social workers in its children's services who are at risk of burnout. But the problem is not just Birmingham's - it goes hand in hand with the territory.]]> One social worker who contacted me this week said he was not surprised at the Birmingham case and said social workers were fast burning out everywhere - which is why there are recruitment and retention problems in the profession. "Unless there is a radical change within social work, the future is far from bright," he said. I wanted to be a social worker, once upon a time. It seemed like a real thing to do, opposed to pen-pushing at a desk - which, at the age of 20, seemed to sum up much of the world of work. I started as a volunteer one day a week in a homeless drop-in centre, and felt rewarded by the feeling that I was making a difference. Relieving people's isolation and pain, giving them someone to talk to, someone to listen to them, giving them time. This seemed like a powerful point to my existence. I went to work full-time in a hostel for young homeless people. There things kicked off on a regular basis. I saw my first overdose, a lad turning blue in the living room. The lad discharged himself from hospital the same day and walked back into the hostel with the tubes from his drips half hanging from his arms - a debauched Lazarus raised from the dead. He went up to his room and I followed him and tried in my embarrassing naievety to hold a conversation with him. "Why did you do it? "I asked. "Because I wanted to die," he said, his dark eyes fixing on mine, as he tightened his belt round his arm and got ready for the next hit. The next day, I saw the most spectacular display of projectile vomiting I have ever seen. The lad was moved to another hostel where he seemed happy when I bumped into him weeks later. "They let me just take my drugs and go to sleep," he said. I don't know whether he is alive or dead. But I saw others die on the streets, including a man the same age as me, who drank himself steadily to death, refusing all help even to the point of refusing to get into an amubulance when it was waiting beside him. Another addict I worked with once looked at me with a terrifying nothingness in his eyes and asked, sneeringly: "How much do you get paid?" I did the sums. My salary was enough to keep him housed for a year. He overdosed and died. I saw little point in what I was doing. Over four years as an outreach worker, I saw too many people die. I burned out and left. After that experience, becoming a "proper" social worker seemed like a crazy idea. I had been thrown in at the deep end, an untrained volunteer progressing to an untrained paid worker dealing with some of the most complex people in our society. Doctors have medicine. Builders have bricks to make houses. I had no tools, no way of measuring whether I was making a difference. I know former colleagues are doing the same rounds, still trying to rescuing many of the same people who were there ten years ago on the streets when I left. How do they carry on? Several have had their own breakdowns through the stress of the work but somehow manage to keep their jobs. Although there was one person who tried his best to provide good management without much organisational support I left because I didn't get enough supervision or training to deal with being around often extremely disturbed individuals every day. The fall-out was sleepless nights, guilt over not helping people enough, grief when people died and the daily stress of dealing with threats of violence and verbal abuse. I never got to the stage of becoming hardened and desensitised although I saw colleagues becoming this way. Those remaining on the frontline without jumping to the dryer ground of management are rare but to be admired. It is often down to individual charisma and hard-won experience and maturity - qualities that cannot be manufactured through even the best professional courses. In my experience, giving staff the right training, supervision and support would be the only way to stop people leaving frontline work in droves. There needs to be consistent investment to create proper standards and a rise in the status of social work as a valued profession. But is it going to happen? Have you ever suffered burnout? Contact maria.ahmed@rbi.co.uk in confidence