January 2009 Archives

 by Allan Norman

Regulars will know I've followed developments relating to the death in custody of Adam Rickwood. The latest, widely publicised, development is the decision of the high court to order a new inquest into Adam's death, see Pounder, R (on the application of) v HM Coroner for the North & South Districts of Durham & Darlington & Ors [2009] EWHC 76 (Admin) (22 January 2009).

Will social work be in the firing line? I think and hope not.

writes Simon Cramp

Valuing People Now could radically improve services but it needs the support and commitment of a wider range of agencies

Valuing People Now is an important and long-awaited policy paper that sets out a vision for the 21st century and positions people with learning disabilities securely at the heart of their care.

by Peter Beresford

One-Size-Fits-All Still Rules In Social Care

This is the last State of Social Care report to be published by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, as the body gets absorbed into the new Care Quality Commission. Last year's report made front page headlines and again helpfully brought social care into the light by highlighting the big problems facing two out of three groups of social care service users. Self-funders are at particular risk of unnecessary often disempowering institutionalisation. More and more people not seen as having 'substantial' or 'critical' needs are 'lost to the system', left with fragile informal support arrangements and a 'poor quality of life'. Yet people who were getting support are 'having a better experience than before'.

 by Allan Norman

 by Allan Norman

According to my dictionary, a "threat" is the "act of declaring the intention to inflict pain, punishment etc".

I was accompanying a service user client and telling their social worker that I intended to seek judicial review of their so-called assessment, when to my surprise, the social worker accused me of threatening behaviour. I mused that I didn't understand how peaceably explaining that I would use the correct forum to obtain a legal and just outcome for my service user client could amount to a threat. 

writes Simon Heng

The death of disabled man raises the question whether care staff are too bound up in procedure to deal with vulnerable people

James Hughes's inquest was held just a few miles away from me. James, who was 21, had been severely disabled from birth, and had been looked after by his mother. When his body was found, in the garden of his family home crammed into a suitcase, he weighed less than four-and-a-half stone.

As children make the transition towards adolescence they face so much change - they're suddenly spending much less time with their parents and considerably more with their peers.

writes Bob Holman


The government's plan to narrow inequality fails to challenge disparities in wealth, income and power.

The government has issued a consultation paper for its forthcoming Equality Bill. The deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has won a battle to include a legal obligation on all public bodies to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.

by David Bell

Devolution has resulted in diff erent strategies for long-term care but has any part of the UK yet found the definitive answer?

Since 1998, when the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly were set up, devolution has produced different strategies for long-term care.

by Helen Bonnick


There must be a better way to communicate your ideas than by drowning out the other person at the end of a conversation

We must all be familiar with the interviewee determined to have the last word, whether politician, commentator or client.

writes Simon Stevens


It is time we challenged the cosy assumptions of those who support assisted dying and explode the "dignity" myth

After a lot of recent publicity, it appears that public support for euthanasia for people with terminal illnesses and now disabled people in general has risen.