Fighting Monsters - Member blogs - Social Work Blog

Choice, Control and Obfuscation – How the Personalisation Dream is Dying

In the bold move towards a transformation in adult social care, it feels from where I sit, that control has completely overtaken any pretence of ‘choice’ in the so-called move towards more idealised ‘person-centred’ care and support planning. I hope I...

Published 12 Sep 2011 7:29 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: burstow, carer, carers, dementia, direct payments, Disability, discrimination, elderly, health, local authority, local government, mental health, Mental Health Foundation, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, ras, resource allocation system, social care, social issues, social work, socialcare, the small places, work
Fixing the Broken not Healing the Wounded – a wrong-footed Government response

Our wise leader, David Cameron, clearly being an iconic Philosopher King, spent many days studying the possibly causes for the devastating riots in London and across England. He concluded after much intellectually rigorous pursuit, that the causes of...

Published 16 Aug 2011 7:04 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, broken britain, cameron, Chipping Norton, david cameron, discrimination, Emma Harrison, gang culture, gangs, health, iain duncan-smith, london, personal, philosophy, politics, Prime minister, Single-parent, social care, social issues, social work, work
Why Deaf Awareness?

This is a guest post by Suzie Jones – @suziejones2010 . Many thanks to her – cb Why deaf awareness? When you think about the people you meet and talk to in your everyday life, I wonder if it crosses your mind that one in every six has a hearing loss?...

Published 25 Jul 2011 6:28 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Awareness, British Sign Language, Communication, deaf, deaf awareness, Disability, discrimination, guest post, hard of hearing, health, Hearing impairment, learning about deafness, lipreading, social care, social issues, social work, social work and deafness, suzie jones, work
Making Adult Social Care Better 1

I think I’m fairly good at griping and raising ‘problems’. For the next week, I want to try and take a positive approach and look at solutions as well as problems. - A few conversations I’ve had over the past week have focused on what is wrong with adult...

Published 11 Jul 2011 7:11 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: advocacy, British Association of Social Workers, british social work, Disability, discrimination, health, Home Care, individual budgets, Internet forum, local authority, mental health, old age, personal, personal budgets, personalisation, politics, social care, Social Sciences, social work, social work in the uk, Unison, work
Elaine McDonald, Kensington and Chelsea and Dignity

Yesterday, the High Court ruled in the case of R (on the application of McDonald) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This was a further appeal by McDonald against a previous decision at a lower court. Elaine McDonald is 68 year old woman who worked...

Published 7 Jul 2011 6:32 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Age Discrimination, ageism, agism, dignity in care, discrimination, elaine macdonald, elaine mcdonald, elderly, health, Home Care, kensington, local government, mcdonald v kensington and chelsea, nursing home, old age, older people, personal, philosophy, politics, r v royal borough of kensington and chelsea, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, social care, social issues, social work, socialcare, work
Personal Budgets, Personalisation, Thoughts and Hopes

Yesterday Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) published the results of a National Personal Budget Survey. The headline ‘results’ are of course overwhelmingly positive. Personal Budgets work. Direct Payments Are Good. Everyone is happy. jrambow@flickr Is any...

Published 23 Jun 2011 7:37 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: budget, carer, carers, direct payments, Disability, discrimination, elderly, health, Home Care, local authority, local government, mental health, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, politics, social care, social work, socialcare, work
Learning Disability Week – Hate Crime and Hate Language

I know I’m a bit late to Learning Disability Week – which runs from the 20th June for.. well, a week but it remains a campaign and a group I have a great attachment to coming from years working with adults with learning disabilities before I qualified...

Published 22 Jun 2011 6:44 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Crime, Disability, discrimination, Hate crime, health, learning disability, mencap, pc correctness gone mad, personal, political correctness, social care, social issues, social work, work
Human Rights, Home Care, Personal Budgets and Cost Saving

I read on the BBC website among others that there is a report suggesting that care provided in the home by local authorities to older adults may be overlooking human rights issues. Daniel2005@flickr An inquiry into this was initiated by the Equality and...

Published 20 Jun 2011 6:55 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: carer, carers, dementia, direct payments, Disability, discrimination, ehrc, elderly, elderly home care, equality and human rights commission, government, health, Home Care, home care and human rights, Human Right, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights of older adults, individual budgets, local authority, local government, mental health, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, personal budgets, personalisation, report into home care, social care, social work, work
Undercover Care : The abuse exposed – A Review of Panorama

I sat down to watch Panorama yesterday and the trailers and name of the programme were something of a giveaway so I wasn’t exactly unprepared for what was shown. Panorama had been alerted to abuse within Winterbourne View near Bristol, which is a private...

Published 1 Jun 2011 6:57 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Abuse, abuse exposed, abuse of vulnerable adults, bristol, burstow, Care Quality Commission, castleview, cqc, Disability, discrimination, health, hospital, learning disability, local authority, long-term care, MCA, mental health act 1983, mental capacity act, mental health, nurse, panorama, personal, politics, private hospital, section 44, social work, undercover care, winterbourne, winterbourne view, work
Personalisation and Professional Disillusionment

Yesterday, Community Care published the result of a survey they had undertaken about ‘personalisation’ among social care professionals. The headline figures while wholly unsurprising, make for interesting reading where only 41% of respondents felt...

Published 26 May 2011 7:14 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: budget, burstow, care in the community, carer, direct payments, discrimination, elderly, implementation of personalisation, individual budgets, local authority, local government, old age, older people, paul burstow, personal, personal budget, personal budgets, personalisation, personalisation agenda, Personalization, social care, social work, uk, work
The Pilkingtons, Disability Hate Crime and Responses

Yesterday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission published it’s report into the case of Fiona and Francecca Pilkington which I wrote about first in September 2009. The Guardian has an article which highlights some of the main points but to sum...

Published 25 May 2011 7:24 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: carer, carers, Disability, discrimination, housing, local authority, personal, politics, social care, social issues, work
Disability, Language and Respect – Blogging Against Disablism Day

Blogging against Disablism Day is 1 May and it is an initiative that has been running for five years. Diary of a Goldfish is collating all the posts that reference this and I’d recommend reading through them. I don’t identify myself as disabled. Yet....

Published 1 May 2011 9:14 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: bad2011, blogging against disabilism, blogging against disabilism day 2011, defending political correctness, Disability, Disabled, discrimination, health, language, learning disability, mental health, personal, political correctness, social care, social issues, Social media, social work, work
Calm Down, Dear – and Why I Won’t

This isn’t really a social work specific lesson although it helps, it’s something that comes in handy in all professions. You give respect, you receive respect. Sometimes it can be a bit more complex and sometimes you work with people from whom you can...

Published 28 Apr 2011 7:22 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Angela Eagle, calm down dear, daily telegraph, daily telegraph boob blog, david cameron, discrimination, george osborne, House of Commons, House of Commons of the United Kingdom, lucy jones, member of parliament, personal, politics, Prime Minister's Questions, social issues, work
Eligibility, Birmingham and Cuts

While awaiting the details of the court judgement, there was an important ruling yesterday that Birmingham Council’s attempt to limit eligibility to social care services to those who have ‘critical’ care needs is unlawful. Drawing out some of the definitions...

Published 21 Apr 2011 6:37 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: BBC, Birmingham City Council, Disability, discrimination, elderly, England, learning disability, local authority, local government, mental health, old age, older people, personal, personal care, politics, respite care, social care, social issues, social services, social work, social worker, socialcare, uk, United Kingdom, work
Personalisation in Mental Health and Older Adult Services

Personalisation is a very broad brush term to describe the so-called ‘transformation’ agenda in adult social care. In very general terms it refers to the process of moving from resource-led to needs-led systems of service provision (just as the NHS …...

Published 4 Mar 2011 6:09 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: adult social care, budget, care provision, dementia, direct payments, Disability, discrimination, elderly, health, ilf, individual budget, individual budgets, learning disability, local authority, mental health, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, personal budgets, personalisation, politics, putting people first, sds, self-directed support, social care, social issues, social work, Support group, work
Changing the World

This weekend I met up with a friend of mine whom I first met when I started my MA in Social Work roughly 12 years ago. Since graduating and qualifying, our careers have taken different but in some ways parallel … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 28 Feb 2011 6:53 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: discrimination, health, i want to change the world, Leadership, leadership and management, local authority, london, making the world a better place, personal, philosophy, politics, social care, social issues, social work, work
Bullying

Bullying – it’s a very loaded word. As adults we’ve been through the school experiences where, if we didn’t experience it and weren’t perpetrators, we’d probably know people who were in one or the other camp. School is just a … Continue reading...

Published 25 Feb 2011 6:30 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Adult, Behavior, Bullying, bullying in residential care, care homes, community, community building, dementia care, discrimination, elderly, health, long-term care, nursing homes, old age, older people, personal, social care, social issues, social work, socialcare, Violence and Abuse, work
Respite, Disability and Personal Budgets.

Rivan Vincent has been prominent in the news over the last day or so. She has a six year old daughter, Celyn, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy. In the face of additional respite services being denied to her, … Continue reading →...

Published 21 Jan 2011 6:18 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: caregiver, celyn vincent, david cameron, Disability, Disability Living Allowance, discrimination, Downing Street, health, local authority, Mumsnet, mumsnet campaign, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, personalisation, politics, respite, respite care, respite4riven, rivan, rivan vincent, social care, social issues, social work, work
One Month Before Heartbreak #ombh

A fantastic initiative has been taken which hit the internet with force yesterday. The idea of ‘One Month Before Heartbreak’ which can be followed on their blog and on ‘The Broken of Britain’ blog – is to collate voices and … Continue reading →...

Published 15 Jan 2011 7:07 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, Disability, Disability Living Allowance, discrimination, Employment and Support Allowance, government, health, labour party, Liberal Democrats, ombh, one month before heartbreak, personal, politics, social care, social issues, Twitter, work
Rising Admission Rates

Yesterday, via Twitter, I was alerted to the publication of the ‘Mental Health Bulletin – Fourth Report from Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMD) returns 2010’. I know it’s a bit of a mouthful but briefly, it means statistics about admission, …...

Published 12 Jan 2011 6:06 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: AMHP, ASW, Best Interests Assessor, discrimination, elderly, England, health, MCA, Mental disorder, mental health, mental health act 2007, mental health act assessment, mental health statistics, old age, older people, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, work
Alternate Christmas Carol

I picked a really good weekend to nip away for a few days! I’m back now though but brain still creaking into gear. I was sent a link to this alternate Twelve Days of Christmas As explained in ‘Broken of … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 21 Dec 2010 7:02 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Disability, discrimination, health, politics, social issues, Twelve Days of Christmas, work
The Death of the Independent Living Fund

Yesterday was quite a day for adult social services. As well as the more obvious announcements of the cuts to local authorities and the unveiling of a so-called ‘Localism Bill’, Maria Miller, the minister for disabled people announced that the …...

Published 14 Dec 2010 6:18 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: abolition of independent living fund, Alf Morris, cutting ilf, direct payments, Disability, disability discrimination, discrimination, ilf, Independent living, independent living fund, local authority, local government, long-term care, lord morris, Maria Miller, MCA, personal, personal budget, personalisation, politics, Quality of life, social care, social issues, social work, Spending Review (United Kingdom), uk, work
Attitudes to Disability

Yesterday, the BBC published a survey commissioned by ComRes to mark the 40th anniversary of the ‘Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970’ which was the first piece of legislation that recognised ‘disability’ It is hard to imagine that it …...

Published 30 Nov 2010 5:19 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Alf Morris, attitude survey, BBC, chronically sick and disabled persons act, ComRes, Disability, Disabled, discrimination, Employment, government, invisible disability, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, uk, work
Sinful Wastrels

I haven’t had time to read through the White Paper on Welfare Reform called Universal Credit : Welfare that Works yet. I finished work late last night and went to bed almost embarrassingly early. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to … Continue reading...

Published 12 Nov 2010 6:51 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, Community service, discrimination, iain duncan-smith, Jobseekers Allowance, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, Unemployment, Volunteering, Welfare reform, White paper
Care Credits

Over the weekend, the Paul Burstow announced that he was looking at the system of ‘credits’ where people who volunteer to help older adults and adults with disabilities in exchange for ‘credits’ towards their own care when they are older … Continue...

Published 1 Nov 2010 6:44 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: care credits, carer, Disability, discrimination, elderly, government, health, local authority, local government, old age, older people, paul burstow, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, Volunteering, work
10 things learnt in 10 years as a Social Worker

I qualified as a social worker in 2000. I don’t remember the exact date I started my first ‘qualified’ post. It was sometime in the early summer I think - in those days before registration was required and all I … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 30 Oct 2010 6:40 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: AMHP, approved mental health professional, ASW, discrimination, Employment, government, health, local authority, local government, mental health, old age, older people, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, uk, work
Lessons from the Care Sector

One of the flagship policies of this new coalition government and one mentioned in the Spending Review is about outsourcing services from directly provided in-house type provision to a tendering out type market led style of outsourcing services. This...

Published 26 Oct 2010 7:35 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: ambition 24, BBC, carer, Disability, discrimination, elderly, health, jamie merrett, local authority, long-term care, National Health Service, nhs, nurse, nursing agencies, nursing care, old age, older people, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, violetta aylward, work
Preventing Project Prevention

This is a guest post by Stuart Sorensen. Thank you Stuart! Thank you CB for giving me this opportunity to post on your blog. It’s nice to have the chance to raise awareness of this organisation’s activities and to show … Continue reading...

Published 25 Oct 2010 6:02 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Barbara Harris, British Medical Association, chris brand, discrimination, Drugs, ethics, eugenics, health, personal, Project Prevention, sara stocks, social care, social issues, social work, Substance dependence, work
Future

Yesterday, I wrote specifically about my reactions to the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) without a lot of reference to other commentators. This was intentional as I wanted to spew out my initial thoughts pretty much freeform. Today some of the …...

Published 22 Oct 2010 6:32 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, Comprehensive Spending Review, csr, david cameron, Disability, discrimination, discrimination. targetting disability, elderly, Employment and Support Allowance, health, housing benefit, local authority, local government, long-term care, mental health, old age, older people, paul burstow, personal, personal budget, politics, social care, social issues, social work, Spending Review (United Kingdom), Welfare, welfare cuts, work
Chasing Cheats

Osborne’s new policy plan, is outlined in the ‘News of the World’ today. Alas, the News of the World is behind a ‘paywall’ so I can’t either read the article directly nor link to it but helpfully, the BBC carries … Continue reading → Read...

Published 17 Oct 2010 7:14 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefit fraud, benefits, disability discrimination, discrimination, Employment and Support Allowance, esa, evil osborne, george osborne, local authority, margaret thatcher, mental health, older people, personal, politics, scapegoat, social issues, Taxation, work
How Fair is Britain?

Today, the Equality and Human Rights Commission publish their first Triennial Report about Equality, Human Rights and good relations. Some aspects of the report have been published over the weekend but it is worth reconsideration and reflection. The report...

Published 11 Oct 2010 7:12 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, british politics, Disability, discrimination, elderly, equality, equality and human rights commission, ethnicity, fair, fairness, health, how fair is britain, mental health, old age, older people, personal, politics, race, social issues, work
World Mental Health Day 2010

Sunday 10th October is World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme refers to the relationship between mental health and chronic physical illnesses. Quite appropriately, Time for Change are running a ‘Get Moving 2010’ programme of events focusing on, quite...

Published 8 Oct 2010 7:20 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: discrimination, health, mental health, personal, time for change, work, World Mental Health Day
Fairness

Yesterday Cameron spoke to the Conservative Party Conference wrapping up what seems like an interminable conference season. I can’t say that there was anything ‘different’ in the speech nor anything earth-shattering. The speech started by talking about...

Published 7 Oct 2010 7:13 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Britain, cameron, cameron and fairness, conservative party, conservative party conference, david cameron, discrimination, elderly, government, health, mental health, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, politics, social care, social issues, social work, uk, work
The Welfare Cap

The announcement that Child Benefit would no longer be payable to higher rate tax payers came about five minutes after I pressed ‘publish’ on my post yesterday. For the record, I have no problems with reducing or means-testing child benefit … Continue...

Published 5 Oct 2010 7:00 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, capped benefits, child benefit, Coalition government, conservative party, discrimination, george osborn, george osborne, housing benefit, london, personal, politics, social care, social issues, spending review, Welfare, welfare cuts, work
Bel Mooney, Disability and Sex

There is something of a theme for the week and while I wanted to move onto other subjects and events, I was unfortunate enough, in my daily trawl of news websites to come across this ignorant abomination of a ‘column’ … Continue reading →...

Published 18 Aug 2010 7:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: bel mooney, daily fail, daily mail, direct payments, Disability, disability discrimination, discrimination, hateful daily mail, health, local authority, mooney, personal, personal budget, politics, prejudiced journalism, sex and disability, social care, social issues, social work, social workers, uk, work
Saints and Scroungers – a review

I didn’t plan to watch ‘Saints and Scroungers’ on BBC1 last night. Really, I didn’t but it was nestled between The One Show and Eastenders (I never claimed to have particularly high brow TV viewing habits!) so it just happened … Continue reading...

Published 17 Aug 2010 6:30 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: awful tv, bbc1, benefits cheats, Disability, discrimination, dominic littlewood, local authority, personal, politics, saints and scroungers, scroungers, scroungers and saints, social issues, social policy, sociology, Welfare, work
Sex on the State

It’s hard to find an interesting and exciting ‘mainstream’ story on Personal Budgets – until, of course, the media picks up that they can be used to pay for sex. The story that has been pretty much on the radar … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 16 Aug 2010 7:17 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Disability, disabled adults and sex, discrimination, elderly, local authority, paying for sex, personal, personal budget, personal budgets and sex, politics, sex, social care, social issues, social work, work
On yer bike!

Housing is an issue that has been a consistent backdrop to all of the work that I’ve done since I began working in statutory social services. There is a massive shortage of affordable housing. This leads to overcrowding, poor conditions and some heightened...

Published 29 Jun 2010 6:51 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Coalition government, council housing, discrimination, Employment, housing, iain duncan-smith, older people, on your bike, personal, politics, social mobility, work
Officers or Nurses

I know I shouldn’t go to the Daily Mail website. It is a form of morbid curiosity but I saw this article headlined and couldn’t resist Chief Constable Peter Fahy of Greater Manchester Police says that he needs ‘more mental health nurses as much as officers...

Published 18 May 2010 6:59 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: daily mail, discrimination, Greater Manchester, health, Mental disorder, mental health, personal, peter fahy, Police officer, politics, s135, s136, stigma and mental health, uk, work
Why Did You Kill My Dad? 9pm BBC2

Tonight, BBC2 is airing a documentary called ‘Why did you kill my Dad?’. It is made by Julian Hendy, whose father was fatally stabbed by a man with long term mental health problems. He did, as a result of this, do some research about the levels of homicides...

Published 1 Mar 2010 7:04 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: bbc documentary on mental health, discrimination, health, julian hendy, louis appleby, Mental disorder, mental health, Paul Jenkins, personal, sane, social care, social issues, social work, why did you kill my father, work

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