Browse by Tags

Fighting Monsters

Home

Report this Blog for Abuse

Syndication

Archives

Blame the Poor – A Riot Rhetoric

I apologise for keeping on one track in my posts this week but I am preoccupied by events of the last week. I’m not the same person I was a week ago. Some of the pillars that I held on both tangible and intangible have gone now, never to be replaced....

Published 12 Aug 2011 6:58 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Clapham, Croydon, Ealing, England, local authority, london, london riots, personal, poverty, Riot, social care, social issues, television, work
London – Some thoughts and hopes

I didn’t sleep much last night. Or the night before. Or the night before that. My city is burning. There is a tangible fear in the air. I’m not above it because I feel it and I see it. I don’t want to listen to politicians being parachuted in (when they...

Published 9 Aug 2011 6:58 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: big society, david cameron, England, local authority, london, london riots, personal, social care, social issues, Tottenham
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
The REAL College of Social Work – Part Infinity

BASW and SCIE may be planning to merge to form BASWCOSWSCIESWBOFEETOFIIB. (British Association of Social Workers College of Social Work Social Care Institute of Excellence Social Work College But Only For England Even Though Our First Initial Is British...

Published 1 Apr 2011 5:57 PM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: april 1, British Association of Social Workers, college of social work, England, personal, scie, social work, spoof, work
The Two Colleges continued – BASW, SCIE and the Nascent College

I am more than a little frustrated that BASW (British Association of Social Workers) and the College of Social Work (in its current interim state) haven’t been able to thrash out their problems. I’ve mentioned the background to this before … Continue...

Published 10 Feb 2011 6:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: basw, basw council, British Association of Social Workers, college of social work, England, english social work issues, feud, General Social Care Council, scie, social work, social workers, Trade union, uk, Unison, west lothian question in basw, work
Munro’s Interim Report on Child Protection – some thoughts

Professor Munro published an Interim Report on Child Protection – subtitled ‘A Child’s Journey’ yesterday with some ideas, thoughts and (most importantly) hard research evidence about changes that need to be made in the child protection system and particularly...

Published 2 Feb 2011 6:49 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Child abuse, Child protection, children's services, Ed Balls, eileen munro, England, health, monroe report, munro, munro report, munro review, munroe report, Ofsted, personal, social care, social work, social work task force, work
The Two Colleges

I’m almost weary of this story before I start to write it to be honest. Unfortunately the story is ripe for pickings, I can’t really help but go with it. A bit of background. (note : this is my understanding … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 24 Jan 2011 6:25 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: basw, British Association of Social Workers, college of social work, England, General Social Care Council, gscc., personal, politics, Professional association, scie, social work, Trade union, Unison, 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
The Sailor

Last week, I went to see an elderly man who has dementia. I’ve known him for a couple of years and have seen the progression of this dementia. Sometimes the progression happens at different rates. We’ve had a lot of … Continue reading → Read...

Published 4 Nov 2010 5:38 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: care home, dementia, elderly, England, health, local authority, long-term care, MCA, mental health, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, politics, residential care, Royal Navy, sailor, social care, social work, uk, work
Limits

I’m writing up my student’s placement report. I just struck on a point that I wanted to keep to mind. Often learning about the limits of statutory social work are just as important as learning about the scope. It’s knowing when we don’t have a role, when...

Published 26 Jul 2010 6:52 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: England, local authority, personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, work
A Home to Fit

I have worked with Mrs G for about 18 months. She has a degenerating dementia and is becoming more physically frail. Unsurprisingly this is not an uncommon basic scenario that rears it’s head at work. Mrs G has no surviving family but she was a very active...

Published 16 Feb 2010 6:52 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Add new tag, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, elderly, England, health, local authority, long-term care, mental health, nursing home, old age, older people, residential care, social care, social issues, social services, social work, social worker, work
Moving on Individual Budgets

And so it starts. Currently we are still in ‘pilot’ phase of the Individual Budget roll-out – the forefront of the personalisation and self-directed support agenda and if that sentence made little sense to you – you can probably count yourself lucky!...

Published 25 Nov 2009 6:49 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: alzheimers, attempts to be positive about new systems, carer, carers, carers individual budgets, direct payments, elderly, England, health, ib, individual budget, local authority, personal, personal budget, personalisation, personalisation agenda, ras, resource allocation systems, sds, self-assessment questionnaires, self-directed support, social care, social issues, social services, social work, uk, work
Of CTOs

Community Treatment Orders – Supervised Community Treatment – however it is termed it is one of the aspects of the amended Mental Health Act that I thought I would likely not have significant contact with on a day to day basis. I was right. But my experience...

Published 5 Nov 2009 6:49 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: AMHP, ASW, care in the community, community treatment order, cto, England, growth in ctos, health, medication, mental health act 1983, mental health, mental health act, mental health act 2007 amendments, personal, pink forms, social work, supervised community treatment, uk, work
A fostering update

I don’t like to patter on about the fostering I do but at the start of a new placement, some of the work-related issues shift onto the back burner temporarily in my thought-process. It also tends to lead to a slightly less regular post schedule to the...

Published 27 Oct 2009 6:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Child, England, Foster care, foster child, fostering, local authority, london, personal, social work, uk, update, work
Tories’ Insurance Plan

I like to follow the news and so, yesterday, when I heard about the plan proposed by the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne to allow those approaching 65 to purchase a type of insurance policy for roughly £8000 to cover future cost of nursing or residential...

Published 5 Oct 2009 7:03 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: conservative insurance scheme, conservative social care policy, Conservatives, elderly, election, England, funding adult care, george osborne, Green Paper, insurance residential care, local authority, local government, long-term care, nursing care, old age, older people, personal, politics, residential care, social care, social issues, social services, social work, tories, uk, United Kingdom, work
The cost of vacancies

Community Care published some research they carried out yesterday which found that there is a 10.9% vacancy rate for social workers in England – rising to 18.6% vacancy rate in London. They also publish a breakdown of individual councils – at least those...

Published 17 Apr 2009 6:37 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Child protection, community care, England, lack of social workers, local authority, local government, london, Recruitment, recruitment crisis in social work, social care, social issues, social work, social work vacancies, social worker, the social work blog, work
Ostriches in Social Work

A couple of stories have emerged over the past week about social workers who have been disciplined for ignoring referrals. There is the case of Joy Coles who has been removed from the social care register thereby being unable to work in the capacity of...

Published 13 Apr 2009 6:30 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: baby p, Child protection, England, essex county council, Haringey, haringey council, joy coles, restructuring, social care, social work, uk, work
DoLs, IMHAs and CQC

Lots of jargon and initials today. I should apologise in advance but they are certainly new phrases and words that will be becoming ever more familiar. Sidelong @ flickr As, 1 April 2009 sees the implementation of three new nuggets of legislation which...

Published 1 Apr 2009 7:06 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Best Interests Assessor, Care Quality Commission, Commission for Social Care Inspection, cqc, England, Healthcare Commission, imha, independent mental health advocate, long-term care, MCA, Mental Capacity Act 2005, mental health, Mental Health Act Commission, National Health Service, social care, social work, work
Direct Payments and Continuing Care

We are used to ‘Direct Payments’ in the social care sector. They were introduced in the Direct Payments (Community Care) Act 1997. While without doubt they are incredibly beneficial and empowering to some service users as they allow the user to receive...

Published 24 Mar 2009 4:46 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: continuing care, Department of Health, direct payments, discrimination, England, health, health care, local authority, london, long-term care, National Health Service, NHS primary care trust, Primary Care Trust, social care, social issues, social work, socialcare, work
Countdown to DoLs

The Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (DoLs) go ‘live’ in just over a week now. These were a part of the amended Mental Capacity Act (2005) which establish a legal framework by which someone who lacks capacity may be ‘deprived of their liberty’ if it...

Published 22 Mar 2009 6:50 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: AMHP, Best Interests Assessor, bia, deprivation of liberties safeguards, dols, elderly, England, health, local government, long-term care, MCA, mental capacity act 2005. mental capacity, mental health, Mental Health Trust, NHS primary care trust, old age, older people, Primary Care Trust, social care, social issues, social work, work
Frozen Reading

So I honestly hoped I wouldn’t have to return here, but another Southern Cross Care Home is in the news after a 97 year old woman died last week at the River View Care Centre near Reading as is reported in the Daily Mail. People die in care homes...

Published 12 Feb 2009 6:24 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Commission for Social Care Inspection, dementia, elderly, England, health, Home Care, local authority, long-term care, old age, older people, social care, social work, Southern Cross, southern cross healthcare, work
Dementia Strategies and Memory Clinics

Image via Wikipedia The National Dementia Strategy for England was launched yesterday with an impressive sounding 5 year plan to increase support people who are diagnosed with dementia and take through the different aspects that need to be worked on Read...

Published 4 Feb 2009 5:32 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Alan Johnson, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, dementia screening, England, health, memory clinic, Secretary of State for Health, social care, social work, terry pratchett, uk, United Kingdom, work
Snow Day

I went to work yesterday. Being someone who is dependent on public transport and living and working in London that feels like quite an achievement. Certainly more than was managed by the majority of my colleagues. We don’t do extreme weather very...

Published 3 Feb 2009 4:38 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: England, Extreme weather, london, Meals on Wheels, Met Office, Public transport, Transport, work, work snow
Combating Stigma

Community Care reports that a large, in fact, the largest ever, campaign to tackle stigma relating to Mental Health was launched yesterday in England. The Campaign, called ‘Time to Change’ is a joint effort between Mind, Rethink and Mental...

Published 22 Jan 2009 6:28 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: discrimination, England, health, mental health, Mind, rethink, social issues, Social network service, social work, work
Southern Cross and Hillingdon

Southern Cross is one of the largest, if not the largest provider of private residential and nursing care in the UK. They had one or two financial hiccoughs earlier in the year. There have been a few stumbles along the way, but they have now appointed...

Published 19 Dec 2008 6:32 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: England, Home Care, Jamie Buchan, london, London Borough of Hillingdon, Southern Cross, Southern Cross Healthcare Group, United Kingdom, work
Training

It’s a fairly busy month in the Mental Health teams with the impeding (3rd November) changes in the Mental Health legislation in England and Wales. Having attended my ASW (Approved Social Worker) to AMHP (Approved Mental Health Professional) conversion...

Published 21 Oct 2008 6:39 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: approved mental health professional, approved social worker, care services improvement partnership, csip, England, England and Wales, health, mental health act 1983, mental health, mental health act 2007 amendments, mental health legislation, social care, social work, training, uk mental health, work
No roads in the City of London

I went to visit a man yesterday, who worked for Royal Mail for most of his working life. He lives in a high-rise in the centre of the city on his own. He had been married many years but his wife died just a couple of years back - about the same time his...

Published 14 Oct 2008 5:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: City of London, England, Google, london, no roads in london, older people, roads in london, Royal Mail, social work, travel, Travel and Tourism, United Kingdom, work
Healthcare for Asylum Seekers

I read in The Guardian yesterday that the government is to abolish her plans to tighten regulations that allow asylum seekers to seek free primary care. To be honest, I was horrified when I heard it had been proposed at all. What kind of society are we...

Published 13 Oct 2008 6:55 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: asylum seeker, BMA, British Medical Association, doctor, England, failed asylum seeker, free nhs health care, General practitioner, health, health care, immigration, National Health Service, nhs, Refugee, social issues, social work, uk, work
On Inspection

The Commission for Social Care Inspection have a system of rating residential and nursing homes. I have written about it before. I possibly didn’t state obliquely how cynical I have become of this system even though the cynicism was always there...

Published 11 Oct 2008 5:06 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Care of residents, cmht, Commission for Social Care Inspection, cpn, csci, elderly, England, health, Inspection, inspections by csci, local authority, long-term care, nursing home, older people, registered residential home, residential home, social care, social work, uk, work
Rated Good

The Commission for Social Care Inspection inspect and rate every registered care home in England - as well as every agency that provides care for others. The website provides access to inspection reports on every facility in England - both announced inspections...

Published 29 Sep 2008 6:10 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: advocacy in darlington, Commission for Social Care Inspection, csci, Darlington, England, health, learning disability, long-term care, nursing home, residential care, social care, social work, victoria house, victoria house darlington, winnie care, work
Why I love London

A few weeks ago, I went to a humanist naming ceremony to celebrate the birth of a child of a friend of mine. One parent is German Jewish and the other is non-denominational Sierra Leonian/Nigerian. At the quite small celebration, which took place in an...

Published 19 Sep 2008 7:44 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: England, humanist, humanist naming ceremony, london, love london, multicultural, travel, Travel and Tourism, United Kingdom, work
The Way of Wirral

Wirral Council are planning to replace qualified social workers with unqualified equivalents. This is apparently in the face of the new ‘personalisation’ agenda where there will be a stronger focus on self-assessment and providing guidance...

Published 13 Aug 2008 6:32 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: adult social care, care management, England, job losses, liverpool, local government, personalisation, redundancy, self-assessment, social work, social worker, social workers, uk, wirral, work
Where the pin drops..

I wrote a couple of months back about an ongoing reconfiguration of services in the area in which I’m working that basically involves turning four separate teams based on geography into two based in much larger ‘patches’. I have some...

Published 6 Aug 2008 6:50 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: England, local authority, local government, organisation, reconfiguration, social work, uk, work

Browse by Tags

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives