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: social care, social work, social issues, older people, dementia, work, carers, socialcare, mental health, discrimination, local authority, old age, elderly, health, carer, direct payments, local government, Disability, Mental Health Foundation, personal, personal budget, resource allocation system, ras, burstow, the small places
RIP NHS?

A truly national health service as conceived in the post-war years has been tottering on the brink for a number of years. As the previous Labour government sowed, so the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives will reap today as the NHS and Social Care...

Published 7 Sep 2011 7:16 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, work, mental health, politics, health, nhs, personal, david cameron, andrew lansley, lansley, destruction of the nhs, evil tories, end of the nhs
Weekly Social Work Links 30

As the days become more distinctly autumnal, I’m sharing some interesting links I’ve come across over the last week. As always feel free to share any other links you find that are related or interesting in the comments section. I’m always wanting to find...

Published 4 Sep 2011 8:52 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, health, blogs, links, Social Sciences, Social Work Blogs, Child protection, social work links, weekly social work links, social work blogging, University of Kent
Commissioning

Yesterday, I caught up with a friend of mine whom I hadn’t seen for a few months. She works in commissioning. She didn’t work in commissioning when we first met but her career trajectory has taken a few odd side steps and there she is. We talked about...

Published 4 Aug 2011 6:43 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, local authority, health, local government, Home Care, Disability, caregiver, personal, Commissioner
What does a Mental Health Social Worker do?

I think there’s a lot of misunderstandings about what I actually do at work. What do social workers who are in mental health services do? What do social workers who work in adult services do? I hope by reading, some people get to learn a little of my...

Published 2 Aug 2011 7:36 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, health, mental health social work, carer, social worker, approved mental health professional, personal, cmht, social work in the uk, NHS Trust, AMHP, Best Interests Assessor, Community mental health service, mhsw, what does a mental health social worker do, what does a social worker do
Sadness, Sympathy and Self

Sometimes, some days feel filled with sadness. I had one of those days this week. I don’t like to use the word ‘hardened’ but to put it this way, in over 10 years of frontline social work practice in some of the most deprived areas of the country and...

Published 28 Jul 2011 6:38 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, politics, uk, health, Mental disorder, personal, AMHP, philosophy, injustice, Sadness
Selling the NHS – The Beginning

Yesterday, while most of the media, fixated self-referentially on the Murdoch hearings and Cameron was flying back into the country, Lansley began to dismantle the National Health Service. As The Guardian reports In the first wave, beginning in April...

Published 20 Jul 2011 6:53 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, socialcare, mental health, politics, health care, health, nhs, National Health Service, personal, Guardian, Secretary of State for Health, david cameron, andrew lansley, lansley, Primary care, private sector healthcare, privatisation, selling the nhs
A Lament for Lost Genericism in Social Work

It was reported over the week that the Government is to appoint a Chief Social Worker. This is apparently a response to recommendations in the Munro Report and pressure from BASW (British Association of Social Workers). I have previously mentioned by...

Published 15 Jul 2011 7:04 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, uk, health, Social Sciences, Department of Health, personal, General Social Care Council, Child protection, British Association of Social Workers, british social work, munro report, chief social worker, department of education, generic social work, social work development
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: social care, social work, work, mental health, discrimination, local authority, old age, politics, health, personalisation, advocacy, Home Care, Unison, Social Sciences, Disability, personal, British Association of Social Workers, social work in the uk, british social work, individual budgets, personal budgets, Internet forum
Initial thoughts on the Dilnot Report on Funding of Care and Support

Scheduling and exhaustion meant I didn’t have time to look at the Dilnot proposals in detail yesterday so this morning I have fired up my browser and am going to make a few initial comments on the baseline main recommendations and hopefully over the next...

Published 5 Jul 2011 7:08 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, older people, dementia, work, carers, socialcare, mental health, local authority, old age, politics, elderly, long-term care, health, carer, nursing home, Disability, personal, british politics, Means test, Andrew Dilnot, dilnot report, Funding, funding of care, care and funding, dillnot report, dilnot report on funding of care and support, dilnott report
Power, Status and Professionalism

kenyee@flickr I was ruminating over the post I wrote yesterday about the interplay and interaction between being a social worker and being a foster carer and the one aspect that played on my mind was the differential in ‘status’. I used to think...

Published 28 Jun 2011 7:19 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, social issues, mental health, health, Social Sciences, personal, fostering, Foster care, philosophy, power and social work
Weekly Social Work Links 22

A quicker than usual version for this week as I’m a bit pushed for time this morning so apologies in advance for any omissions but as always, if you see something I’ve missed, please feel free to use the comment section. A post from The Masked AMHP is...

Published 25 Jun 2011 8:37 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, links, Social Work Blogs, social work links
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: social care, social work, older people, work, carers, socialcare, mental health, discrimination, local authority, old age, politics, elderly, health, carer, direct payments, local government, Home Care, Disability, personal, personal budget, budget
Mrs J and the Mystery Bristol Care Home

There is a story on the Community Care website this morning about an ombudsman’s report relating a woman, Mrs J, who was placed in a care home in Bristol. lovestruck@flickr This was a care home which was not only rated ‘poor’ or had no stars under the...

Published 21 Jun 2011 6:34 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, older people, dementia, work, mental health, old age, politics, elderly, long-term care, carer, csci, local government, Home Care, nursing home, Commission for Social Care Inspection, personal, Care Quality Commission, Standard of care, bristol, care homes in bristol, Local Government Ombudsman
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: social care, social work, older people, dementia, work, carers, mental health, discrimination, local authority, old age, government, elderly, health, carer, direct payments, personalisation, local government, Home Care, Disability, personal, personal budget, individual budgets, personal budgets, equality and human rights commission, ehrc, elderly home care, home care and human rights, Human Right, Human Rights and Liberties, human rights of older adults, report into home care
The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing

To continue my theme (at least initially) for carers’ week, I wondered a while on the purpose of these weeks and days and months we have devoted to various issues. They are about celebration, gratitude and recognition for the most part. Celebrating Mothers...

Published 14 Jun 2011 6:55 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, work, carers, mental health, politics, health, nhs, carer, National Health Service, Employment, personal, Social media, improving social work
Neary, Hillingdon and Best Interests Assessments

The judgement in the case of Stephen Neary was published yesterday. I held off commenting about the case when it first hit the press because sometimes I feel there is a lack of detail and an overwhelming presence of misunderstanding in relation to reporting...

Published 10 Jun 2011 7:05 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, MCA, local authority, london, long-term care, respite care, local government, imca, independent mental capacity advocate, Disability, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Court of Protection, personal, London Borough of Hillingdon, Best Interests Assessor, best interests assessment, best interests, bia, mark neary, neary judgement, steven neary
Winterbourne View – Where were the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards?

One of the many things that have been concerning me since the Panorama programme about abuse within the Winterbourne View hospital for adults with learning disabilities was aired was the way that the safeguards implemented under the Mental Capacity Act...

Published 6 Jun 2011 6:45 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: residential care, social care, social work, work, training, mental health, MCA, mental capacity, local authority, politics, long-term care, health, social services, nursing home, social worker, adult protection, mental capacity act, personal, mental health legislation, Best Interests Assessor, best interests assessment, bia, dols, Care Quality Commission, panorama, deprivation of liberty safeguards, winterbourne view, abuse in residential care, adult safeguarding, winterborne
Weekly Social Work Links 19

It’s been a busy week with lots of social care news hitting the mainstream media in the UK. I’ll bring some of that up in the round-up. Meanwhile the person who found my ‘Weekly Social Work Links 18’ post after typing ‘Links 18+’ into Google sure would...

Published 4 Jun 2011 7:58 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, gscc., links, Social Work Blogs, General Social Care Council, blog links, Evidence-based practice, weekly roundup
Wikio Top UK Health Blogs – June

I’ve been given a preview of the rankings for UK Health-related blogs for June 2011 by Wikio. I’m very honoured to be among them. Definitely worth checking out for a wide variety of views. Good to see Mental Health well-represented! 1 PsyBlog –...

Published 2 Jun 2011 6:41 PM by Fighting Monsters

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

Over the weekend, I was reading Dorlee, from the ‘Social Work Career Development’’s guest post ‘The ABCs of Self-Care for Psychotherapists’ on ‘Private Practice Inside Out’. It is a useful and interesting list that can be extrapolated for many in the...

Published 23 May 2011 6:52 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, local authority, health, public sector, social workers, approved mental health professional, social work management, dealing with stress in social work, looking after yourself, poor management, self-care
Are Beans more valuable than People? – Or A Day at Community Care Live 2011

Yesterday I went to the C0mmunity Care Live conference. It is an annual event put on by Community Care Magazine and runs across two days. Being one of the very few free events (and excellent – free isnt the ONLY reason I go but it does help!), I...

Published 20 May 2011 6:29 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, older people, dementia, work, carers, mental health, MCA, old age, elderly, health, carer, direct payments, Mental Health Foundation, caregiver, personal, peter beresford, Social media, miranda wixon, think local act personal
Weekly Social Work Links 17

Made it through another week. I’m going to take a vow never to mention being busy or tired in these round-up posts. They are an opportunity for positivity! It’s the weekend after all (with apologies to those who work weekends). Social Worker in the South...

Published 14 May 2011 8:33 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, health, links, personal, Foster care
Law Commission Report on Adult Social Care – some thoughts

I’ve not had much time to look through the Law Commission Report into the proposed changed in Adult Social Care Law but to say it’s been long needed is an understatement. Adult Social Care Law is a hotch-potch and a mess. A couple of weeks ago, I was...

Published 12 May 2011 7:21 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, older people, work, carers, mental health, old age, politics, elderly, uk, health, carer, direct payments, local government, adult social care, national assistance act, national assistance act 1948, british social work, direct payments for residential care, Law Commission, law commission report on adult social care, social care law, Statute
Wikio Top UK Health Blogs for May

I have been given a sneak preview of May’s top Health Blogs in the UK from Wikio. There are some great blogs among them so I’d recommend having a nose around! Mental Health related blogs are very well represented! 1 PsyBlog – Psychology Blog 2 Mental...

Published 3 May 2011 8:20 PM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: work, mental health, health, links, blog, personal, Social media, Wikio, wikio top blogs
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: social care, social work, social issues, work, mental health, discrimination, learning disability, political correctness, language, health, Disability, personal, Disabled, Social media, bad2011, blogging against disabilism, blogging against disabilism day 2011, defending political correctness
Weekly Social Work Links 15

I’m away for the weekend so a quicker than usual round-up for this week SocialJerk is pushed to the limit. Oh, I’ve been there – many times. Dorlee has an interview with the author of Fat Social Worker. Back in the UK, Malcolm Payne writes about the affect...

Published 30 Apr 2011 6:26 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, health, links, Palliative care, social work links, blog roll
Secret Courts

There has been a lot in the news about super-injections and hyper-injunctions with the Press attacking this most obscene threat on our (their) freedom of speech. Perhaps I’m too lackadaisical about our first amendment rights to a free and open press or...

Published 27 Apr 2011 7:16 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, dementia, work, mental health, MCA, politics, member of parliament, personal, Family court, Injunction
Weekly Social Work Links 14

I know, not quite weekly as I was away last weekend and I’m off for the Easter break so I’m starting the long weekend with a few links from the last couple of weeks. The Masked AMHP continues his series … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 22 Apr 2011 7:52 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, london, health, links, Social Work Blogs, Institute of Psychiatry, European Convention of Human Rights, Easter, social work links
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: social care, social work, social issues, older people, work, socialcare, mental health, discrimination, learning disability, local authority, old age, politics, elderly, uk, social services, United Kingdom, respite care, local government, social worker, BBC, Disability, England, personal, personal care, Birmingham City Council
Ethical Practice in the Face of Cuts

How can I compute the process of going into peoples’ homes, often relying on good relationships which have been built up over weeks, months or years and telling them that there is no money left, that services need to be … Continue reading →...

Published 20 Apr 2011 7:09 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, work, mental health, local authority, health, mental health act, approved mental health professional, personal
Which Care? What Care?

Another day, another story of sub-standard care in residential homes in the UK. Today, the Guardian publish a story which relates to a Which? investigation It explains some of the way the survey was conducted In the most extreme case, … Continue...

Published 19 Apr 2011 7:05 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, older people, dementia, work, mental health, local authority, old age, politics, elderly, long-term care, uk, health, social services, Home Care, nursing home, personal, Care Quality Commission, care homes, cynthia bower, cynthia bowers, Jo Williams, Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, NHS strategic health authority, Stafford Hospital, which investigation, Which?
Weekly Social Work Links 13

With the real arrival of Spring, I’m overeager to catch the morning sunshine so here are my links for the week with little commentary or explanation! The Masked AMHP is back with another part of his series on Mental Health … Continue reading →...

Published 9 Apr 2011 7:32 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, links, Social media, Google Voice
Whistleblowing

Earlier this week, Community Care picked up on a report from Public Concern at Work which related directly to whistleblowing in the care sector. It makes for chilling reading and displays the problems which are inherent in adult social care. … Continue...

Published 7 Apr 2011 6:15 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, older people, work, mental health, learning disability, local authority, old age, elderly, health, Disability, personal budget
Count Me Out – Discrimination and Mental Health

When I read that the last ‘Count Me In’ survey was completed last year I was shocked. Count Me In was a survey of all inpatients in psychiatric wards on a particular day of the year and it was a … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 6 Apr 2011 6:54 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, work, mental health, health, patient, personal, Minority group, count me in, racism, institutional racism, bme patients, discrimination in mental health services, Dominic Raab, Ethnic group, institutional oppression, oppression, psychiatric hospitals, racial identity, racism in mental health, structural discrimination
The State of Healthcare and Adult Social Care in England – a brief glance and thoughts

Yesterday the CQC published their report ‘The State of Healthcare and Adult Social Care in England’. I have to try and put my criticisms of the CQC and their increasingly lax regulatory process to one side, although I couldn’t help … Continue reading...

Published 30 Mar 2011 7:11 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, social issues, older people, work, mental health, local authority, old age, politics, elderly, long-term care, health, mental health act 1983, Disability, personal, Care Quality Commission, cqc, health and social care, personal budget, Public services, cqc report, state of healthcare in england, state of social care in england
Dementia Screening

I wrote up some reflections and thoughts about my time at the Rally and March on Saturday for Community Care and my piece can be read here. - I also wanted to comment about the proposal that the Alzheimer’s Society … Continue reading → Read...

Published 29 Mar 2011 6:52 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, older people, dementia, work, mental health, old age, health, carer, Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Society, General practitioner, personal, Conditions and Diseases, Diagnosis, Screening (medicine), screening for alzheimers, screening for dementia
On Being Shadowed

Last week, I had the pleasure of having a second year social work student shadow me as I worked. She was a student in a voluntary agency that I had come across because she had been doing some work with … Continue reading → Read More...

Published 22 Mar 2011 6:46 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social care, social work, work, mental health, mental health act assessment, approved mental health professional, personal, AMHP, Student, mental health assessment, shadowing a social worker, student placement
Weekend Links 9

The weekend again. I’d like to thank all those who come across this blog. I’ve had a massive upsurge in readers this year and I appreciate the time that people spend coming, reading, commenting and responding on Twitter. In the … Continue reading...

Published 12 Mar 2011 7:05 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: social work, work, mental health, health, links, Social Sciences, Social Work Blogs, Electronic Arts, Nintendogs

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