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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
Interviews and Ideas

Please forgive the blatant self-promotion in this post but it’s Friday and I’m feeling a like I have a bit of a cold coming so I’m less ‘perky’ than usual. Dorlee from Social Work Career Development has published an interview which she did with me and...

Published 9 Sep 2011 6:58 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Education, health, personal, psw, shirley ayres, social care, social issues, Social media, social work, social work and technology, social work career development blog, sw4sw, work
Why I’m wrong – A response from BASW

I am not going to add anything to this post. After I wrote a post explaining why I left BASW, I was sent this as a response and agreed to publish it. I’ll leave the questions and comments for others and I have asked that someone from BASW respond to any...

Published 8 Sep 2011 6:33 PM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Association, basw, British Association of Social Workers, Employment, health, local government, personal, social work, Trade union, work
Docking Benefits and Blaming the Poor

I know I covered this more generally on Monday in my rant about ‘benefits’ but it’s worth coming back to with the proposals explained in the Guardian Magistrates and crown court judges could be asked to dock benefits from convicted criminals under preliminary...

Published 8 Sep 2011 7:16 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, blame the poor, Crime, david cameron, Department for Work and Pensions, evil tories, iain duncan-smith, Kenneth Clarke, london, personal, politics, Riot, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, social issues, social justice, social work, work
Why I Quit BASW (British Association of Social Workers)

I felt a tinge of sadness when I finally decided to quit BASW (British Association of Social Workers). I’ve been an advocate and member for a good few years and I have a great deal of respect for a lot of people who work there. I advised colleagues to...

Published 6 Sep 2011 6:18 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: basw, British Association of Social Workers, college of social work, health, leaving basw, Professional association, social care, social work, Trade union, Unison, work
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: blogs, Child protection, health, links, mental health, social care, Social Sciences, social work, social work blogging, Social Work Blogs, social work links, University of Kent, weekly social work links, work
Online Learning and Social Work – A proposal

I’m on a theme at the moment so run with me. I have through various conversations that I’ve hooked into among Occupational Therapists come across this programme OT4OT (Online Technology for Occupational Therapists) connectlrmeli @ Flickr It is...

Published 2 Sep 2011 7:02 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Associations, Google, health, Occupational therapist, Occupational therapy, online forum for social work, personal, Professions, Social Sciences, social work, social work and technology, social work webinar, technology, work
Panels

Since I’ve been employed as a social worker one of the constants in my working week has been the presence and existence of ‘panels’ in many different forms. There was a brief stage when we were told not to refer to them as ‘panels’ but rather meetings...

Published 31 Aug 2011 6:42 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: continuing care panel, decision-making, funding panel, health, health care, local government, long-term care, National Health Service, nhs, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, social care, social work, work
Technology, Social Media and Social Services – Finding new ways to ‘help’

I have some across lots of discussions and debates about ways of using social media and new technologies and interactions to ‘help’ social services become more effective. Most of it seems to revolve around building online directories and databases of...

Published 30 Aug 2011 6:39 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: british social work, carer, carers, dementia, direct payments, Disability, election, IPad, local authority, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, social care, Social media, social media and social work, social work, social work and technology, socialcare, technology and social work, Twitter, using technology with service users, work, YouTube
Weekly Social Work Links 29

After my absence last week, I’m back with some of the links I’ve come across that I’ve found useful over the last week (or two because I’m covering some of the posts I missed during my weekend away!) which relate in some way to social work – some more...

Published 28 Aug 2011 8:01 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: blog links for social workers, England and Wales, Gestalt therapy, links, personal, social work, Social Work Blogs, work
Perspectives, Students and Ageing

I enjoy having students around. It helps keep me fresh and enthusiastic and to see my job through the eyes of someone coming into it rather than through the occasionally blurred eyes of someone who has been working for a while. I had a student shadowing...

Published 26 Aug 2011 7:21 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: elderly, getting old, old age, older people, personal, shadowing, shadowing a social worker, social care, social work, social worker, Student, work
Hemming and Haigh – The Journey of an Injunction

A curious news story broke on Monday. Curious because it is rare that the Family Court make public judgements. As the Yorkshire Post reports Victoria Haigh “caused” the girl, now aged seven, to repeat the untrue child sex abuse claims she had “manufactured...

Published 24 Aug 2011 6:37 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Christopher Booker, daily telegraph, Elizabeth Watson, Family court, High Court, Injunction, john hemming, john tune, local authority, Nicholas Wall (judge), personal, politics, social care, social issues, social work, socialcare, sunday telegraph, superinjunction, vicky haigh, work, Yorkshire Post
Social Work and the March to Neoliberalism (or Personalisation gone bad)

I caught this article a few days ago on the Huffington Post by a Social Work academic, trying to explain away another aspect of the riots and cashing in on his status no doubt as an ‘authority’. I don’t have much time for the body of the article. He starts...

Published 18 Aug 2011 6:53 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: direct payments, Disability, elderly, Employment, health, local government, neoliberal social work, old age, older people, personal, personal budget, personal budgets, professor jonathan parker, social care, social issues, social work, social workers, 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
Social Work Under Pressure – A Review

Jessica Kingsley Publishers sent m e a review copy of ‘Social Work Under Pressure – How to Overcome Stress, Fatigue and Burnout’ by Kate van Heugten I interviewed the author and the interview is available on the Jessica Kingsley Blog here . I know I’m...

Published 13 Aug 2011 8:53 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: book review, health, health care, jessica kingsley, jkp, kate van heugten, personal, social work, social work book, social work under pressure, stress, van heugten, work
Weekly Social Work Links 27

A slightly truncated version this week because the last week has been a little distracting and we have a foster child who is likely to appear at any moment! So please add any other links or sites you’ve seen that have been useful in the comments section...

Published 6 Aug 2011 7:20 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: health, health care, links, nursing home, personal, social work, Southampton, work
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: caregiver, Commissioner, Disability, health, Home Care, local authority, local government, mental health, personal, social care, social work, work
Rankings and Musings

Quick post today as I have a few things on the go. So, Wikio sent me their top 20 UK Health Blogs and again, I’ve made the list. Thanks to everyone for your support and do check out the other sites there – there are some real gems and it’s a pleasure...

Published 3 Aug 2011 7:14 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: activities in care homes, august, care homes, links, old age, older people, personal, social care, social work, technology, technology in residential care, Wikio, wikio rankings, wikio top 20 health blogs, work
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: AMHP, approved mental health professional, Best Interests Assessor, carer, cmht, Community mental health service, health, mental health social work, mental health, mhsw, NHS Trust, personal, social care, social work, social work in the uk, social worker, what does a mental health social worker do, what does a social worker do, work
Life as a Social Work Student 4 – The Half Way Point

This is a guest post from the student who has contributed since before her course started. She first wrote here about her pre-course shadowing experiences, her initial impressions after a few months on the course, the start of her first placement and...

Published 1 Aug 2011 7:04 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: blogs about social work, Colleges and Universities, Education, Employment, guest post, masters in social work, personal, reflections of social work student, social care, Social Sciences, social work, social work course, social work in the uk, social work student, studying social work, university, university experiences, what's it like to study social work, work
Fear and Loathing in the Public Sector – Or Why I despise Oliver Letwin

Yesterday I read this article about Oliver Letwin, who, according to the Guardian article ..warned that it was only through “some real discipline and some fear” of job losses that excellence would be achieved in the public sector. Letwin added...

Published 31 Jul 2011 7:13 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: conservative party, conservative party policy, david cameron, health, KPMG, local authority, member of parliament, National Health Service, Oliver Letwin, personal, politics, Public policy, public sector, social care, social work, the nasty party, work
Weekly Social Work Links 26

After my somewhat truncated break, I’m back (not that I ever went away but that’s another story for another day!). Nectarine at Going Mental has to deal with too many consent forms. It’s an interesting take on the invasive nature of forms. The Modern...

Published 30 Jul 2011 6:38 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: links, National Association of Social Workers, social work, social work blog links, Social Work Blogs, week in social work, work
Castlebeck and CQC – Brief Thoughts

I don’t have time for a long post today, just a few brief thoughts that came to me as I considered the unsurprisingly critical report on Castlebeck by the CQC. Of course it’s easy to be wise after the event but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when...

Published 29 Jul 2011 7:04 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: adult care, BBC, Care Quality Commission, castlebeck, cqc, Disability, health, Home Care, long-term care, nursing home, Ofsted, panorama, paul burstow, personal, social care, social work, work
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: AMHP, health, injustice, Mental disorder, mental health, personal, philosophy, politics, Sadness, social care, social work, uk, 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
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: andrew lansley, david cameron, Guardian, health, health care, lansley, mental health, National Health Service, nhs, personal, politics, Primary care, private sector healthcare, privatisation, Secretary of State for Health, selling the nhs, social care, social work, socialcare, work
Light Touch Inspections, Winterbourne View and the CQC

There was a report on the Community Care website on Friday that the CQC were ‘calling time’ on their so-called light touch inspection ‘regime’ thereby rolling out potentially to annual inspections for adult services and care homes. As the article emphasises...

Published 19 Jul 2011 7:39 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: BBC, bower, care in the community, Care Quality Commission, cqc, cynthia bower, Disability, Inspection, light touch inspection, long-term care, nursing home, panorama, paul burstow, personal, social care, social work, winterbourne view, winterview, work
Weekly Social Work Links 25

A day late this week (although my original intention which might not have been very clearly stated) was always that it would be a ‘weekend’ project rather than a specifically Saturday project! This was a fairly emotionally trying week for me at work with...

Published 17 Jul 2011 7:41 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Charlie Sheen, health, links, social work, Social Work Blogs, social work links, work
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: British Association of Social Workers, british social work, chief social worker, Child protection, department of education, Department of Health, General Social Care Council, generic social work, health, mental health, munro report, personal, social care, Social Sciences, social work, social work development, uk, work
Age Discrimination and Language – or why I don’t like ‘The Elderly’.

What is age besides a classification? When do we become old? What language is used in relation to people who reach certain points in their life cycle. Does a child become an adult at 18? Legally perhaps but in a sense these are rough brush strokes which...

Published 13 Jul 2011 7:03 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Adult, Age Discrimination, ageing, Disability, Disabled, Independent living, old age, older people, personal, social care, social work, work
Goodbye Southern Cross, Hello Open Public Services

So Southern Cross – the largest private care home provider in the UK will be closed. What of the 31,000 residents who live in their properties? Well, the government has given us its assurance that they will be ok so that’s alright then. Or not. m kasahara...

Published 12 Jul 2011 7:05 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: big society, care, Care Quality Commission, david cameron, Department of Health, elderly, GMB (trade union), government, health, local authority, long-term care, nursing home, old age, older people, open public services white paper, opswp, personal, politics, Public services, social care, social work, Southern Cross, Southern Cross Healthcare Group, uk, uk government, White paper, 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
Weekly Social Work Links 24

The spectre of sickness has cast a shadow over my household this week. Fortunately I have more or less escaped the worst ravages but it’s been an interesting week work-wise and I hope to come back to some of the themes over the next week. As for the rest...

Published 9 Jul 2011 8:54 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: facebook, facebook for social workers, links, social work, Social Work Blogs, social work links, work
Old Media, New Media and the Social Echo Chambers

I’m off on a bit of a tangent today and I apologise to my social work readers for that, but sometimes a story happens that causes me to think more widely about the implications on a societal scale. So in the wake of the death of the News of the World...

Published 8 Jul 2011 7:24 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: murdoch, News International, news of the world, old media, Online Communities, Political Scrapbook, rebekah brooks, rebekah wade, Rupert Murdoch, Social media, Social Networking, social work, Twitter
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
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: Andrew Dilnot, british politics, care and funding, carer, carers, dementia, dillnot report, dilnot report, dilnot report on funding of care and support, dilnott report, Disability, elderly, Funding, funding of care, health, local authority, long-term care, Means test, mental health, nursing home, old age, older people, personal, politics, social care, social work, socialcare, work
Dilnot Discussion and Links

Although there are some good points which highlight the main issues which will be published in the long-awaited Dilnot report here and here. We have a good idea what might be discussed. Rich at arbitrary constant has opened up a discussion post for issues...

Published 4 Jul 2011 6:40 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Andrew Dilnot, Google, google plus, links, politics, social work, work
Weekly Social Work Links 23

I’m coming in a day ‘late’ with this week’s round-up post due to some sickness in the household. The benefits are that I can now pick up some of the great posts that were published yesterday. Might well stick to Sunday in the future! As always, please...

Published 3 Jul 2011 7:49 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: links, links post, social work, Social Work Blogs, work
Trade Unions and Strikes

I’ve written about my background and my somewhat ambivalent relationship with Unison in the past but today, as there is to be a widespread strike in the UK, I almost wish we had also been called out to strike alongside the teachers and the civil servants...

Published 30 Jun 2011 7:06 PM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Civil service, personal, public sector, social work, Strike action, Trade union, Unison, work
Waiting for Dilnot

The Dilnot Commission on Care Funding and Support is due to report back to the government on Monday 4th July. At Arbitrary Constant there is some useful background reading about the Green and White Papers which were published by the previous government...

Published 29 Jun 2011 7:05 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Andrew Dilnot, care and support, dilnot commission, dilnot report, Disability, elderly, Funding, funding of care, Guardian, health, Home Care, local authority, nursing home, old age, older people, personal, politics, social care, social work, White paper, work

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