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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
Saving General Social Care Council

There’s an interesting article in the Guardian today, headlined ‘The General Social Care Council must be saved’. It seemed a curious headline because I didn’t know it was something that was particularly passionately felt so for that, I was drawn …...

Published 8 Sep 2010 6:53 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: General Social Care Council, health, health care, local authority, local government, personal, social care, social care association, social issues, social work, social worker, uk, United Kingdom, work
Learning

The process of having a student with me has been a revelation. I am fortunate that the student is prepared, enthusiastic and interested. That goes a long way to be honest. She hasn’t had a lot of experience in the sector but has a lot of experience to...

Published 17 Feb 2010 7:07 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: mental health, old age, older people, personal, practice teaching, social care, social work, social work theories, social worker, student social worker, theory in practice, United Kingdom, 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
More Sunday Ramblings

Not a ‘proper’ post this time but a few random thoughts that have occurred to me. Firstly search terms on my blog. This is one of the more interesting aspects of having a blog and it is one that I’m sure others can attest to. Yes, I...

Published 15 Mar 2009 5:44 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: blog search terms, feedback, generic training, generic training for social workers, local authority, local government, mental health, old age, social care, social issues, social work, socialcare, uk, United Kingdom, work
Paying for Care

Community Care reports on a study which has been published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which proposes a number of recommendations which could be implemented to make the way that adult care is funded in the UK ‘fairer’. The report is...

Published 4 Mar 2009 5:54 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: health, Home Care, joseph rowntree foundation, local authority, local government, long-term care, models for costing care, National Health Service, old age, older people, paying for residential care, social care, social issues, social work, uk, United Kingdom, work
Learning from The Mirror..

Earlier this week, I found an article from The Daily Mirror printed an article titled 10 tips for dealing with paranoid psychosis and although I don’t really feel able to comment on the particular tips individually, the fact that a major newspaper...

Published 28 Feb 2009 6:01 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Emotional Health and Wellbeing, erica crompton, health, mental health, Mirror, newspaper, personal, psychosis, uk, United Kingdom
Assessing Best Interests - Part 3

After some days back at work, the taught part of the Best Interests Assessor training resumed yesterday - and almost magically as we were promised, lots and lots of the pieces seem to have fallen into place. Just as a recap, this is a short university...

Published 27 Feb 2009 4:39 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: AMHP, Best Interests Assessments, Best Interests Assessor, best interests assessor training, deprivation of liberty guidelines, dols, European Convention of Human Rights, health, human rights, local authority, london, MCA, Mental Capacity Act 2005, mental health, social work, uk, United Kingdom, work
The ‘Grow-Your-Own’ Social Worker

We have a new student with us on placement. When I say ‘us’, I mean that one of the other social workers in the team I work in, is her placement supervisor/practice teacher. The Student ™ has been working in the local authority...

Published 9 Feb 2009 6:40 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Employment, General Social Care Council, gscc., local government, social care, social issues, social work, social work student, social work training, socialcare, uk, United Kingdom, 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
Media Spins, Private Fostering and a Prayer

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering ran a campaign last week to raise awareness of private fostering. As explained by the Fostering Network Private fostering is when a child under the age of 16 (18 if disabled) lives with someone who is...

Published 2 Feb 2009 6:21 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Child protection, Clevedon, daily mail, daily mail trash, discrimination, Foster care, newspaper, nurse, nursing, politics, rant, religious nurse, social care, social issues, social work, uk, United Kingdom, work
Saving Memories

I went to see Mr A earlier this week. He has Alzheimer’s. He turned 18 in 1942 and was enlisted that day into the Navy. While he couldn’t remember where he went in the morning, he told me in great details a string of tales from his wartime...

Published 31 Jan 2009 5:27 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: British Army, dementia, elderly, History, memories, mental health, old age, personal history, social care, Twentieth Century, uk, United Kingdom, war time memories, work
Alzheimer’s, Screening and Stigma

A report published on the Science Daily website yesterday explains that UK older adults were far less likely to want to access dementia screening than their US counterparts. The premise of the study was to find out what difference access to universal...

Published 16 Jan 2009 8:02 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Alzheimer, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, elderly, health, mental health, old age, older people, social issues, stigma, uk, United Kingdom, United States, US, work
Training at the Top

Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children has announced a new training package for the Heads of Children’s Services throughout the UK. The Guardian reports that this is to plug the gap of skills as since the creation of the Children’s...

Published 9 Jan 2009 6:59 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: baby p, Child protection, children's services, Ed Balls, Education, Haringey, local government, retraining, social care, social work, United Kingdom, 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
Gift ideas for Social Workers

Last week, Community Care printed an article which provided some gift ideas for the Social Worker in your Life. A good article with some interesting ideas. But I thought I’d add one or two ideas of my own - of course, it might be too late for Christmas...

Published 17 Dec 2008 5:26 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Burger King, burger king perfume, Christmas, christmas present ideas, community care, health, personal, social work, social worker presents, United Kingdom, work
Count Me In

Yesterday the results of the 2008 Count Me In Survey were published. Count Me In is a survey conducted of in-patients of Psychiatric Hospitals nationally in the UK. The purpose of the surveys which have been carried out annually since 2005, is to highlight...

Published 28 Nov 2008 7:03 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Black British, British African-Caribbean community, count me in, discrimination, health, Healthcare Commission, mental health, Minority group, social issues, United Kingdom, work
Back

I arrived home last night. My mind is still a bit hazy but I have a day at work to look forward to and no doubt wake my brain up with a start. Just a few thoughts then to kick off the day before returning to something approaching ‘normal service’...

Published 26 Nov 2008 7:10 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Denmark, Income tax, Odense, personal, Peter Eastgate, politics, social issues, Tax, travel, uk, United Kingdom, vacation
The Joy of Targets

We operate to a system of targets. That should be no great surprise. It is how ‘value’ is determined and efficiency is maintained. Social Work is, for the most part in the UK, funded from the public purse and it’s quite right that we...

Published 17 Nov 2008 7:14 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: direct payments, local authority, meeting targets, mental health social work, NHS Trust, older people, social care, social work, social work in the uk, United Kingdom, work
Appointeeship

Appointeeship is when someone is appointed (see, clever use of words there!) to accept receipt of government benefits and/or pension on behalf of someone else. This is something that is fairly familiar in my line of work. When someone lacks the capacity...

Published 11 Nov 2008 6:36 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: alzheimers, Court of Protection, dementia, local government, mental capacity, mental capacity assessment, mental health, money, power of attorney, uk, United Kingdom, work
Five a day

We are advised to eat five portions of fruit and/or vegetables a day to keep healthy. Good sound advice. mjorge at Flickr The Times reports today on a different kind of five-a-day target that relates more specifically to mental health. The advised steps...

Published 25 Oct 2008 7:09 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: advice, Britain, debt and mental health, fruit, good mental health, health, howto, Mental disorder, mental health, positive mental health, recession, United Kingdom, work
Changes

The Guardian are publishing a supplement on both recent and proposed changes within the social care sector to coincide with the opening of the National Children’s and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool. Not having seen a printed copy of the...

Published 22 Oct 2008 5:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: carer support, carers, health, Independent living, individualised budgets, informal care, John Evans, local authority, local government, london, long-term care, national children's and adult services conference, newspaper, older people, personalisation, social care, social issues, social services, social work, social worker, the guardian, uk, United Kingdom, work
Poverty - Blog Action Day 2008

Today is Blog Action Day when it is hoped that a collective conscience can be turned towards one subject - Poverty. I thought about a brief dabble into the different thoughts it conjures up for me, personally. I could talk about personal experiences because...

Published 15 Oct 2008 6:35 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, blog action day, deprivation, icd-10, inflation, joseph rowntree foundation, old age, oxfam, personal, politics, poverty, Save the Children, social care, social exclusion, social issues, social work, uk, Unicef, United Kingdom, world health organisation
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
Men Needed

Perhaps it is unsurprising to learn that the majority of people who work in ’social care’ are women. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a report last week explaining why it was necessary for the sector to reach out and attract more men...

Published 6 Oct 2008 6:15 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: care, caregivers, discrimination, equality, Joseph Rowntree, joseph rowntree foundation, Labour, local authority, long-term care, male care workers, men, Minimum wage, pay, politics, social care, social exclusion, social issues, social work, United Kingdom, Welfare, working conditions
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
On the ward

Image via Wikipedia I knew it wasn’t going to be a quiet day when I found a pink paper with a written recommendation for a Section 3 from one of our doctors sitting on my desk next to the ASW Duty Book - a book in which we note any Mental Health...

Published 12 Sep 2008 7:01 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: assessment, ASW, health, health care, hospital, mental health act 1983, mental health, old age, older people, paranoia, psychosis, social care, social work, uk, United Kingdom, ward, work
Eat or Heat?

Yesterday, the Royal British Legion and Age Concern launched the Return to Rationing Campaign. It is aimed to highlight poverty among older people and the name of the campaign itself, evokes a Britain during World War 2 and its immediate aftermath that...

Published 10 Sep 2008 6:06 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Age Concern, council tax benefit, elderly, fuel poverty, old age, older people, poverty, poverty site, return to rationing, Royal British Legion, social care, social issues, uk, United Kingdom, Veterans, work, World War II
Social Work - a Daily Mail interpretation

I know I shouldn’t do it. I know it will just make me unnecessarily angry and raise my blood pressure. I know exactly what I’ll find but sometimes, just occasionally, my curiosity gets the better of me and I dip into the Daily Mail’s...

Published 4 Sep 2008 6:38 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: adoption, children act, Children Act 1989, County council, daily mail, local authority, local government, media, mp, politics, pregnancy, scaremongering, social care, social issues, social work, uk, United Kingdom, work
Leo Abse

We all have views that jump to mind when we speak of politicians - they are some of the least trusted of professions. It’s easy to be cynical when power is on the table, so to speak. So taking the lead from Aethelread’s touching tribute, I...

Published 21 Aug 2008 6:55 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: House of Commons, if, kipling, leo abse, member of parliament, mp, obituary, politician, politics, rudyard kipling, social issues, Tam Dalyell, uk, United Kingdom
Social Inclusion online?

This morning, I came across this interview in The Guardian with Tim Hunt, Mental Health Lead on the Patient Opinion site which is from a couple of weeks back now. I had never heard of Patient Opinion, but it is a site which, unsurprisingly, given the...

Published 11 Aug 2008 6:34 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: health, health care, Internet access, mental health, nhs, old age, older people, patient opinion, social care, social inclusion, social issues, social work, tim hunt, United Kingdom, work
Personal view of Personalisation

I have to admit, before I start, that I have a somewhat brief view of personalisation which the Department of Health explains:- This means that every person who receives support, whether provided by statutory services or funded by themselves, will have...

Published 4 Aug 2008 8:08 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Department of Health, direct payments, Disability, health, health care, local authority, personalisation, politics, social care, social work, United Kingdom, work
Appraisal

I had my annual appraisal last week. I wavered about whether to write about it or not. Not for any reasons of confidentiality - because honestly, I would happily have had anyone who stumbles across this site sit in with me and they wouldn’t have...

Published 2 Aug 2008 7:00 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: appraisal, ASW, bored, boredom, local authority, local government, social work, uk, United Kingdom, work
Second Sight in Risk Assessment

I came across this story yesterday which was published in the Rye and Battle Observer about a 92 year old man who hanged himself because he was unable to cope at home and had been told he might not be placed in a residential home although he had asked...

Published 1 Aug 2008 6:25 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: carer, Commission for Social Care Inspection, csci, health, long-term care, old age, older people, respite care, risk, risk assessment, social care, social work, United Kingdom, work
Modern to Postmodern Social Work

There doesn’t seem to be much getting away from the fact that social work is a vaguely paternalistic profession. I touched on this previously and its something that I’ve been dwelling on for a while. Even if the systems and functions...

Published 31 Jul 2008 5:46 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: class, health, job, modernism, politics, postmodern, profession, social class, social issues, Social Sciences, social work, United Kingdom, work
Alzheimer’s Wonder Drug?

The BBC reported yesterday that a new drug treatment is being trialled through research at Aberdeen University that seems to be having a significant impact on the root causes of Alzheimer’s. The link between clumps or “tangles” of protein...

Published 30 Jul 2008 7:00 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Aberdeen University, Alzheimer, Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Research Trust, BBC, dementia, health, medication, new drugs, old age, older people, United Kingdom
Ugly Londoners

According to research published in the Guardian carried out at the University of Westminster by a couple of psychologists, Viren Swami and Eliana Hernandez - perceptions of wealth are linked to perceptions of beauty. And according to the article, my own...

Published 29 Jul 2008 5:25 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Aberdeen, British Isles, francis galton, galton institute, london, social issues, United Kingdom, University of Westminster, Viren Swami, work
Motivation and reflection

Getting satisfaction from a job is an important factor of any career decision and ‘wanting to help people’ is an oft-quoted reason for wishing to enter the general ’social care’ arena. All good things - but this isn’t altruism...

Published 17 Jul 2008 5:30 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: career, career choice, cat, confucius, Employment, health, helping professions, reflection, self-reflection, social care, social work, United Kingdom, work
Striking Decisions

UNISON have called a strike of local government employees for the 16th and 17th July. I’m a member of UNISON. So I strike. It should all be so simple. In reality I am in two minds and I haven’t decided - or rather, our team haven’t made...

Published 14 Jul 2008 5:12 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Dave Prentis, industrial action, local government, pay offer, social work, Strike action, Trade union, Unison, United Kingdom, work
Bringing work home

Earlier this week, during one of our monthly meetings that include all the teams that work in our office (there are four sub-teams that cover the borough), we discussed Lone Working Policies. Nothing particularly exciting - they are formulating some new...

Published 12 Jul 2008 5:49 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: community, community care, health, housing, local authority, lone working policy, neighbourhood, Ray Lewis, social issues, social work, United Kingdom, work

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