cuts and the ripple effects
i have been neglecting my blog recently. i have been so busy at work that its been coming home with me, and i know for my own well-being i should not do that, however when the are reports to write for a child protection conference, social circumstances reports for tribunals, other things get pushed to one side. i still have not finished the the NQSW folder but right now thats low on my list of priorities but knowing i have not done it is causing me stress.
why am i so busy?
well what with having posts frozen left, right and centre and then wiped right off the map there are less of us on the ground to do the crisis work that comes into the office, more people seem to be having crisis's and i would hazard a guess that not only are people becoming short of money which is causing stress, the general gloom and apocolyptic nature of the news an media is making those already anxious more anxious add in the disappearance of those vital voluntary services you have recipe for distress
it also does not help that other services are battening down the hatches and raising eligibilty criteria, childrens services locally are under going reconfiguration so are feeling all at sea, CAMHS now have to take up to 18yr olds rather than 16 and i think they are feeling the strain and the police, who normally are good at calming situations down are also feeling pressured by the cuts, keep turning up at our unit with vulnerable people expecting us to do something. now the thing is maybe i should, when faced with this scenario tell them to take vulnerable person elsewhere, but where would they take them, they dont need a S136 suite, they dont need a hospital, they need someone to get alongside,listen and problem solve and help them access the correct services which is not always mental health.
you see at the heart of all this stress, pressure an cuts are the people i work for : service users and carers and i will not become hardened to peoples plight - i will probably burn out first.