July 2009 - The Social Work Blog

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Social work has a radical friend in Barry Sheerman

by Daniel Lombard "Why is everyone [in social care] so polite?" asks Barry Sheerman, whose job as the head of a leading parliamentary committee is to be anything but. As chairman of the children, schools and families committee, Sheerman is not...

Published 30 Jul 2009 12:34 PM by The Social Work Blog
A profession dogged by long hours and low pay

by Bronagh Miskelly In recent months we have debated how to improve the standing of the profession, reported high vacancy rates, seen the social care workforce strategy and discussed plans such as children's secretary Ed Balls' idea to entice...

Published 29 Jul 2009 11:35 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: pay, social workers, workforce
Feeble government analysis reveals low priority of adult protection

by Maria Ahmed One of my regular Google news alerts at Community Care is on the subject of care homes. Here's just one recent example - seven staff suspended over claims including assault on a resident with dementia . There's a story like this...

Published 22 Jul 2009 11:41 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Action on Elder Abuse, adult protection, maria ahmed, older people, safeguarding
Equalities and Human Rights Commission: what is happening?

by Keith Sellick The Equalities and Human Rights Commission was launched in October 2007 as a one-size fits all equality body replacing several other commissions. At the time, there was some disquiet over whether one body could focus on older people,...

Published 21 Jul 2009 1:26 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: EHRC, Equalities and Human Rights Commission, human rights, keith sellick, Trevor Phillips
Is the GSCC on the case?

By Bronagh Miskelly The suspension, this week, of General Social Care Council chief executive Mike Wardle over concerns surrounding a backlog and poor assessment of conduct cases follows the conclusion of the GSCC's longest running case . Read More...

Published 20 Jul 2009 6:16 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: conduct, General Social Care Council, social workers
Community Care meets Ed Balls part two!

by Daniel Lombard Community Care 's shameless pursuit of the secretary of state continued last night for another photo in support of our Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign. Last week, feature writer Amy Taylor successfully engineered a photo opportunity...

Published 16 Jul 2009 5:45 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: daniel lombard, ed balls, stand up now for social work
Jailed Doncaster employee was not social worker

by Maria Ahmed Doncaster Council has slammed media reports describing an employee jailed for child pornography offences as a "social worker." Michael Tombs was a "sessional worker" in playgroups and holiday schemes for disabled children...

Published 16 Jul 2009 2:42 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Daily Mail, doncaster, maria ahmed, Media, social work, The Sun
New way to get your badge

By Emma Maier So many of you have written to Take a Break to request a Thank God for Social Workers badge that they have run out of stock! However, do not fear. They have kindly arranged an alternative... read on and get yours. Read More...

Published 13 Jul 2009 7:24 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: stand up now for social work
Wear your heart on your sleeve

By Emma Maier I had an email last week from a social worker who had taken receipt of her Thank God for Social Work badge from Take a Break magazine. Her and her colleague had been wearing theirs around the office, but were nervous about donning them in...

Published 13 Jul 2009 7:05 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: stand up now for social work
Significant flaws in Ed Balls' fast-track social work plan

by Bronagh Miskelly At first glance the idea of a training scheme designed to convert other professionals, such as teachers or lawyers, into social workers seems like a positive step - after all it has worked in teaching and to a certain extent in medicine...

Published 13 Jul 2009 3:40 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Bronagh Miskelly, ed balls, Recruitment, social work, training
Pre-employment health questionnaires should be banned

by Lauren Revans Solicitor general Vera Baird has promised to bring an amendment to the next stage of the Equality Bill to address complaints of discrimination against job applicants with mental health problems. Read More...

Published 13 Jul 2009 3:15 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: employment, equality bill, mental health
Phone hacking allegations against News of the World: all tabloid targets beware

by Adam McCulloch So, News of the World journalists, and reporters from other papers, have resorted, en masse, it is said, to phone hacking via private detectives . I don't want to be accused of making tenous links just to get a few web hits, but...

Published 10 Jul 2009 1:50 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, Andy Coulson, Media, News of the World, phone hacking, Rebekah Wade, stand up now for social work, television programme, The Sun
Ed Balls, the intrepid Amy, a badge and the power of Twitter

By Bronagh Miskelly Ed Balls, the children's, schools and families secretary, was able to stand up for social workers today thanks to Twitter and the efforts of Community Care reporter Amy Taylor. It started with a Tweet - Balls announced on the social...

Published 9 Jul 2009 5:35 PM by The Social Work Blog
Social workers speak out on prime time TV

Well done to the child protection social workers of Chester West and Cheshire and their managers who gave the BBC's One Show access to film what they do. Well done also to the anonymous parents who allowed some elements of their case to be shown on...

Published 6 Jul 2009 11:44 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Recruitment, social work, social workers, stand up now for social work, television programme, workforce
Welsh do it their way at national conference in Cardiff

The second annual National Social Services Conference in Wales last month coincided with Community Care 's special edition on how social care has changed in different UK regions since devolution. I hopped over the Severn Bridge for the two-day gathering...

Published 6 Jul 2009 5:01 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru, wales
Carers slip under NHS radar

by Mark Ivory As the seemingly endless wait for the adult social care green paper goes on, it's a good time to glance at the NHS's preparations for it. Or rather the lack of them. Read More...

Published 6 Jul 2009 4:00 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: adult green paper, carers, carers uk, Mark Ivory, NHS, primary care trusts
Haringey damned by lack of the basics

by Bronagh Miskelly A generous soul might describe the latest verdict on Haringey's child protection services as "could do a great deal better", but looking at some of the ongoing areas for improvement in the report by Ofsted and other inspection...

Published 3 Jul 2009 1:35 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Baby P, child protection, children and young people, local authorities, safeguarding, serious case review
Grass isn't always greener, not in Sweden anyway

by Adam McCulloch Working in social care journalism you can easily be fooled into thinking that all is doom and gloom here in the UK. The mantras of 'lack of resources', 'lack of training', and 'why can't we be more like the Swedish...

Published 1 Jul 2009 1:55 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, Benefits, Guardian, international, Japan, Media, overseas, social care, Sweden, Times, welfare

July 2009 - The Social Work Blog

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Recent Posts

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Archives

Social work has a radical friend in Barry Sheerman

A profession dogged by long hours and low pay

Feeble government analysis reveals low priority of adult protection

Equalities and Human Rights Commission: what is happening?

Is the GSCC on the case?

Community Care meets Ed Balls part two!

Jailed Doncaster employee was not social worker

New way to get your badge

Wear your heart on your sleeve

Significant flaws in Ed Balls' fast-track social work plan

Pre-employment health questionnaires should be banned

Phone hacking allegations against News of the World: all tabloid targets beware

Ed Balls, the intrepid Amy, a badge and the power of Twitter

Social workers speak out on prime time TV

Welsh do it their way at national conference in Cardiff

Carers slip under NHS radar

Haringey damned by lack of the basics

Grass isn't always greener, not in Sweden anyway