Been asked a question I couldn't answer. The question was this... given that Social Services are where people normally turn to when one becomes aware of abuse, where do you turn to if you are worried that Social Services staff are abusing clients? Anyone have advice on where that person can turn to in this circumstance - they are worried about retribution if they approach the council direct since they claim this is down to actions at a senior level. They have contacted CSCI and LGO but been told that they can only deal with matters after the event and after the council complaints proceedure has been exhausted. What should I tell them - advice appreciated....

Suggest they contact the Adult Protection Unit within the LA and use the complaints procedure also.  There is a duty to protect clients so this needs reporting.  Perhaps involve the relevant portfolio holder in the elected Council if there really is a concern that senior management are involved.

Jersey childrens home would not be in the news today if staff (and others) had acted on their gut instincts.  Retribution should niot be an issue here as disclosure is now protected ( see www.pcaw.co.uk) There will be a whistle blowing policy in place, make sure you stick to it and keep written records of all information  including as many details as you can think of because this may be important later. False disclosures are also protected in the sense that if the disclosure was made ,found to be untrue, but that the person making the disclosure was acting genuinely and in the best interests of the public. I know from personal experience that not all employers abide by the rules but at the end of the day we have to do what we believe is right. If we cant stand up for those regarded as more vulnerable...who can?

'anne_m123' is right BUT, as many of us are aware from personal experience, 'whistle blowing' is not always subject to proper investigation and protection. Indeed, it is local authorities / employers investigating themselves - hardly independent and objective!

Again, my advice has to be to obtain as much actual evidence as possible, record it meticulously and seek to have it witnessed / corroborated.

There are indeed Complaints Procedures but these are often long-winded and almost designed to wear Complainants out. You need to insist on stated timescales for responses and if not kept to go straight to the Stage 3 process. Always useful to also keep your Elected Councillor / solicitor / Advocate aware of what you are doing throughout.

With alleged ACTUAL abuse you should make sure that you make a formal Statement to the police.

Unfortunately i would have to agree with you Rupert.  My personal experience of whistleblowing and not being protected have left a bitter taste but i am much better educated  thanks to the experience and would not hesitate to do it again.

 Ray Jones wrote a piece for us on whistleblowing which might be worth having a look at

Yes an interesting article.  There was a recent debate on here about bullying in the workplace and of course whistle blowing was mentioned in that thread as well.  Of course you will get some game playing in any workforce but bullying AFTER a whistleblowing incident involving care standards or malpractice should be treated very carefully otherwise the wrong message is sent o future staff thinkking about passing on their concerns.

You may wish to check what you have been told. The LGO on its website states that it USUALLY has to give council chance to exhaust its own complaints procedures, however if the situatin demands and/or if the persons involved are vulnerbale, they can investigate straight away. Whether they do in practise or not is another matter, but their rules and regs do allow an investigation in these limited circunstances to take place before council complaint procedures have been exhausted

I believe that 'SPeye' is incorrect. The whole point regarding 'whistle-blowing' is that the 'whistle-blower' needs to remain anonymous because they are taking that line of action either because the situation is so serious or that it concerns a colleague / manager and they fear personal / professional repercussions.

It is correct that wherever possible employers Complaints procedures should be followed but 'whistle-blowing' is a whole separate issue where the Complainant feels unable to go down that route.

This organisation used to be called POPAN...think they are caled witness? anyhow

 they may help

http://www.popan.org.uk/

Thanks..excellent site......it is called witness now and has some really useful advice and links to other sites.

In relation to the initial query........phone the care commission...they can advise you on what steps to take.

Rupert - I only commented upon the apparent fact of LGO involvement without having to go through all council procedures in these limited circumstances and not of the wider issue of whistleblowing.  I agree tht a 'whistleblower' needs to remain anonymous and have no issues with other comments advising different routes here.  One other aspect may be to loook at national and any localised version of "No secrets" policies.  A further (however obtuse) point is that id the authority dept in question also delivers SP-funded services, then they will have to have a formal and published 'whistleblower' policy that is demanded on every SP-funded provider under the Quality Assessment Framework (QAF)

I most certainly agree with anne_m123 the best course to take is to contact the care commission and they will be able to point you in the right direction...

After all that is what they are there for to protect the people of our society.....I had a look at the 'witness' site and there is a lot of good info on there, it is worth having a look...