Hi,
I work in mental health, and the procedures have recently been changed so that our team takes all duty referrals, where we used to take just the less urgent ones (the urgent calls went to another team).
Yesterday I was on duty under the new procedures and took a referral about someone who was feeling suicidal (this is fairly standard), but when I phoned him he was actually also threatening to kill someone else. I had to call the police. However, this man (who appears to be quite dangerous) now knows my name, and may also remember the name of my team.
I'm a bit spooked by the whole thing. I know this is a dangerous job, but this sort of situation hasn't happened to me before (being an NQSW). I love my job, but I don't know if it is worth this level of risk. What do people think?
Ginger.
I wouldn't give up if you love your job but depends on circumstances such as do you live in the same area ss you work, what has happened to this person are you likely to come across them in your work. In future i would only give first name untill sure of situation. I work in mental health and have had a few threats over the years off service users i was care coordinator for and in MHA assessments if they are mine then i refuse any more contact but afraid it is an occupational hazard, know your lone worker policy and ensure its used.hope you don't let what i'm sure will be a rare case put you off
Not sure from your post whether you have had a direct threat made against you.
These situations often seem worse than they are and the best way for you would be a face to face meeting in a safe setting.
He didn't threaten me directly, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was angry at having had the police called. I think the advice to only give a first name is good- I will do that from now on.
Sounds like a difficult situation for you and the advice to give only first name sounds sensible.
But where is the support and advice from your managers ? Did you have specific training when the role changed and what to do when such situations occur?
Presumably if the police were called and nothing happened then someone must have made a decision that the threats were not serious. Who made this decision and why?
Do you have access to this information?
Julian.
Situations like these are the reason why good quality, supportive supervision with someone the worker trusts is essential for frontline practitioners - not a quick whizz through cases with a focus on the manager's agenda. Unfortunately, in my experience such supervison can be sadly lacking where time constraints and pressure to meet deadlines supercede the wellbeing of workers.
In my opinion the risks associated with social work are less often direct physical threats but are in the psychological impact when situations like the one you've described arise. The psychological impact can be further exacerbated by a dismissive or unsympathetic supervisor.
In this case, I hope you have someone of experience (whether it is a line manager or otherwise) who can talk through and hopefully allay your fears without invalidating your feelings.
Good luck!
Have a frank discussion with your team manager about handling issues of this sort and any associated risk. Any good team leader / organisation will have procedures and clear ways of managing risk that will support the safety of the front-line workers. If those practices are not in place, ask what the team leader is going to do to address the issue. If this discussion fails to reassure you, then that may be the time to assess how you feel about remaining in that position.
Thank you everyone for your advice. I know the man wasn't detained beyond a s.136, but don't know in detail why that decision was made: after passing it to the police I wasn't involved any more.
I think you're right- I need to have a proper chat about it with my supervisor. I'm lucky enough to have regular supervision, so I should make use of it and see what can be done. I will give the issue some more time and effort before I think about giving up: having just had two good days I'm getting a more balanced perspective again (though still watching my back).