It is a curious fact that, at a time when adult social services departments are being asked to safeguard users more effectively, staff safety often gets relatively little attention.
Nearly a decade ago, when Community Care ran its No Fear campaign on violence against social care staff, the matter was taken so seriously that the government set up a taskforce to work out how to deal with it. But very little was done nationally to implement the resulting action plan.
Yet the risks to social care staff are comparable to those in the NHS, where the government has pledged £97m to tackle violence. The tragic death of social worker Philip Ellison this month shows that an equally determined initiative is needed in social care.
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Mark Ivory
This article appeared in the 24 April issue under the headline “Equality in safety effort”
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