Diary – A lighter take on the week

Monday
We are a multidisciplinary team with flexible working so we hot-desk. This is our team meeting day and one of the biggest meetings of the year. I look at my colleagues as they arrive to claim their hot desk. Faces fall as it goes further past 9am
and the spaces dwindle.

Tuesday
I am mentoring a social work assistant who updates me on her case. A 15-year-old boy was picked up the police, and there were serious allegations, but the matter has been dropped. I suggest to the assistant that her role should be about the general themes of keeping safe and peer relationships, but she remains keen to get to the bottom of “what really happened”. We agree
that this is probably not going to be helpful in developing a rapport with this young man.

Wednesday
I am always pushing for more reflective supervision, but when my manager and I get together we follow the same old routine. Ihear that a 15-year-old under my supervision has been moved to another residential unit in the middle of nowhere after a serious incident. The home manager leaves a message saying she is desperate for a planning meeting, although I have been trying to contact them since yesterday.

Thursday
On duty, and travelling to Kent to see a young woman for a colleague. The visit goes well, the sun is shining, and I am offered some lunch before returning home. I have become a bit of a spelt grain/wholemeal-type since moving to London, but can’t refuse her kindness of a cheese and sweet pickle sandwich on white bread. I later speak with the 15-year-old who has
been moved. He is polite and capable of conversing on the phone at 2pm in the day, but after drinking alcohol he becomes much more angry. I feel that I am holding him by a piece of dental floss from dropping into custody.

Friday
In court in the morning about a father’s contact with his son. He has reappeared after several years, but remains as truculent with the local authority as ever. He does not even attempt to say the things we  might want to hear, and displays
little insight into his son’s emotional needs. In the afternoon, I am in the office and find no hot desking problems. Everyone’s gone or out. A colleague is off to Australia for a month, and consumed with jealousy I pinch a cake that a foster couple kindly bought him. Before heading off, I sanitise my keyboard and desk with a wet wipe, in case someone else is using it next week.