Community Care articles from December 2004

Community Care archives from December 2004

spruced up service.
December 2, 2004... With greater demands being placed on councils to provide care at home for an ageing population, Chris Russell tells Graham Hopkins how he has carefully taken the best of existing practice and ironed out inconsistencies in Gloucestershire ...

PROFILE: Keith Wyatt, inclusion manager.
December 2, 2004... Keith Wyatt tells Roisin Woolnough that putting users at the heart of a provider can improve services and staff hen Keith Wyatt was asked to help design the post of inclusion manager for APS Services in the Community, he didn't realise he...

The big point about small.(The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 2, 2004... Staff loyalty, commitment and innovation are better in small groups - or when power is devolved, writes Addie Stevenson Does size matter? Definitely, says New Yorker journalist Malcolm Gladwell, and the magic size is 150. In his...

Workforce learning and career drive set to bolster Birmingham.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Birmingham Council's social care department is hoping its new commitment to workforce learning and career development will help it to quickly improve on its zero star rating, writes David Craik. Peter Hay, strategic director of social care,...

Borders foster carer call draws a blank.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Scottish Borders Council has not received a single response to a recruitment campaign to recruit new permanent foster carers launched at the start of last month. Permanent foster carers for children aged eight or over are urgently needed...

Skills back-up key for new managers.
December 2, 2004... "People don't leave organisations, they leave managers," says Martyn Sloman, training, learning and development adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The relationship between managers and their workforce is...

homelessness; Housing associations 'should be penalised'.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Housing associations should face penalties if they refuse to accept homeless people in need of social housing from councils, leaders in the field have warned. The Local Government Association said "stricter rules" should be applied to...

disability; Discrimination bill introduced in Lords.(Disability Discrimination Bill)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The Disability Discrimination Bill was introduced to the House of Lords last week just days after being announced in the Queen's speech. The Disability Rights Commission welcomed the bill but expressed concern that it does not contain...

mental health; Charity questions Sylvester ruling.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Mental health charity Mind has expressed concern about a High Court judge's decision to refuse a second inquest into the death of a mentally ill black man after quashing a verdict of unlawful killing. Roger Sylvester died in north London in...

youth justice; Feltham staff lacked adequate training.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... There were "flaws" in systems to investigate race-related incidents at Feltham young offender institution at the time of the murder of Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek, an inquiry heard last week. Michael Cowan, head of operations at Feltham,...

joint working; Councils and NHS trusts to be free to set local public health targets.
December 2, 2004... The public health white paper has given local authorities a key partnership role in reducing health inequalities. Craig Kenny reports The public health white paper published last month lists a raft of initiatives to persuade the NHS, local...

child protection by derren hayes; Scottish staff levels 'too low' to assess impact of parental drug use.
December 2, 2004... Social workers in four Scottish councils are concerned that a new proposed protocol for dealing with parents with substance misuse problems could not be implemented with current staffing levels. The inter-agency pan-Midlothian working group...

children in care; Open files on abuse, ; Scots executive says.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The Scottish executive has called on all agencies responsible for children in care to open their files to people who were victims of abuse while under their protection. Peter Peacock, minister for education and young people, has asked...

older people; Charity says most abuse occurs in care.(Action on Elder Abuse)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Abuse of older people is more likely in residential care than in other settings, according to charity Action on Elder Abuse. Although two-thirds of the 7,000 calls to the charity's helpline related to abuse in the victim's home, nearly a...

inspections; Star ratings 'to be kept' for social care.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The Commission for Social Care Inspection has denied that the abandonment of star ratings by the Healthcare Commission will be replicated in social care. The Healthcare Commission announced this week that new measures of inspection were...

child protection by sally gillen; Laming blames state of children's services on sector's poor leadership.
December 2, 2004... Nearly two years after his report into the death of Victoria Climbie was published, Lord Laming still has "large concerns" about the speed with which some social services departments are improving. He told MPs this week that although the...

workforce; Post-registration training 'too vague'.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Registered social workers called on the General Social Care Council last week for more details on what they need to do to fulfil their post-registration training and learning (PRTL) requirements. Registered social workers will have to...

poverty; Funds needed for children strategy.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Northern Ireland's 10-year strategy for children and young people is a missed opportunity because ministers have failed to provide funding to implement it, campaigners have warned. Northern Ireland anti-poverty network campaigner Goretti...

homelessness; Rise in budgets due to priority change.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Councils' bed and breakfast budgets have soared since the government expanded the category of homeless groups in priority need of housing in 2002. Harrogate Council told an MPs' inquiry into homelessness that its annual budget rose from...

my practice.(conferences)
December 2, 2004... Attending conferences is not always a realistic option forinformation-hungry practitioners. Meic Phillips explores alternatives I am suffering from conference fatigue - 2,500 miles in one year is too much! My management team and I find...

confidentiality; Oldham sent case info to building site.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Oldham social services, which were named earlier this month as among the worst eight social services in the country, admitted this week that confidential faxes containing details of social services cases had been accidentally sent to a building...

older people; Scots warn of care home fee gap.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Care home owners, politicians and the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland have warned that the recent care home fee settlement announced by the Scottish executive will not be enough to prevent home closures and job losses. Joe Campbell,...

children; Sure Start shows 'nanny state' works.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The success of Sure Start proves that the "nanny state" works, children's minister Margaret Hodge, said last week. Defending government intervention, she said there had been a 37 per cent increase in breastfeeding, a 25 per cent cut in...

voluntary sector; Report calls for funding shake-up.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... An independent ombudsman to "name and shame" organisations guilty of bad practice in the way they contract with the voluntary sector should be established by the government, a new report recommends. The proposals are in a study into...

local government ; Councils unhappy at area agreement rush.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Local authorities fear they are being rushed into signing improvement plans that will require wide-ranging consultation, a conference heard last week. The warning was sounded by Lindsay Kirkley, special adviser to Gateshead Council, one of...

mental incapacity; MPs and peers call for more safeguards.(Mental Capacity Bill )(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... There is growing pressure on the government to include in the Mental Capacity Bill safeguards to prevent the unlawful detention of people who lack capacity to object, following criticism by MPs and peers. In a report on the bill published...

workforce by Amy Taylor; Domiciliary and outreach staff set to be next in line for registration.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The General Social Care Council changed tack last week when it announced that it would recommend that domiciliary care workers be included in the next batch of staff to be registered. The GSCC will recommend to the government that outreach...

TV REview.(Someone to Watch Over Me)(Brief Article)(Television Program Review)
December 2, 2004... someone to watch over me BBC1 Episode three (of six), 30 November For too long social workers have been criticised for overreacting or not doing enough, and the media is unlikely to change public opinion, writes Angie Jackson. ...

exclusive by Paul Stephenson; Campaigners angered over jailing of children who breach antisocial orders.
December 2, 2004... As many as 40 children and young people end up in custody each month for breaching conditions of antisocial behaviour orders, official figures have revealed. Campaigners have condemned the figures as proof that Asbos are leading to more...

adults' services by amy taylor; Ladyman says adult director role could be set out in Green Paper.
December 2, 2004... The forthcoming green paper on adults' services could include details of a new director of adults' social services post, community care minister Stephen Ladyman hinted last week. Speaking at the General Social Care Council's annual...

children; Government fails on rights, study finds.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The government is continuing to breach children's human rights in England despite accepting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, according to research. The study, from the Secretariat of the Children's Rights Alliance for...

health and safety; Bill paves way to prosecute councils.(Corporate Manslaughter Bill )(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Local authorities and care providers could be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter under a proposed new bill if they fail to comply with health and safety legislation, experts have warned. The draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill would tackle...

he can't live with others.(learning disabled persons)
December 2, 2004... A man with learning difficulties is aggressive and unmanageable in residential care homes, whether they are large or small. Martin Elliott (top), Brice Hands and Rose Powell tell Graham Hopkins how they approached what seemed an...

book reviews.(Book Review)
December 2, 2004... LEARN THE CHILD - HELPING LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN to LEARN: A GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE FOR SOCIAL WORKERS, CARERS AND TEACHERS Kate Cairns and Chris Stanaway, Baaf Adoption and Fostering ISBN 190369938X, [pounds sterling]25 This...

a cure for depression?(Electroconvulsive therapy)
December 2, 2004... Electroconvulsive therapy has long courted controversy as a psychiatric treatment. Katie Leason finds that, despite some adverse side-effects, ECT still has its supporters, particularly among the severely depressed "Often I would wake up...

bottom of the pile.
December 2, 2004... At the cinema, I'd forgotten my pension card to qualify for a cheap ticket. "Just look at my face," I said. The cashier looked at my lines, laughed and waved me through. Yes, I'm old, 68 to be precise. Sixty-eight is young-old. I can still play...

a welcome u-turn.(General Social Care Council)
December 2, 2004... The General Social Care Council's about-turn on the next groups of registered workers is welcome. Domiciliary care workers are now top of the priority list rather than mid-table. There they join other client-facing staff working in residential...

unequal star treatment.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... So star ratings for health authorities have been scrapped. After a difficult four years, the Healthcare Commission has now accepted that stars are too simplistic a measure for the complexity of health care organisations. It claims that a new...

workforce; Social workers meet England deadline.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The General Social Care Council has claimed that almost all front-line social workers in England applied for registration by the 1 December deadline. The GSCC said it received 44,435 forms by the cut off date. It estimates that there are...

asylum seekers; Home Office allows 260 to stay in capital.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The Home Office has said that 260 asylum seekers living in emergency accommodation in London who require care available only in the capital should not be dispersed, it was revealed last week. The Refugee Council has been negotiating with...

young people; Connexions may lose careers brief.(Connexions)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The government is considering removing responsibility for the delivery of careers guidance from the Connexions service, it was revealed last week Speaking in the House of Commons, education minister Kim Howells said that the government...

child care; 'Plan puts return to work before children'.(Institute for Public Policy Research)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Measures in the government's 10-year child care strategy, published as part of the chancellor's pre-budget report, are more about getting parents into work than child development, a leading think-tank claimed last week. Kate Stanley, head...

children by sally gillen; Social services chiefs say Children Act funding is 'too little too late'.
December 9, 2004... The children's minister has dashed any remaining hopes of significant funding to implement the Children Act 2004. But Margaret Hodge told local authority figures at a conference last week, organised by the Local Government Association, that...

youth justice; Reconviction rates lower than claimed.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The Home Office has admitted flaws in figures released last year that suggested it had successfully reduced reconviction rates among juvenile offenders by more than 20 per cent. It last week released a correction to the figures which...

funding; Brown remembers those the high street banks have long forgotten.
December 9, 2004... The chancellor has set out his intentions for giving a better deal to people who, for financial reasons, have been marginalised. Craig Kenny looks at how Gordon Brown's pre-Budget largesse will be distributed The City's view of chancellor...

care homes; Standards to be applied flexibly.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... National minimum standards in care homes will be applied in a flexible way in future, rather than being rigidly applied as at present, the government has said. The government will also establish a single point of information for social...

joint working; Warning over NHS trust power in Wales.(National Health Service)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Proposed freedoms to allow the integration of NHS trusts and local health boards in Wales could help cement joint working across health and social care, ADSS secretary and Pembrokeshire director of social services Jon Skone has said. ...

fostering; Foster carers 'need better training'.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... A framework for training foster carers to bring them in line with the child care workforce is demanded by the Fostering Network in its manifesto published this week. It says that, while pre-approval training is standard, there is no common...

youth justice; Prison officer didn't spot murder weapon.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Prison officers failed to spot a broken table leg which was used to beat Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek to death, a public inquiry has heard. Mubarek, 19, was killed by his racist cellmate Robert Stewart, then also 19, at Feltham Young...

supporting people; Shift to give cash to 'less' popular groups.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... More Supporting People funding is expected to go to "unpopular groups" following the introduction of new key performance indicators from next year. Ethnic minorities and other groups the Audit Commission claims are not sufficiently...

mental health by Katie Leason and Sally Gillen; Health experts urge doctors to look for other ways to treat depression.
December 9, 2004... Antidepressants are being overprescribed for mild depression, according to the head of the government's drugs regulator. Professor Kent Woods' comments followed this week's publication of a review into the safety of selective serotonin...

disability; Think-tank calls for benefit reform.(Institute for Public Policy Research)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Incapacity benefit has become a barrier to work and should be replaced by a new set of measures, according to a leading think-tank. The Institute for Public Policy Research wants incapacity benefit to be replaced by a flat-rate "earnings...

standards; Front-line crisis at no-star councils.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Staff shortages and poor children's services are highlighted as the key areas of failure among the eight councils awarded no stars this year, according to the Commission for Social Care Inspection. Performance reviews of the eight...

Policy by Paul Stephenson; Future merger of health and social care inspectorates on the cards.
December 9, 2004... Details of a radical overhaul of all aspects of the social care inspections regime were published this week, including plans for the future merger of the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Healthcare Commission. New arrangements...

mental health; Woman sues over death of daughter.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The wife of a mentally ill man who killed his daughter was granted permission to sue a council last week by a High Court judge. Andrew Philip Hall, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, stabbed 12-year-old Emma to death at...

funding by lauren revans; Local authorities feel the squeeze as Labour acts to cut council tax rises.
December 9, 2004... The government has announced a one-off increase of [pounds sterling]637m for local authorities for 2005-6. The investment - including [pounds sterling]125m of new money from the Treasury and [pounds sterling]512m redirected from other...

readers' views; Majority wants to abolish star ratings.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... More than 60 per cent of visitors to Community Care's website think star ratings should be abolished in social services as they will be in health next year. This week's question asks: Are GPs over-prescribing antidepressant drugs to...

homelessness; Prescott hint raises fears for teenagers.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Teenagers and vulnerable adults classed as priority groups under homelessness legislation could be left to fend for themselves, it is feared. Deputy prime minister John Prescott told housing charity Shelter that he believed homelessness...

residential care; Homes told to brush up on saving lives.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Ensuring care home residents brush their teeth is good standard health practice. But US research suggests that tooth-brushing could save lives. Studies co-ordinated by the University of Buffalo's Dr Ali El-Solh conclude that a clean mouth...

mental health; Omissions mar NHS report, say charities.(Rethink)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The glowing annual report on the state of the NHS published last week fails to give a true indication of the state of services for the mentally ill, mental health charities say. Rethink said mental health services were not measured "by the...

mental health; 'Ethnic minorities should complain'.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... A member of the David Bennett Inquiry panel has urged the families of people from ethnic minorities with mental health problems to complain about poor treatment to the Commission for Racial Equality. Dr Richard Stone, who sat on the panel...

mental health by derren hayes; Cardiff services at fault over care of mentally ill man convicted of murder.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... A report into the circumstances surrounding the killing of a retired accountant by a mental health patient has highlighted failures by health and social services in Cardiff. Paul Khan was convicted last year of manslaughter with diminished...

ON THE MOVE <261B>.(appointments)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Ty Goddard (right) has been appointed managing director of the educational advisory organisation School Works. Goddard was strategic manager for Brighton and Hove Council's Schools in the Community programme. Robert McLean has been...

profile: dave perry, community manager.(homeless services)
December 16, 2004... Roisin Woolnough talks to a manager at a homelessness charity about how his experience of being a paramedic has helped him in his work hen several knee injuries forced Dave Perry to leave the ambulance service after 24 years as a paramedic,...

Next steps.(Social work)
December 16, 2004... Thinking of moving on? Then read on Carl is an 18-year-old who works at a home for adolescents. What is your job? I am a residential support worker. What are your responsibilities? I work in a unit with children who have challenging...

A radical rethink.(National Institute for Mental Health in England )
December 16, 2004... Reorganising the UK's largest charity for people with serious mental illness is a huge task. Fortunately, Chris Whittaker had some vital experience to draw on. Graham Hopkins reports Over recent years it often seemed that social services...

my practice.(Panos Vostanis ponders what conditions prevail before a young child undergoes therapy)
December 16, 2004... Psychiatrist Panos Vostanis ponders what conditions should prevail before a young child undergoes therapy Just before seeing a seven-year-old girl, I doubted that she would benefit from therapy. She had been through several placements, and...

Boost for work-based learning in the North East.(social work training)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Topss North East, social work's key training body, is expanding its new learning resource centre networks for social workers and students. The move will allow easier access to information about local training and career development. Following a...

Changing roles.(practitioners to keep up to date with new role thinking)
December 16, 2004... Practitioners looking to keep moving need to keep up with new roles, writes Vic Citarella Topss England is half way through a three-year project testing out new roles and ways of working. Progressing through your career you will come...

New qualification designed for residential child care managers.(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Managers in residential child care can now gain a nationally recognised City & Guilds management qualification tailored for the sector, writes David Craik. The level 4 managers in residential child care NVQ is based on the national...

so whAT do you know?
December 16, 2004... Think you know your Bills from your White Papers, your YOTs from your YIPs? Test your knowledge of events in social care this year, and refresh your memory, with our quiz. Compiled by Katie Leason january1 1Which airline was...

elixir of life.(Berryhill Retirement Village)
December 16, 2004... A retirement village in Staffordshire is benefiting its residents by creating a positive ageing environment. Yet challenges remain, says Miriam Bernard Miriam Bernard is professor of social gerontology and director of postgraduate studies...

break free.(holidays for families in need)(Family Holiday Association)
December 16, 2004... Speaking recently to an audience gathered for the launch of the Family Well-Being Break model for group holidays, Janet Reed* admitted that two years ago she would never have had the confidence to do this. Back in 2002, Reed, was a 34-year-old...

glaring ; omissions.(public health )
December 16, 2004... Public health proposals are strong on lifestyle factors, but have ignored the needs of people with mental health problems, to the disappointment of professionals. A lack of concrete action on sexual health matters is also prompting concern....

It's payback time.(charities need more government funding)
December 16, 2004... Charities are demanding more secure and longer-term funding from councils and government for the services they provide. William Little asks whether it is time for a voluntary finance initiative The voluntary sector is delivering more key...