Community Care articles from March 2006

Community Care archives from March 2006

carers Support for carers thin on the ground.(Commission for Social Care Inspection)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Just one-third of carers assessed for services are receiving dedicated support, government figures have revealed. The Community Care Statistics 2004-5 show that 65,000 of the 194,000 assessed were receiving "carer specific" services, with...

Council heads want control of assessments.(Local Government Association)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Social care would be one of very few services to face external inspection under proposals from the Local Government Association. Inspections should be made where public safety or harm to users is an issue such as in "services to vulnerable...

Disability Campaigners blame Welsh free care reversal on narrow research remit.(Wales. National Assembly)
March 2, 2006... Charities claim false assumptions about the level of need lay behind the Welsh assembly government's decision to reverse an election pledge to provide free care. Derren Hayes reports Disability and older people's charities have roundly...

it's time to accept help.(caregiving)
March 2, 2006... A young disabled woman is being looked after at home by her elderly parents. But can they cope for much longer? CASE study The names of the service user and her family have been changed Situation: Tracy Fuller, 36, has a complete...

Fortune telling.(Telford & Wrekin's Home Improvement Agency)
March 2, 2006... Promoting the services effectively of a new home improvement agency in Telford and Wrekin was proving difficult until a game show format changed its fortunes. Graham Hopkins finds out what the survey said Name something you do to raise the...

legal Meadow ruling backed but some recourse against poor practice is still required.(Roy Meadow)
March 2, 2006... Only a court will be able to refer an expert witness to a regulator in future. Is this safeguard enough, asks Amy Taylor Professionals agree last month's landmark High Court ruling in favour of Professor Sir Roy Meadow (news, page 11, 23...

School staff least engaged by reforms.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... School staff feel less involved in the government's Every Child Matters agenda than any other section of the children's workforce, new research suggests. Nearly one-third were unaware of the green paper and more than two-thirds did not...

TV review.(Going Cold Turkey)(Brief Article)(Television Program Review)
March 2, 2006... Going Cold Turkey ----- Channel 4 21 February, 10.05pm (From 20 to 23 February) This programme follows a group of heroin addicts as they attempt to kick their habit at a detox clinic, writes Harry Shapiro. Presented by Krishnan Guru-Murthy...

The great paper chase.(Department for Work and Pensions)
March 2, 2006... welfare rights Living on benefits is difficult enough but most claimants do not even get that far, writes Gary Vaux The struggles claimants face in their dealings with the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) new system of...

destination unknown.(adult social care)
March 2, 2006... In part four of our series on the government's proposals for adults' social care, Melanie Henwood argues that there has been insufficient focus on outcomes In many ways the most important line in the white paper lies in its...

Asylum seekers by Amy Taylor 'Son of section nine' may be invoked to threaten failed asylum claimants.
March 2, 2006... Campaigners fear that the effects of section nine, under which children of failed asylum seekers can be taken into care, could be replicated by a different piece of legislation. The concerns have been prompted by news that it may become a...

book reviews.(Dementia and Social Inclusion: Marginalised Groups and Marginalised Areas of Dementia Research, Care and Practice)(Safeguarding and Promoting the Well-being of Children, Families and Communities )(Community Development: A Critical Approach )(Book review)
March 2, 2006... Dementia and Social Inclusion: Marginalised Groups and Marginalised Areas of Dementia Research, Care and Practice ----- Edited by Anthea Innes, Carole Archibald and Charlie Murphy, Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN: 1843101742, Price [pounds...

child protection Hughes acting on faith-related abuse.(Beverley Hughes)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... The children's minister says "momentum is gathering" in tackling child abuse, including witchcraft in faith communities. The government "may not yet have the full picture" on the extent of abuse in faith communities, Beverley Hughes told a...

child protection 'Para-professionals may increase errors'.(social worker training)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Plans to employ "para-professionals" in Scottish social work could lead to more serious mistakes in child protection, Scotland's first minister has been warned. Ruth Stark, professional officer for the British Association of Social Workers...

children's services 'Little support for parallel reviews'.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... The burden of inspection has not been reduced by simultaneous joint area reviews and corporate assessments of children's services, councils have told researchers. An independent evaluation found that councils did not feel there was "added...

children in care Paper to address placement stability.(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... The forthcoming green paper on looked-after children is likely to cover placement stability and building local capacity as well as educational achievement, Community Care has learned. Sources said the green paper, expected late this month...

disabilities Disabled group set to influence policy.(creation of a national forum)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... A new advisory group of disabled people has been created to work with the government on policy making. It will also help to create a national forum representing the interests of disabled people. Alun Davies, an adult care planning manager...

education bill by amy taylor Professionals back federations fund but fear worst for green paper aims.(Education and Inspections Bill, Every Child Matters )
March 2, 2006... Campaigners have welcomed new funding for councils to set up federations to help struggling schools in deprived areas, but warn that other proposals in the Education and Inspections Bill will threaten the Every Child Matters agenda. The...

'My appointment shows institute is moving forward'.(Allan Bowman joined Social Care Institute for Excellence )
March 2, 2006... The new chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence defends his controversial selection and says it reflects how the organisation is maturing. By Sally Gillen Allan Bowman's appointment last month as chair of the Social Care...

long-term care Rise in nursing cost contribution slated.(hospital admissions)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Proposed increases in NHS contributions to the nursing costs of people in long-term care are insufficient and could end up increasing hospital admissions, care home leaders have said. Rises in the Registered Nursing Care Contribution would...

Looked-after children by gordon carson Councils failing to ensure safety and welfare of care leavers, finds report.
March 2, 2006... Some looked-after children in England were given no notice when they left state care, a new report has found. Many were also placed in unsuitable accommodation and had not agreed to their leaving-care plans, which is required by law, says...

Mental health by simeon brody NHS cash crisis casts shadow over future of children's in-patient units.(United Kingdom. National Health Service)
March 2, 2006... Every children's mental health in-patient unit in England could close within five years if NHS commissioning continues to be dictated by financial pressures, psychiatrists have warned. The Royal College of Psychiatrists believes up to six...

mental health Sainsbury to halve staff and refocus.(Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health is consulting on plans to make more than half its 60 staff redundant. The charity is to focus on just two areas of work - tackling the high rate of unemployment among people with mental health...

mental health Demand for more carer involvement.(training )(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... A "cultural shift" is needed within the mental health system to recognise the importance of carers, according to a report. The Department of Health, the Institute of Psychiatry and charity Rethink say in a briefing paper that information...

mental health Computer therapies win medical backing.(National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Two computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programmes have been given official backing for the treatment of depression and anxiety. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has recommended the Beating the Blues package...

older people Services are a bar to life at home.(home care services)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Many people with dementia enter residential care because of the way services are organised, not their condition, unpublished research has found. The study of people with dementia living in extra-care housing, by supported housing provider...

Regulation by Mithran Samuel Commission keeps annual checks but cuts inspections for the best.(United Kingdom. Department of Health)
March 2, 2006... All adult care services will face annual scrutiny but full inspections for top providers will be cut from twice a year to once every three years under changes to the regulation system announced by the Department of Health this week. ...

Regulation Scots inspectors bid to cut duplication.(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... Scotland's local authorities and the country's Care Commission have begun talks aimed at streamlining the inspection process for community care providers. Initial talks with the aim of identifying and reducing duplicated work had taken...

residential care Closure delayed as protesters sit tight.(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... A sit-in by residents of a care home earmarked for closure has forced a Scottish council to delay deregistration. Two residents of West Dunbartonshire Council's Leven Cottage home, along with a local Scottish Socialist Party councillor, Jim...

stand up and be counted.(social care promoted)
March 2, 2006... This week Community Care is launching a new campaign - Stand Up For Social Care - which will speak out on behalf of the profession. We believe that as traditional social services departments are disbanded and their functions subsumed by the...

All in the same boat.(Mental health services)
March 2, 2006... In his final article on Supporting People, Robin Johnson uses the mental health sector to explore the implications for the development of integrated services and commissioning What would it mean in practice if mental health support services...

Supporting people Call to keep focus on housing not care.(United Kingdom. National Health Service)(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... The Supporting People programme should be refocused on housing and not allowed to drift into funding care, the government has been told. In a response to a consultation on the future of the programme, a group of supported housing providers...

voluntary sector Role of charities stymied by red tape.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... The government's "lack of expertise" in dealing with the voluntary sector has limited charity involvement in delivering public services, MPs have claimed. Bureaucracy and short-term funding have deterred organisations from working with...

Voluntary sector Children's charities among top earners.(National Council for Voluntary Organisations)(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... Children's charities feature prominently in a group of 14 emerging "supercharities" that generate 10 per cent of the voluntary sector's total annual income, according to new research. NCH, Barnardo's, Save the Children and the NSPCC were...

Web review.(www.conventionyes.org)
March 2, 2006... www.conventionyes.org ----- There are more than 500 million people in the world with a disability and every day millions of them are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment including forced institutionalisation and abuse, writes Kay...

Where's the support?(children's rights)(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... When the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 came into force many were hopeful that it would change things for care leavers who all too often are left to fend for themselves with little support at just 16. Six years on, while many young people are...

Workforce MPs rally behind fresh campaign.(members of the parliament)(Brief article)
March 2, 2006... MPs are being asked to show their support for Community Care's new Stand Up for Social Care campaign. Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow and Labour counterpart Joan Humble this week tabled an early day motion calling on the government to...

workforce Boost social worker training, say Tories.(recruitment and training)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... Investment in the recruitment and training of social workers must be put on the same footing as similar campaigns in the NHS, according to Conservative children and health spokesperson Tim Loughton. Plans to improve services for vulnerable...

workforce Welsh pay scales row checks reforms.(social workers)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2006... The development of national or regional pay scales for Welsh social workers has been delayed by opposition to the plan from local government bodies. A unified approach to pay talks was recommended in last year's report, Social Work in...

Finance by simeon brody Edinburgh internet auction interests councils but alarms care providers.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... An internet auction system that allows potential contractors to underbid each other in real time could gain a foothold in the social care market after being pioneered by Edinburgh Council. Edinburgh saved [pounds sterling]500,000 from what...

Policy Campaign launched to boost social care.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Social care staff must stand up and be counted if the profession and its distinct values are to survive the massive upheaval in services. That was the message last week from Community Care's acting editor, Mark Ivory, as he launched the...

Delayed discharge Scots care homes could net NHS cash.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Residential care providers in Scotland hope to receive funding for care home beds directly from the NHS to end long-term delayed discharging. The Scottish executive said last week that it wanted to end waits of more than six weeks for...

Children in care Ministers broaden green paper's scope.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... The looked-after children green paper could be more wide-ranging than expected. Officials drafting the paper are keen to investigate how the looked-after system could be made more child-centred, reveal documents circulated ahead of a Local...

Mental health 'Deliver services in mainstream setting'.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Day services for people with mental health problems should focus on their recovery and take place in mainstream settings where possible, according to new government guidance. Services should move from being based in a building to supporting...

deafblind Slow progress on providing services.(communication support)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... Deafblind people still face severe difficulties in accessing services, five years after landmark government guidance, charity Sense has claimed. Two-fifths of councils in England and Wales do not provide communicator guides, which give...

Prisons by Conditions for young prisoners 'in limbo' could get worse, says Owers.
March 9, 2006... Young adult prisoners are being placed with adult inmates, including serious and sex offenders, without proper supervision or risk assessment, the chief inspector of prisons has revealed. Prisoners aged from 18 to 21 were being left "in...

Older people Council bosses want shift to prevention.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... T he Local Government Association plans to launch a campaign on shifting resources from acute to preventive care within older people's services in England. A report to the LGA community well-being board meeting this week suggested...

Children's services Telford considers health alliance.(Telford and Wrekin)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... Telford and Wrekin is the latest council to look at merging its children's services with health services. The local authority confirmed it was considering the move but could not provide more details. Brighton and Hove and Redbridge are the...

family law Resolution pilots 'lacked leadership'.(separated parents)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... A government pilot scheme to resolve contact disputes between separated parents was blighted by a lack of local leadership. None of the three family resolution pilot projects, in Brighton, inner London and Sunderland, had a local management...

health Stroke care is worse in the community.(surveys)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... Stroke patients are significantly less satisfied with the services they receive in the community than hospital care, a Healthcare Commission follow-up survey has found. The study finds that 34 per cent of patients rated their care as fair,...

readers' views Keep inspection frequency for all.
March 9, 2006... This week's question for visitors to Community Care's website asks: Is it right for local authorities to auction social care contracts? (see story, page 10). Last week more than two-thirds of visitors did not think that good services...

nothing to celebrate.(adult prisoners)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... Turning 18 is not an event to celebrate if you are a young person in prison, as chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers demonstrated this week in her annual report. For those aged 18-21 are still "in limbo", often held alongside juveniles who...

Taking exception.(County Durham )
March 9, 2006... Changing the ethos of the children's residential service in County Durham meant taking a serious look at the council's corporate parenting role, Selwyn Morgans tells Graham Hopkins It may be an understatement to say that children's...

Minister tells NHS to invest in sector.(Liam Byrne )(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Care services minister Liam Byrne was expected this week to reiterate calls for the NHS to invest in social care. Byrne was due to tell a conference on 8 March that there was "potential for the NHS to use some of its unprecedented increases...

Ambassador for achievement.(services provided to a person with learning disabilities)
March 9, 2006... After several failed attempts at independent living, Nick Evans (below, left), who has learning difficulties, wanted to try again. Sarah Pilkington (top) and Adey Stevens tailored support services to help him succeed. Graham...

Services to be axed or rationed as adult social care funding is cut back.
March 9, 2006... Older people's care and services for people with learning difficulties are set to be the biggest losers as councils deal with shortfalls in their adult social care budgets for 2006-7, an exclusive Community Care poll has found. The...

TV review.(Going Cold Turkey )(Television program review)
March 9, 2006... Going Cold Turkey ----- Channel 4 21 to 26 February Going Cold Turkey was a week of Channel 4 programmes following the progress of three heroin users undergoing a detoxification regime at Detox 5 in Harrogate, writes Harry...

Tougher guidance out on continuing care.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... The government has responded to mounting concern on access to NHS continuing care by toughening guidance and calling on health bodies to review their eligibility criteria. Last week's move was a response to the Grogan judgement in January,...

a new alliance blooms.
March 9, 2006... In the final part of our series on the government's white paper on adults' services, Gerald Wistow explains the consequences of the proposed closer strategic relationship between primary and social care The white paper Our Health, Our...

Book reviews.(Introducing Social Work, Good Practice in Adult Mental Health, vol. 10, Foster Children: Where They Go and How They Get On)(Book review)
March 9, 2006... Introducing Social Work ----- Edited by Steven M Shardlow and Peter Nelson, Russell House Publishing ISBN 1903855527, [pounds sterling]13.95 Are you considering a career in social work? Then this is the book for you. It should also be...

Children Trusts told to offer long-term contracts.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Children's trusts should award long-term contracts of up to five years to encourage service providers to be more innovative, according to new government guidance. They should also support smaller providers, such as local charities, to...

Children's services Ofsted outlines new assessment rules.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Councils' integrated children's services may face tougher demands from inspectors this year. In guidance on the annual performance assessment of children's services, Ofsted stated that while 2005 was a "period of transition", in 2006 local...

Children by sally gillen Douglas warning of [pounds sterling]3m savings as government pegs Cafcass funding.
March 9, 2006... The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service will have to make operational changes to save more than [pounds sterling]3m because its government funding will be pegged this year. Chief executive Anthony Douglas has written to...

cuts tarnish golden age.(social services)
March 9, 2006... CP Snow famously wrote about the "two cultures" of science and literature, each in its own bubble. There is an analogous case in social care: the culture of those who make policies and the culture of those who implement them. The health and...

education Debate intensifies over future of schools as bill progresses.
March 9, 2006... The government's school plans have been criticised over admissions and accountability but there are some who feel there is much in the reforms worth defending, reports Amy Taylor, who, below, talks to Peter Crook, principal of The Academy in...

Why the academy is no bad thing.
March 9, 2006... It is rare for a week to go by without a story about an academy school hitting the headlines. Whether the reports allege poor performance or that the curriculum has been influenced by sponsors, the pieces tend to have a negative spin. However,...

european directive by simeon brody Door opens to continental providers.(social services)
March 9, 2006... Social services in the UK could be opened up to international competition under a European Union directive. The services directive, which would remove the legal and administrative barriers that prevent free trade across the EU's service...

mental health 'Nurses must adopt social care model'.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Mental health nursing must move away from the medical model to an approach based more on recovery and social care, the government has been told. Most responses to the chief nursing officer's review of mental health nursing supported the...

necessary evil?(social workers)
March 9, 2006... Seduced by the prospect of less stress, shorter hours and more pay, many social workers and social care staff are now working through employment agencies. The expansion of services in recent years has brought with it greater demand for...

Personal care Food preparation costs may be repaid.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Dumfries and Galloway Council may refund nearly [pounds sterling]500,000 in food preparation charges paid by people eligible for free personal care. It follows the council's decision at the end of last year to stop charging. The issue...

kerbs on behaviour.(street prostitution)
March 9, 2006... Zero tolerance on prostitution ignores the welfare, safety and the health of the women involved, argues Teela Sanders The government's recent prostitution strategy made the headlines for its zero tolerance stance on street...

substance misuse Opponents derail Welsh rehab plans.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Objections from councillors and residents are thwarting the development of residential rehabilitation services for people with substance misuse problems in Wales. Over the past two years the Welsh assembly has been unable to spend all...

supporting people Anger over plight of low income owners.(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... The boss of an extra care housing firm has lambasted the system of state support for residents on low incomes who own properties in supported housing settings. Bob Bessell, chair of Retirement Security, told Community Care that the...

voluntary sector Groups wilt rather than flower.(reports)
March 9, 2006... There is mounting evidence that small voluntary organisations will be unable to grasp the public service opportunities proclaimed by the local government minister, reports Maria Ahmed Local government minister David Miliband claimed last...

vulnerable people Charities alarmed at vetting loophole.(Voice UK, Ann Craft Trust and Respond)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... Direct payment recipients could be put at risk by a loophole in the new scheme to vet people working with children and vulnerable adults, charities say. Voice UK, Ann Craft Trust and Respond said the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill,...

web review.(criminal justice system)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... www.cjsonline.gov.uk/victim ----- The site is all about the criminal justice system. It offers support for disabled people who have been abused, and provides information and other links to sites about antisocial behaviour orders, writes...

workforce Glasgow expands service integration.(social care and health)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2006... Agencies in Glasgow are to bring together 6,000 staff to provide integrated services, including social care, health, community safety and welfare support. A single key worker will be appointed for children who need multi-agency services,...

workforce Welsh assessments provoke unions' ire.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... Trade unions are furious at the way the unified assessment process has been introduced in Wales. Like the single assessment process in England, the UAP acts as a record of need for clients and all health and care professionals can access...

Youth justice Board should follow Finland's example.(Brief article)
March 9, 2006... The Youth Justice Board has been urged to look at how Finland has achieved some of the lowest levels of youth custody in Europe. Rob Allen, director of the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College London, told a conference...

Voluntary sector 'Force councils to co-operate with us'.(local strategic partnerships)(Urban Forum and the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service)(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... Councils and other public sector bodies should be under a statutory duty to promote the engagement of the voluntary and community sectors in local strategic partnerships (LSPs). That was the message from community sector umbrella groups...

Mental health Political opposition to bill grows apace.(Brief article)
March 16, 2006... M ore than 100 MPs have signed an early day motion, which was tabled by Labour MP Lynne Jones last month, condemning the Mental Health Bill. Forty-six of the MPs are Labour, enough to overturn the government's 65-strong majority if all...

Learning difficulties by maria ahmed Ethnic minority project may provide reduced service as funding crisis hits.
March 16, 2006... The biggest national learning difficulties project for improving services for ethnic minority communities faces an uncertain future if long-term funding is not found. The National Learning Disability and Ethnicity Network, set up by...

'We need to get social care intervening at an earlier stage'.
March 16, 2006... Dropping free home care for disabled people earned the Welsh health and social services minister criticism from social work. But now, he tells Derren Hayes, he wants to raise the profession's profile Dr Brian Gibbons was the man held...

asylum seekers African children to be sent back home.(refugees)(Brief Article)
March 16, 2006... Unaccompanied minors from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo whose asylum claims have failed could be returned to their home countries under Home Office plans. The government is already looking at a similar scheme to return...