Community Care articles from November 2005

Community Care archives from November 2005

hospitals; Bed-blocking fines mooted for Wales.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... A senior Welsh politician has warned that the country may have to introduce English-style fines for delayed discharge if the number of people staying in hospital too long continues to rise. Shadow health and social services minister Rhodri...

mental health; Trust loses contract after rejecting cuts.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Westminster Council is putting its mental health services out to tender after the trust currently managing them refused to accept a 25 per cent budget cut. Central and North West London Mental Health Trust was told by the council it wanted to...

students; Bursary scheme set for move to NHS.(General Social Care Council gets different management)(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... The body that administers grants for NHS students is to take over the running of the social care student bursary scheme from the General Social Care Council. The Department of Health's student grants unit is likely to be given the powers under...

Foster carers; More councils pay recommended rate.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Although there has been an increase in councils meeting the minimum fostering allowance recommended by campaigners, half of the UK's foster carers are still losing out, research has found. The Fostering Network survey found that an extra...

public order; 'Social workers fail to tackle nuisance'.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Outdated social work attitudes are undermining attempts to tackle antisocial behaviour, according to a coalition of local authorities and housing associations. Tim Winter, national organiser of the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group,...

readers' views; Follow Welsh lead and scrap charges.
November 3, 2005... Seventy per cent of visitors to www.communitycare.co.uk thought the rest of the UK should follow the Welsh assembly's lead and scrap charges for registered care providers. This week's question asks: Do you agree with the Social Landlords Crime...

public order; Support orders for Asbos rarely used.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Measures that are supposed to address the underlying causes of bad behaviour and which should accompany Asbos are rarely used, according to new research. Individual support orders, which are meant to be given to young people with Asbos who are...

funding; Town hall finances enter 'black hole'.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Pressure on council budgets for adult and children's social services has contributed to a [pounds sterling]2.2bn "black hole" in their finances, local government leaders have warned. An extra [pounds sterling]663m is needed for older people's...

If you ask me...(Helen Waddell being interviewed)(Brief Article)(Interview)
November 3, 2005... Helen Waddell uses mental health services and volunteers at a Glasgow mental health befriending service Which health or social care professional has been most use to you? My community psychiatric nurse of five years ago and my current...

adult care by gordon carson; Social care leaders back project to improve data-sharing with health.
November 3, 2005... The drive to improve information-sharing between adult social care and health services is gathering pace after it emerged that detailed proposals will soon be put forward for a steering group to look at linking the agencies' electronic records....

asylum seekers; Study finds section nine is no incentive.
November 3, 2005... The government's section nine policy is failing to speed up the return of asylum seekers to their countries of origin, according to research out this week. None of the 116 families subject to section nine of the Asylum and Immigration...

asylum seekers; Conditions at Lunar House under fire.
November 3, 2005... A sylum seekers are being made to queue outside the government's main asylum processing centre for excessive periods of time, according to a report. The inquiry into Lunar House in Croydon, found that asylum seekers, including parents with...

book reviews.(Caring for People with Learning Disabilities who are Dying)(Living With ... 34 People Describe their Experiences of... )(Book Review)
November 3, 2005... Living With 34 people describe their experiences of ----- Whitehall Publishing and Mosaic. E-mail: justandwhitehill@yahoo.co.ukISBN 0952583879, [pounds sterling]11.95 The 34 contributors in Living With describe their medical conditions...

child protection by derren hayes; Scots rise in children in care down to more action on substance misuse.
November 3, 2005... A rise in the number of children being taken into care and subject to child protection referrals in Scotland is due to a greater awareness of parents with substance misuse problems, the Association of Directors of Social Work says. Figures...

What's the plan?
November 3, 2005... Children and young people will soon be able to access a range of new services. But while they wait, councils are preparing to map out the changes, writes Bob Hudson Over the past 15 years, there have been many requirements on councils to...

children by Gordon Carson and Simeon Brody; Lack of referrals calls into question independence of review officers.
November 3, 2005... The role of the independent officers who review children's care plans has been condemned as being "fatally flawed" after it emerged that none have taken concerns over councils' actions to the final stage of legal proceedings. Since September...

Disabled children; England axes means test for alterations.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... England has followed Northern Ireland and Wales in abolishing the means test for families applying for a grant to adapt their homes for disabled children. Housing minister Baroness Andrews said last week that families would be able to apply for...

Drug misuse by maria ahmed; Councils fail to check care standards at out-of-area treatment centres.
November 3, 2005... Hundreds of drug misusers are being failed by agencies that are referring them to out-of-area treatment centres without checking whether they will receive adequate care, it has been claimed. The concerns have been raised by MPs and...

Education; Policy tensions fuel debate ; over schools white paper.
November 3, 2005... Many people interested in the welfare of vulnerable children feel that the thrust of the education white paper runs counter to Every Child Matters policies. Helen McCormack reports The government's plans to reform England's education...

falsely accused.
November 3, 2005... It seems there are some in the housing world who think their colleagues in social care are too soft on antisocial behaviour. Social workers have been accused of exhibiting "outdated attitudes" and of failing to embrace the new "tackling not...

Foster care; Register of private carers 'inevitable'.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... The notification system for private fostering arrangements is only "delaying the inevitable" introduction of compulsory registration of carers, a leading campaigner has said. Private foster parents are not currently obliged to be registered...

homelessness; Large disparity in ; rough sleeper counts.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... A count of rough sleepers in London has found more than double the number reported by the government's last official count. Homelessness charity the Simon Community found 345 people across six boroughs on the night of 29 October. The most...

how independent?(implementation of children's care plans )(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... The implementation of children's care plans is vital if they are to be worth more than the paper they are written on. Yet there are serious questions about the resolve of local authorities to give care plans a fair wind. It has emerged that...

Better days.(day services)
November 3, 2005... Although day services in Hillingdon were progressive they needed to further embrace social inclusion. Louise Lingwood tells Graham Hopkins how she redesigned services Day services have not enjoyed the best of presses of late; largely...

mental health by simeon brody; Department accused of institutional racism over consultation on bill.
November 3, 2005... The Department of Health has been accused of institutional racism over the way it has handled the race equality impact assessment of the Mental Health Bill. It is claimed that DH officials have not given service users from ethnic minorities...

Mental health; User-led project scoops top award.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... A user-led project for African-Caribbean people with mental health problems has won the top prize at this year's Skills for Care Accolades. Nyabingi, which was set up in 2001 as an offshoot from a Luton Council project, also triumphed in the...

Mental health; Pioneering project in Hackney closes.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... A mental health project which is understood to have introduced the concept of community care to the London Borough of Hackney is to close. Hackney Council has withdrawn funding from the Downs Road group home, which was set up in 1960 and is run...

older people; Death probe raises concerns on records.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... No single agency working with a woman who killed a fellow care home resident was in full possession of the facts about her background, a review commissioned by Newcastle social services has found. May Thrower, 83, admitted the manslaughter of...

Older people; One in five Scottish care homes unclean.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... One in five older people's care homes in Scotland had inadequate hygiene standards when inspected by the Scottish Care Commission last year, a new report reveals. Of the 916 care homes inspected in 2003-4, 21 per cent were ordered to make...

Home grown solution.
November 3, 2005... Knowsley's assertive outreach team has enhanced its capabilities by using a charity's adult placement scheme as an adjunct to its efforts. Caroline Williams and colleagues explain Assertive outreach teams should consist of a broad range of...

New deal hit target but missed the point.
November 3, 2005... In 1997 I was involved in the formation of the New Deal, which provided an incentive to prompt some 250,000 long-term unemployed young people to enter the world of work. The focus was on identifying ways around the barriers that were keeping...

prisons; Fire risk opens doors for inmates.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Prisoners in wooden jail units have been given their own keys to get in and out because of fire risk, a report by the National Audit Office has found. The report says the units were plagued by problems, such as leaking roofs and windows,...

Radio review.(Brief Article)(Radio Program Review)
November 3, 2005... clare in the community ----- Radio 4, starts Friday 4 November, 11.30am The overbearing social worker Clare Barker returns to our airwaves for six weeks in the second series of the Sony Award winning sitcom, writes Mark Drinkwater....

Registration; Checks defy service user ethos.
November 3, 2005... A social worker's grievance over conditions placed on his registration has shown how the system can work against the idea of service user involvement, writes Mithran Samuel The case of an approved social worker's battle to be registered...

Against the stream.(home care of an elderly man)
November 3, 2005... An elderly man upset his neighbours and was repeatedly admitted to hospital because he was not managing his own care. Health staff wanted him placed in a home but Giles Gardner (top) and Ian Leeson thought otherwise, writes Graham...

Supporting people; Small agencies struggling to cope.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Smaller providers are finding it difficult to survive in the Supporting People environment because of their lack of infrastructure, claims a report by the Housing Associations Charitable Trust. Small agencies find it difficult to maintain...

Crowning achievements.(endorsement by royalty helps charities raise profile)
November 3, 2005... Charities need a high profile if they are to receive enough funds and goodwill to do their work well. Having a royal patron is one way to success, finds Anabel Unity Sale In a few hours in September, the profile of youth homelessness...

young people; Bedsit misery of young care leavers.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... Care leavers as young as 16 are still being placed in "unsavoury" bedsits because of fundamental weaknesses in the law intended to protect them, according to a charity. The Care Leavers Association has called on the government to strengthen the...

Youth justice by Maria Ahmed; Young offenders turn back to crime as pressure on support services tells.
November 3, 2005... L ack of resources and poor access to support services are "critically undermining" efforts to prevent reoffending among some of the most problematic young offenders, according to a new report. The Youth Justice Board's final evaluation of...

mental health; Worry over children held on adult wards.
November 10, 2005... Campaigners have called for the government to clarify figures that could suggest more than a fifth of child mental health in-patients are placed in adult wards. Care services minister Liam Byrne told parliament that patients aged 16 or 17...

Prevention money ; criteria outlined.(youth offenders should show multi-agency engagement )(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Youth offending teams will have to show multi-agency engagement on preventive work to obtain new funding announced this week by the Youth Justice Board. Bob Ashford, the YJB's head of prevention, said YOTs would have to submit proposals on how...

benefits; Home town truths could haunt Hutton.(John Hutton balancing employment)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Work and pensions secretary John Hutton could have a tricky role balancing the government's welfare reforms with the needs of his constituents in Barrow-in-Furness. Hutton, who replaced David Blunkett last week, is leading plans to cut the...

public order; Mental health issues behind many Asbos.
November 10, 2005... More than a third of children aged under 17 issued with antisocial behaviour orders have a diagnosed mental illness or learning difficulty, a new study claims. More than four-fifths of those children had previously been on acceptable behaviour...

mental health; Bill poised for December debut.
November 10, 2005... The Mental Health Bill is likely to be introduced into parliament next month, sources say. It had been expected to begin its parliamentary journey this month but problems over reform of the tribunal system are yet to be resolved. Critics of the...

readers' views; Out of touch? Yes we are, say workers.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Eighty per cent of Community Care website visitors agreed with the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group that outdated social work attitudes are damaging the bid to tackle antisocial behaviour. This week's question asks: Should 18- to...

children; New assessment system criticised.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The new performance management system for children's services has come under severe criticism, three weeks before the first ratings are due to be published. A senior education source said there had been a "loss of confidence" in the annual...

offenders; Doubts over checks on tagging firms.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Concerns have been raised in parliament over the lack of a specific inspection regime for private firms involved in electronically tagging offenders. Shadow home affairs minister Cheryl Gillan questioned the lack of a regime when 3,000...

older people; Mayor plans more capacity in capital.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The mayor of London has proposed to increase the supply of care homes and extra care housing, using his planning powers. The proposal is contained in Ken Livingstone's draft strategy for older people, published this week, which lays out how he...

Bichard inquiry; Vetting scheme to cost more to run.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The cost of running the new vetting scheme for people working with children and vulnerable adults is likely to be higher than expected, the government said this week. It said as many as nine million people could be covered by the scheme,...

too little too late.(learning difficulties)
November 10, 2005... Our panel discusses the case of a woman with learning difficulties whose complaint about abuse by a care worker was ignored CASE study The name of the service user has been changed SITUATION: Janice Walsh is a 27-year-old woman...

tower of strength.(ethnic minorities-health and social care)
November 10, 2005... Women from ethnic minorities in London's East End have traditionally missed out on available health and social care. But one voluntary organisation is changing all that, writes Graham Hopkins Fifty-eight per cent of the population in Tower...

Room at the top.(decision taking for managers)
November 10, 2005... Management decisions in times of change should be more about impact assessment and outcomes than sheer speed, writes the Chartered Management Institute's Jo Causon There are certain phrases that can make even the hardiest professional...

TV reviews.(Tough Kids, Tough Love which is aired on BBC2)(Television Program Review)
November 10, 2005... TOUGH KIDS, TOUGH LOVE ----- BBC2, 19 October, 9pm As a novice dad, a slightly more experienced stepfather, and a son, there is one thing I'm certain about: children need to be loved and know that they are loved. With emotional stability...

WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY.
November 10, 2005... Martin Green has come a long way since his first management role, which he looks back on with some embarrassment I have had a varied career and have worked in the statutory, voluntary and independent sector in the UK and overseas. During...

appliance of science.(allowances for Disabled persons)(Examining Medical Practitioner)(disability assessment)
November 10, 2005... welfare rights Gary Vaux explains the controversial methodology used by doctors to assess claimants for allowances Talk to most social workers and advisers and you could get the impression that decisions on disability living allowance and...

What's up ; on the web.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Government adviser Charles Leadbeater told the National Social Services Conference that social care could learn lessons from eBay on putting control in to the hands of service users. Check out "about eBay" on www.ebay.co.uk for the company's...

Adoption; 'Make better use of voluntary agencies'.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Many councils could make better use of voluntary adoption agencies to find adoptive parents for hard-to-place children, according to a charity boss. Baaf Adoption and Fostering chief executive Felicity Collier said 58 per cent of the 277...

Adoption; Scots review leads to flurry of ideas.(Scottish Adoption Association)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Scottish adoption groups have suggested major reforms to the country's adoption system in response to a review that ended last week. The Scottish Adoption Association called for a national adoption allowance scale to be introduced, counselling...

Adult social care; White paper likely to include outcomes.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The adult green paper's outcomes framework is almost certain to be in the forthcoming white paper on health and social care, care services minister Liam Byrne has said. The framework, which set outcomes on health, quality of life, exercising...

asylum seekers by amy taylor; Social services chiefs call on councils to oppose Asylum Act's section nine.(Association of Directors of Social Services )(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Social services directors have written to councils outlining their opposition to the policy that can lead to the children of failed asylum seekers being taken into care. The Association of Directors of Social Services called on councils to...

asylum seekers; Bid to quash human rights ruling fails.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... An attempt by the government to overturn a court ruling that it breached the human rights of three asylum seekers failed last week. It had been forced to revise section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act in June 2004 after an...

benefits by simeon brody; Call to halt housing benefit reform after landlords turn away claimants.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The government is being urged to delay reforming housing benefit after it emerged that landlords are less likely to let to claimants under the new system being piloted. Half of landlords surveyed said the new local housing allowance, which is...

child protection; NSPCC slams sexual health reporting.(National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Young people could be deterred from using sexual health services by guidelines requiring their sexual activity to be reported to the police and social services, a leading children's charity has warned. The NSPCC said the London Child Protection...

children; No allocation delays at Cafcass Wales.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in Wales has eliminated waiting lists in public and private law since it was taken over by the Welsh assembly. Its achievement, revealed in a parliamentary answer last week, tops that...

children; Schools' admissions policies show bias.(looked-after children not given priority)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Some schools are still failing to give priority to looked-after children in their admissions processes, according to a new report. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator upheld or partly upheld 27 out of 35 referrals objecting to schools'...

children in care; Cuts fear for Wales; despite budget rise.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Services for looked-after children in Wales could be at risk next year despite an above-inflation funding increase for local government. The Welsh assembly set a better-than-expected budget of [pounds sterling]3.5bn for 2006-7 - up by 5.1 per...

community care awards ; Shortlist for 2005 selected; from hundreds of entries.(social services organization)
November 10, 2005... The shortlist for the Community Care Awards 2005 has been announced. Almost 400 projects entered this year and the standard of entries was very high. Each category winner will be presented with [pounds sterling]5,000 while the overall winner...

disabilities by maria ahmed; Skills Council moves forward with plan to withdraw from care funding.(Association of Directors of Social Services)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The Learning and Skills Council is to press ahead with a proposal to stop funding health and care provision for people with learning difficulties and disabled people. The proposal, previously leaked to Community Care (news, page 6, 15...

necessary risks?(domestic violence)
November 10, 2005... Working with couples in domestic violence cases can be full of risk, but sometimes therapy for couples together is the best course of action, writes Andy Cook As many women choose to remain in relationships with violent men, intervention...

fatal lack of support.(for learning disabled persons)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The case of Wendolyn Markcrow, who killed her son after 36 years of struggling to care for him despite his severe learning difficulties, was heart-rending. Yet in the same week that a court spared her a jail sentence, with the judge suggesting...

finance; Local authority figures labelled as 'fantasy' in row over budgets.(financial gap between adult social care and childrens' services)
November 10, 2005... A claimed shortfall in funding of nearly [pounds sterling]3bn has put government and councils at loggerheads. Mithran Samuel looks at what might be making the figures fail to add up The familiar war of words between the Local Government...

Who wants ; a 'proper' job?(Column)
November 10, 2005... Recent developments in fostering have led many carers to identify themselves as professionals. Kate Wilson and Julia Evett consider the implications of such a change in status "Ido think fostering should be classed as a proper job with...

Homelessness; Pilot will plot ; route out of hostels.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... A new scheme to tackle the longstanding problem of move-on accommodation for hostel residents is to be tested in 10 areas across England. Charity Homeless Link will pilot and evaluate a prototype move-on plan over the next two years, bringing...

joint working; NHS chiefs back London boundaries.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Coterminous arrangements between councils and primary care trusts in London look set to be retained after winning the backing last week of NHS leaders. The five London strategic health authorities said the capital should retain its current PCT...

Looked-after children; Care plan scrutiny compromised.
November 10, 2005... Powers to ensure councils implement care plans are not being used in full, leading to concerns over the status and strength of independent reviewing officers, writes Gordon Carson The revelation that the independent social workers who...

Mental health; Stigma campaign lacks funds to work.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... Experts have warned that a government campaign to reduce the stigma of mental health problems is having little impact because it is backed by insufficient resources. Shift, a five-year initiative to tackle discrimination among employers, public...

new kind of underclass.(young criminals number rising)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The number of young people locked up in England and Wales has been rising inexorably towards 3,000 in the past year, despite the best efforts of the Youth Justice Board to steer sentencing policy towards community alternatives to jail. The...

Older people; Preventive services 'being discouraged'.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... A Department of Health official has admitted that one of its key targets is discouraging councils from investing in preventive services, forcing them to concentrate on high-end social care. The target on supporting people to live at home "works...

Young people by amy taylor; Campaigners oppose withdrawal ; of activity cards for bad behaviour.(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... The youth green paper's proposal to deny activities to young people who behave antisocially could backfire, campaigners warned this week. The Youth Interagency Group, which includes the Association of Directors of Social Services and children's...

Youth justice by Maria Ahmed; Prison numbers increase could force children to share with older inmates.
November 10, 2005... More young prisoners could be placed with older inmates because of overcrowding, the Youth Justice Board has said. YJB chief executive Ellie Roy said there was "severe" pressure on young offender institutions after latest figures showed the...

youth justice; Use of handcuffs ; condemned by MP.(Sally Keeble)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... A former government minister has called for greater scrutiny of privately run secure training centres after it was revealed that young people in one establishment are regularly handcuffed. Labour MP Sally Keeble said it was "completely...

'We thought; we were ; safe, but ; we're not'.
November 10, 2005... Under section nine of the Asylum Act benefits are withdrawn from failed asylum seekers in an effort to persuade them to return to their country of origin. Anabel Unity Sale reports Flores Sukula is only 19 years old but feels like a mother...

imagine t his.(chidren's services)
November 17, 2005... Many of the aims of the Children's Workforce Strategy could be fulfilled by the development of pedagogy, argue Claire Cameron and Peter Moss, who provide practical examples of how the profession could be introduced For too long we have had...

frontlines.(suggestions for people with learning difficulties to avoid eating wolf when in rural Bulgaria)
November 17, 2005... One of our new team of practitioner columnists gives her take on the use of plain english Jennifer Harvey advises on communication and how to avoid eating wolf when in rural Bulgaria Iwent on holiday to Bulgaria recently. My friend...