Community Care articles from October 2005

Community Care archives from October 2005

inspections; New standards may cause inconsistency.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Judgments about care services could become more inconsistent following reforms to the national minimum standards, nursing home owners were warned last week. Proposals for standards to assess care quality rather than more quantifiable processes...

children; 'Use or lose' secure homes, councils told.(St John's Secure Care)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The body that represents local authority secure children's homes has urged councils to make more use of their expertise in caring for vulnerable children. Mary Graham, chair of the Secure Accommodation Network, said it would be a "real tragedy"...

joint working; Schools to ignore children's trusts.( Children Act 2004)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... A report claiming that the vast majority of schools in England will not become involved in children's trusts has led to renewed calls for schools to be forced to co-operate to improve children's well-being. An evaluation of eight pathfinder...

child protection by amy taylor; Data-sharing plans on sexually active children fall foul of regulator.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The information commissioner's office has voiced concerns about several areas of the London Child Protection Committee's interim protocol for professionals working with sexually active young people. In its initial response to a complaint from...

inspections; Common borders 'assist regulation'.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The different geographical boundaries of health and social care bodies pose "real challenges" when inspecting partnership working, according to a senior Healthcare Commission figure. Deborah Klee, head of the older people's national service...

Gillan hints at policy shift from 'prison works' to intervention.(Cheryl Gillan)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The number of people in prisons in England and Wales is "frightening" and more emphasis should be placed on preventing crime, shadow home affairs minister Cheryl Gillan told the conference. In an apparent move away from the "prison works"...

Housing; Professionals urge caution over benefit reform roll-out.
October 6, 2005... Despite mixed messages from pilot schemes the government is keen to launch the new housing allowance nationally. Simeon Brody reports Last month, the government confirmed it would pursue its reform of housing benefit, citing encouraging...

If you ask me...(Julie Griffiths )(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Julie Griffiths uses Turning Point's Linden House supported housing services in London. She has mental health issues Which health or social care professional has been most use to you? Dr Shaw at Kensington and Chelsea Hospital in London....

alone together.(Martin Smith )(Interview)
October 6, 2005... Emergency duty team members tend to be autonomous and work alone. So how do you build a sense of teamwork and belonging? Martin Smith tells Graham Hopkins how he achieves this Urgent needs do not conveniently clock on between nine and...

May demands right to respite care and signals role for voluntary sector.(Theresa May)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... All carers should have the right to receive respite care and the voluntary sector would have a part to play, Theresa May, shadow secretary of state for the family, said this week. She said costs would limit the right to respite care to begin...

should he stay at home?
October 6, 2005... Intensive support staff Alison Scott (top left), Kath Smith (below) and Jacki Hayes have helped a boy with challenging behaviour to rebuild his education. But can this succeed while he lives at home, asks Graham Hopkins As...

State's strategy for looked-after children branded 'a national disgrace'.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The way the state looks after children in its care is "nothing less than a national disgrace", Theresa May told the conference. Children in care were "anything but looked after", May told a fringe meeting. She said the Conservatives had to...

a joint misadventure?(Liam Byrne )(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Care services minister Liam Byrne is full of bright ideas; he had another one in his interview with us this week. Since under government plans primary care trusts will no longer be service providers, there will be a great opportunity for local...

asylum seekers; Staff bear weapons; at detention centre.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Staff at an immigration removal centre are allowed to routinely carry weapons. The chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers, has now called for an end to the "intimidating" practice of staff carrying staves at the Haslar centre in Hampshire. She...

asylum seekers; Lords considers Home Office appeal.(House of Lords)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The Home Office appeal against a court ruling that it breached the human rights of three asylum seekers was being heard this week in the House of Lords. It follows the department's climbdown on section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and...

book reviews.(Resettling Homeless People: Theory and Practice by Mike Seal)(Elijah's Cup by Valerie Paradiz)(Book Review)
October 6, 2005... RESETTLING HOMELESS PEOPLE: THEORY AND PRACTICE ----- Mike Seal, Russell House Publishing ISBN 1903855659, [pounds sterling]18.95 This book is an excellent and comprehensive treatment of what makes for successful and sustainable...

carers; More respite urged for Scotland's carers.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Improvements to the way unpaid carers are supported in Scotland by local and national government have been demanded by the Scottish executive's innovation team. A report from Care21 recommends the executive develop a national strategic...

child protection; Council services improve at a cost.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Improvements in councils' child protection services have reduced their capacity to offer support to other children. Research by the Commission for Social Care Inspection due to be published soon, finds that children within the child protection...

children's services; Birmingham set for star showing at last.(Birmingham Council)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Birmingham Council could win its first social services star this year after an inspection of its historically poor performing children's social services. In a report last week, the Commission for Social Care Inspection says the council has made...

children's services; Joint area review buoys West Sussex.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Children's services in West Sussex have received a "good" rating for four out of the five Every Child Matters outcomes in a pilot joint area review. Staying safe was the only outcome to receive the lower "satisfactory" rating in the review,...

children's services; Lead directors to be appointed in Wales.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Welsh councils, local health boards and NHS trusts must appoint a lead director responsible for co-ordinating children's services. Each body will also need a lead senior manager responsible for implementing child protection procedures under new...

children; Cornwall lambasted over foster care.(Cornwall Council)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Cornwall Council has agreed to pay [pounds sterling]30,000 in compensation after the local government ombudsman found it "mishandled" the foster care of two brothers. In a report this week, the ombudsman said the council failed to follow a...

children; Government on wrong track with child care proceedings review, argue lawyers.
October 6, 2005... Critics fear that cost-cutting dominates the government's quick consultation over care cases. Helen McCormack reports The government's review of child care proceedings has been roundly criticised by professionals, including magistrates,...

disabilities; Councils find homes for Scope residents.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The last residents have moved out of a Cardiff sheltered care facility run by Scope for people with cerebral palsy, just days before the site was handed over to developers. Two of the residents, Brian Byfield and Alan Symonds, had vowed to...

education; Schools fail to offer year-round services.(child care)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Less than 1 per cent of secondary schools and only 2 per cent of primary schools in England provide child care or activities all year round, new research reveals. Ministers have pledged that half of all primary schools and one-third of all...

exclusive by mithran samuel; Unions to reject Cafcass pay offer.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service may face industrial strife after unions lambasted a 2.5 per cent pay offer made last week. Although the offer has not been officially rejected, one source said Unison and family court...

exclusive; Experts rail against tribunal proposals.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Experts have dealt another blow to plans to reform the Mental Health Review Tribunal. Members of the Tribunal Project Group, set up to examine proposals in the draft Mental Health Bill, have told ministers they cannot say whether the system...

exhibition review.(a community project in National Portrait Gallery (London, England))
October 6, 2005... family faces ----- National Portrait Gallery; now at Bruce Castle Museum, London N17 until 1 December It was great to see a community project being exhibited at such a prestigious venue as the National Portrait Gallery, writes Mark...

funding; Social care picks up tab for NHS cuts.(National Health Service )(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The drive to tackle NHS budget deficits is placing extra burdens on social services' stretched finances, a director claims. Wiltshire Council's director of adult services, Ray Jones, said his department faced an overspend of at least [pounds...

learning difficulties by gordon carson; Valuing People progress questioned after survey paints a bleak picture.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... A survey of people with learning difficulties in England paints a "bleak" picture of their lives, a campaigner says. Andrew Holman, director of Inspired Services, claimed the survey of nearly 2,900 people with learning difficulties "questions...

local government; Health services may switch to councils.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Councils may take over functions now carried out by primary care trusts under reforms to health and social care. In an interview with Community Care, care services minister Liam Byrne also backed the principle of councils and PCTs sharing the...

local government; Fresh strike threat over pensions row.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... The local government pensions row, which almost triggered strikes in March, has been reignited by proposals that go beyond earlier plans to limit benefits. Unions have written to deputy prime minister John Prescott warning that strike action...

mental health; Joint funding plea for advocacy service.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Funding for a new service that will provide advocacy for people who lack capacity should be jointly allocated to councils and primary care trusts, social work representatives have said. In its response to a consultation on the independent...

mental health; Attention disorder drug to be probed.(Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency investigating)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... A drug used by up to 15,000 children to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is to be investigated after trials linked it with increased risk of suicidal behaviour. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will look...

my practice.
October 6, 2005... Sarah Baalham and her team drew up a plan of action to deal with a service user's mother who pestered staff repeatedly Jackie King* used to phone the social worker of her daughter, Carla,* up to three times a day, every day. She also used...

not valued enough.
October 6, 2005... At Community Care's Valuing People conference in London last week, the achievements of the policy were self-evident. Speakers and delegates stood up to praise the policy and talk of the good it had done them, whether it was helping them get...

who are the re al experts?(palliative care)
October 6, 2005... Some people receiving palliative care are fighting the idea that because of their condition they should somehow be passive recipients of services. Anabel Unity Sale reports People who use palliative care services want to be actively...

a dying need.(palliative care )
October 6, 2005... To mark the first World Hospice and Palliative Care Day this weekend, Josephine Hocking finds out about the work of palliative care social workers, while on page 32 Anabel Unity Sale asks whether service users are being adequately consulted...

pay attent ion.(1 in 10 young people have got mental disorder)
October 6, 2005... Efforts to improve child and adolescent mental health services must do more to address the needs of children and young people from ethnic minorities, writes Steven Walker The latest survey of child and adolescent mental health problems...

trevor phillips has added to the problem.
October 6, 2005... Have you noticed something? Hardly anyone mentions racism anymore when describing or analysing problems faced by black and Asian Britons. Since 9/11, the war in Iraq, now the attack on London, the national conversation now is focused on...

power of the purchaser.(home care providers)
October 6, 2005... What factors govern the range of services offered by home care providers, some of whom appear more flexible than others? In the first of two articles, Charles Patmore and Alison McNulty reveal the results of their research Alongside their...

supporting people; Consultants running Birmingham scheme.(Robson Rhodes)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Consultancy Robson Rhodes has taken over managing Birmingham's [pounds sterling]52m Supporting People programme - the biggest in Britain. The firm has been providing interim cover for the city's Supporting People manager post since July. It is...

matron of dishonour.(a case of prostrate cancer)
October 6, 2005... this life The attitude of one hospice matron convinced Elizabeth Rogers that her sick husband should be at home Charlie, my husband, had prostate cancer. Medical staff seemed to be pushing him to go into a hospice for terminally ill people....

voluntary sector by derren Hayes; Scots charities hit out at lack of training on new Mental Health Act.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2005... Voluntary sector staff in Scotland might be unprepared for the introduction of the new Mental Health Act this week because some have been unable to undergo training, campaigners fear. Two of the main voluntary sector providers of care services...

welfare by Maria Ahmed and Amy Taylor ; Incapacity benefit rates are pushing people into poverty, warns charity.
October 6, 2005... Low rates of incapacity benefit are driving disabled people into poverty, a Labour party conference fringe meeting was told last week. The poverty rate among disabled people was a "staggering" 61 per cent, said John Knight, head of policy at...

mental health; Prescribe unpaid work, says charity.(Capital Volunteering)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... The NHS could save more than [pounds sterling]120m if it prescribed volunteering as part of the treatment of mental health patients, according to a charity. Capital Volunteering estimates that up to 15 per cent of the 100,000 people admitted to...

Employment; Cast net wider for jobs, says think tank.(disadvantaged groups)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... The government should widen its efforts to tackle unemployment among disadvantaged groups, a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research has recommended. Refugees, homeless people, ex-offenders and those recovering from substance...

Mubarek inquiry; New tapes could delay final report.(Zahid Mubarek )(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... The final report of the public inquiry into the murder of Asian young offender Zahid Mubarek could be delayed if potentially valuable evidence is not submitted in time. The inquiry is waiting for the Commission for Racial Equality to hand over...

exclusive by sally gillen; Department says it cannot provide tribunals to meet draft bill plans.
October 13, 2005... The government has admitted it will be unable to provide mental health tribunals for people detained for more than 28 days under proposed legislation, Community Care has learned. At an urgent meeting with user groups last week, Department of...

youth justice; Kent 'must provide suitable housing'.(Kent Council )(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Kent Council has been ordered by the High Court to provide suitable housing for a young offender after it had planned to place her in bed-and-breakfast accommodation on her release from custody. The 16-year-old girl has now been placed with...

New ADSS head looks to build alliances.(Association of Directors of Social Service's Julie Jones)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... The incoming president of the ADSS will make it a priority to build "strong new alliances" with a wide range of sectors. Julie Jones, who takes over as president from Tony Hunter at next week's national social services conference, said the ADSS...

adult care; Health department efficiency shake-up.(United Kingdom. Department of Health)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... The Department of Health's efficiency programme for adult social care has been moved out of the DH's commercial division, reflecting criticisms it has been too "private-sector driven". The care services efficiency delivery (CSED) team has been...

readers' views; Lack of enthusiasm for Byrne proposals.
October 13, 2005... Liam Byrne's plans to recycle health service funding into social care failed to enthuse visitors to Community Care's website with 44 per cent voting for the proposals. This week's question asks: Should there be national rather than local...

vulnerable adults; Borders agencies improve procedures.(Scottish Borders Council and National Health Service Borders)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Scottish Borders Council and NHS Borders have improved their ability to prevent the abuse of vulnerable adults with learning difficulties since a high-profile sex abuse case, inspectors have found. A report says the organisations have made...

If you ask me...(Mark Ellerby )(Brief Article)(Interview)
October 13, 2005... Mark Ellerby uses mental health services and is a student undertaking PhD politics research at Sunderland University Name one thing that would make your life better? A job. Which professional has been most use to you? My support worker...

just a bit e ccentric?(Maurice Anderson)
October 13, 2005... An older man is living in squalor and having hallucinations. His environment may be harmful, but he doesn't want to leave panel responses david glover wright Maurice's physical well-being seems to be more of an issue than his mental...

Primary care plans worry capital chiefs.(government plans to cut the number of primary care trust)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... London health leaders have joined their counterparts in social services in warning that government plans to cut the number of PCTs may wreck flourishing arrangements between trusts and councils. NHS heads told the National PCT Conference that...

just add water.
October 13, 2005... With 30 per cent of admissions of older people to hospital A&E departments in Buckinghamshire related to dehydration, a fluid response was needed. Graham Hopkins reports Water makes up 50-70 per cent of an adult's body weight. And this...

Paperless purgatory.(welfare rights Benefit claim )
October 13, 2005... welfare rights Benefit claim forms are being discouraged but clients have a right to them, writes Gary Vaux Jobcentres are changing. No longer are they the preserve of the unemployed. Under the brand-name of Jobcentre Plus, most local...

adoption; Peer demands more support for parents.
October 13, 2005... A Conservative peer has promised to launch a "crusade" to improve the support offered to adoptive parents. Baroness Morris of Bolton, shadow minister for children and families, told a fringe meeting at the Conservative conference last week that...

adult services; Torbay goes down care trust route.(adult social care to be provided from new care trust)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Torbay has become the first area to set up a care trust in two years and the ninth in total. The new body, which will replace Torbay Primary Care Trust, will assume Torbay Council's responsibilities for commissioning and providing adult social...

benefits; Cost of blunders increases by [pounds sterling]500m.(Department for Work and Pensions )(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Errors by officials and customers cost the Department for Work and Pensions [pounds sterling]500m more last year than in 2003-4, MPs estimate. The public accounts committee report states that the department lost [pounds sterling]3bn due to...

book reviews.(Employing People With Asperger Syndrome:A Practical Guide)(Implementing The Social Model of Disability)(Book Review)
October 13, 2005... IMPLEMENTING THE SOCIAL MODEL OF DISABILITY: THEORY AND RESEARCH ----- Edited by Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer, the Disability Press ISBN 0952845083, [pounds sterling]16.50 (including p&p) Available from CDS Publications, 0113 343 4407 As...

child protection by derren hayes; Western Isles abuse case resonates nationally, says Scottish minister.
October 13, 2005... Scotland's education minister has vowed lessons will be learned from failings highlighted by last week's damning inspection report into the abuse of three girls on the Western Isles. Peter Peacock has given Western Isles Council six weeks to...

child care; Bid to speed legal proceedings backed.(Association of Directors of Social Services)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Government plans to speed up child care proceedings are being supported by the Association of Directors of Social Services. The cross-government review of care proceedings has been criticised by lawyers and magistrates for focusing on...

children; Decision on secure home postponed.(St John's secure children's home)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Northamptonshire Council has postponed a decision on the future of the St John's secure children's home because it needs more information on the financial implications of closing the unit. The council was due to decide on the future of the home...

children; Family courts give fathers more access.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Claims by fathers' rights groups that the family justice system is biased against men are unfounded, according to a study by the family courts union Napo. The report, published this week and based on almost 900 cases, says that proceedings more...

children by amy taylor; Sure Start missing most vulnerable parents, claims charity chief.(parental involvement is scaring off )(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... The national evaluation of Sure Start is likely to show that the programme's focus on parental involvement is scaring off vulnerable parents who lack confidence, it was revealed last week. Caroline Abrahams, head of public policy at children's...

children's services; Applause for Welsh framework.
October 13, 2005... Wales has produced a framework for children's services that many feel is far more ambitious than its English equivalent. Derren Hayes reports The children's national service framework in Wales, published last week, has one thing in common...

does one size fit all?(primary care trusts liked by all)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... There are few things quite so unsettling as seeing a demolition crane pull up outside the house next door. Certainly, many observers in social services had a sinking feeling when the government unexpectedly announced that up to half of all...

domestic violence; Courts failing to consider safety.(HM Inspectorate of Court Administration)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Children and adults involved in domestic violence cases in the family courts are being put in danger because their safety is receiving insufficient consideration, according to a new report. The review from HM Inspectorate of Court...

exclusive by gordon carson and mithran samuel; Directors approve joint boundaries, but voice doubts over white paper.(number of primary care trusts to be cut)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Directors of adult social services have given strong backing to the government's plans to cut the number of primary care trusts and create more joint boundaries with councils, an exclusive Community Care survey has found. Fifty-four of 58...

funding; Report extols value of care cost studies.(true costs of community care to be investigated)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... All councils should investigate the true costs of care in their areas to ensure providers are given a fair price, a report suggests. The English Community Care Association says costs-of-care exercises, carried out by authorities in partnership...

that little bit extra.(home care providers )
October 13, 2005... Home care providers can be a great source of flexible, holistic help and support to their customers - if the purchasers allow them, write Charles Patmore and Alison McNulty in the second of their two articles What enables some home care...

meet the pare nts.
October 13, 2005... For parents to support their children with autism properly, their own emotional lives need to be on an even keel. Here, Val Williams reports on an approach that helps parents rebuild their resilience and relationships An inquiry by the...

legislation; Labour's social reform fever shows no sign of abating.(children's services, asylum bill, adult services are the main agenda for Labour Party)
October 13, 2005... With parliament back from its summer break this week following the three main party conferences, Community Care takes the political temperature of several key social policy issues Adult social care The government wants to launch the white...

mental health; Treatment of older people under fire.
October 13, 2005... Charity Mind has launched a campaign to tackle the "discrimination" and "lack of choice" in the treatment of older people with mental health problems. In a report this week, it argues that the range and quality of treatments available in many...

mental health by derren hayes; Twin attack on Welsh services as studies cast doubts on blueprint.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Mental health services in Wales have been severely criticised by two major reports in a week. A review of adult mental health by the Wales Audit Office finds major gaps in community services, a lack of co-operation between agencies and...

new target for blunkett.(David Blunkett, employment for disabled)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... In a new take on the Norman Tebbit "get on your bikes" theme, secretary of state for works and pensions David Blunkett is urging those on benefits to switch off daytime TV, get off their sofas and find themselves a job. If only life were that...

been there, ; done that.(recruitment drives in social service organisations focus on youth )
October 13, 2005... Older social care staff are a largely untapped source of experience once they pass retirement age. Although changes in the law may transform attitudes eventually, action needs to be taken now, reports Mike George Recruitment drives have...

older people; Readmissions into hospital 'avoidable'.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Too many older people are readmitted to hospital because of preventable crises, according to a report this week. The Commission for Social Care Inspection study of about 70 older people discharged from hospital last year found that almost...

we need fairness on schools, not choice.
October 13, 2005... This year's Labour Party conference was by all accounts a pretty flat affair. In its eighth year of government, the party even had to borrow passers-by to fill the hall for the leader's speech. Ministers talked a lot about choice, community,...

public order; Bid to create new Asbo generation.(regulations for out-of-control children)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Children under 10 could be handed "Basbos," or "baby" Asbos, according to a proposal leaked this week. Downing Street officials are said to be working on the measure, which is understood to be less harsh than an Asbo. Under the proposal being...

social exclusion; Staff attitudes 'fail people with needs'.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2005... Disadvantaged people experience poor understanding and a lack of respect from front-line public sector workers, leading to a low take-up of services, according to a report published this week. The report by the government's Social Exclusion...