Community Care articles from September 2005

Community Care archives from September 2005

Carers: Young carers short of support in Wales.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Young carers in Wales are not receiving support services because of a shortage of resources in some councils, voluntary sector leaders claim. Children in Wales, the umbrella organisation for children's charities, has warned that there is a...

Fostering; N Ireland plans 24-hour helpline.(foster care strategy)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Foster carers in Northern Ireland will be able to access round-the-clock helplines under plans unveiled by the country's four health and social services boards. The draft foster care strategy proposes establishing regional helplines, staffed...

Workforce; Job review prompts staff strike threat.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Some of Aberdeen Council's most experienced social workers have been offered reduced employment terms and conditions as part of a council-wide job review. Staff will be balloted on industrial action if negotiations between union Unison and...

Registration; Nearly one in 10 have conviction.(General Social Care Council's revelation)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Almost 6,000 social workers have declared criminal convictions in their applications for registration, the General Social Care Council has revealed. Following a freedom of information request by a social worker, the GSCC disclosed that almost 9...

Recruitment; Newham to lure students with [pounds sterling]10k.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Newham Council has launched a scheme offering final-year social work students a [pounds sterling]10,000 grant as it tries to tackle staff shortages. The east London authority has made the "golden grants" available to UK masters or BA final year...

Asylum seekers; Family first to lose home under section.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... A mother and daughter have become the first family to lose their home under the government's policy that stops benefits to failed asylum seekers. Vanda Da Graca, 26, and her four-year-old daughter are staying with a friend in Rochdale, Greater...

Learning difficulties; More use of person-centred plans urged.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The Department of Health should issue new guidance to local authorities and primary care trusts on implementing person-centred planning for people with learning difficulties, a report recommends. The report, by Lancaster University researchers,...

Readers' views; Child protection 'bias' against poor.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Almost 70 per cent of visitors to Community Care's website believe the child protection system is biased against poor families. This week's question asks: Should Independent Living Fund payments be stopped whenever there is a query about...

Communities; Residents rubbish; 'hoodie' sculpture.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Anewly erected sculpture of a "hoodie" in Montrose, Scotland, has provoked an antisocial response from some residents who hit out at Angus Council for spending [pounds sterling]1,500 on commissioning the bronze artwork. Artist Des Smith won a...

Family courts; Guardians' boss to; offer 'realistic' pay.(Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service's proposed pay scale)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service hopes to make staff a "realistic" pay offer, despite its financial woes. In an interview with Community Care last week, chief executive Anthony Douglas said emergency measures had...

If you ask me...(interview of Matthew Gold)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... Matthew Gold has learning difficulties and receives domiciliary care and support services in West Sussex. He enjoys cycling Who has the biggest influence on you? My support worker, Paul Brown. He helps me out in tricky situations. ...

Child protection by amy taylor; Split data-sharing plan 'unworkable'.
September 1, 2005... Plans to introduce separate information-sharing procedures for health professionals and the rest of the children's workforce have been branded as unworkable by a leading social care figure. Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of...

Childminding; Death report flags up Ofsted mistakes.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The death of a toddler who drowned in the bath could have been prevented by tighter government regulations and guidance for agencies working with childminders, an independent report said last week. Joshua Massey-Hodgkinson died in April 2004,...

Reassure social care.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Less than half the respondents to Community Care's exclusive survey this week were aware of the joint health and social care white paper. While health white papers often make it into the national media, social care falls off their radar unless...

We don't want; no separation.
September 1, 2005... In the US one school is educating its black boys separately - with positive results. But, as Anabel Unity Sale reports, experts in Britain counsel against this approach, instead suggesting different ways to raise the academic achievements of...

Best in class?
September 1, 2005... The government has been pushing for children with special educational needs to be included into mainstream schools. But in recent months, the effectiveness of this policy has been questioned. Katie Leason reports Should children with...

Exclusive by Mithran Samuel; Most staff oblivious to white paper plan while suspicion of NHS remains.
September 1, 2005... Most social care professionals are unaware of the government's policy agenda for adult services, despite it commanding the support of senior managers. An exclusive Community Care survey of almost 1,000 staff finds 56 per cent are unaware of the...

Exclusive by sally gillen; Kent hospital admits use of camp beds for some psychiatric patients.
September 1, 2005... Psychiatric patients have been sleeping on camp beds in the communal area of an acute ward because of a shortage of beds. Vulnerable people sectioned at Priority House in Maidstone, Kent, are regularly accommodated in the makeshift bedroom. A...

Exclusive by amy taylor; Charities angry over rule change to Independent Living Fund appeals.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Achange in government benefit policy could make it much harder for disabled people to continue to live in the community, disability campaigners have warned. The Disability Alliance said it was inflexible and unfair for the government to stop...

Caring after hours.
September 1, 2005... Helen Wheatley looks at how extended schools could benefit disabled children and their parents Proposals for extended schools could unlock exciting opportunities for disabled children and young people and their families. However, the...

Homelessness; Extra time for homeless shelter.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... A Peterborough day centre for the homeless that faced closure has secured a temporary reprieve. The St. Theresa's centre, which serves more than 700 homeless people, was to close in the autumn after Peterborough Council rejected an appeal for...

Independence setbacks.
September 1, 2005... The Independent Living Fund enshrines many of the values proclaimed by social care reformers in the past few decades. It acknowledges the fact that disabled people usually want to live their lives with independence and dignity, supported by...

Mental capacity; Scots relax rules on funds management.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Scottish executive proposals to simplify the rules governing management of funds for people with mental incapacity have been welcomed by charity Enable. The executive hopes 20,000 people could benefit from the changes to what is known as...

Partnerships; Primary care trust plans spark concern.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Health and social care partnerships could be broken up by the current review of primary care trusts, even though improving joint working is one of its key aims. There are fears among smaller unitary councils, several of which share boundaries...

It's the services that matter, not ideology.
September 1, 2005... Not-for-profit agencies are at a crossroads. Taking one path would see us delivering more social care services. The other path would see us turning away from service delivery for fear it might somehow compromise our independence. I firmly...

Police; Probe into handling of Asperger's arrest.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... West Midlands police are investigating their treatment of an 18-year-old man with Asperger's who was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon, after a complaint by his mother. The force's professional standards department is...

poverty; 'Mortality rate class gap fails to narrow'.
September 1, 2005... Child poverty campaigners say there is still "little evidence" that the gap in the infant mortality rate between social classes is narrowing, despite the overall rate falling to its lowest since records began more than 150 years ago. Paul...

This baby is for keeps.(a case study on social service for parenting)
September 1, 2005... A woman with learning difficulties is worried that social services will remove her new baby as they did her two other children panel responses Andrew Luff The principal responsibility of local health and social care services is to provide...

Stone by stone.(environmental restoration project for better mental health)
September 1, 2005... An environmental restoration project is helping drug and alcohol misusers gradually restore self-belief and motivation as they travel on the path to recovery. Graham Hopkins reports Mention nature therapy and images of tree-hugging or some...

thanks for everything.(biography of Richard Jameson)(Biography)
September 1, 2005... this life Richard Jameson reflects on life's good times and bad - celebrating them all, taking nothing for granted In all honesty mine is a very fine life, but it could have been so very different. The trouble is I take everything for...

Striking a balance.(Department for Work and Pensions)(introduction of Freedom of Information Act 2000)
September 1, 2005... welfare rights Advocates work with their clients has been boosted by recent policy disclosures, writes Gary Vaux The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is starting to have some impact on the secrecy that often surrounds benefit decisions and...

Workforce; Social work role is up for review.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... England is to have its own review on the future of social work, similar to the inquiry in Scotland. The General Social Care Council said it was doing some "scoping work" on an English equivalent of the 21st Century Review of Social Work in...

Young people; Girls drink alcohol 'as often as boys'.(survey)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Girls are drinking alcohol as often as boys for the first time, research on young people's lifestyles has revealed. But the number of young people who had drunk alcohol in the week before they were questioned fell from 25 per cent in 2003 to 23...

care homes; 'Sector must fill future care gaps'.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... The care home sector will have to grow to keep pace with the needs of an ageing population, warn market analysts. The number of people eligible for care home places will grow by 10,000 a year over the next 15 years, according to a report from...

Domiciliary care; Legal threat over council's tendering.(solicitor Ian Carruthers joined Liverpool law firm Rex Makin)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Five home care companies have appointed solicitors to prepare possible legal action against Wirral Council over the way it handled a contract tendering process. The companies lost out when the council reduced its roster of care providers for...

mental health; Ministers face drug regulation pressure.
September 8, 2005... The government is under fire for rejecting key recommendations from MPs to tighten regulation of the pharmaceutical industry. Charity Mind said the Department of Health's response to a critical health select committee report, did not allay...

young people; Street wardens pit goths against chavs.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... A new scheme in Peterborough is trying to resolve that age-old problem of teenage tribal tensions. This time the friction is between "goths" and "chavs", and the solution is somewhat unexpected. The city's street wardens are taking the groups...

Drugs misuse; Quicker treatment will help cut deaths.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... The rise in the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland last year highlights the need for more rapid access to better treatment services, pressure group the Scottish Drugs Forum has said. It made the comments following figures published last...

If you ask me...(Eric Ingham)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 8, 2005... Eric Ingham has learning difficulties and mental health problems. He uses Turning Point's supported housing services at Linden House Who has had the biggest influence on you? Barclay, my friend. Which health or social care professional...

it's the taking part.(Jo Winsloe at charity Contact-a-Family servicing for disabled children)
September 8, 2005... How can parents of disabled children find time in their busy lives to help develop services? In one borough, honesty, respect and saying "thanks" paves the way. Sarah Wellard reports The principle of involving users as a means of improving...

exclusive by maria ahmed; Probation union claims new offender plan doubts as key Bill faces delay.
September 8, 2005... The bill underpinning the National Offender Management Service (Noms) could be shelved, increasing uncertainty about the body's future. Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of probation union Napo, said government sources had pointed to...

Research.(Secret Loves, Hidden Lives? Exploring Issues for People With Learning Disabilities Who Are Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual)(Book Review)
September 8, 2005... SECRET LoVES, HIDDEN LiVES? EXPLORING ISSUES FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES WHO ARE GAY, LESBIAN OR BISEXUAL David Abbott and Joyce Howarth, The Policy Press ISBN 1861346905, [pounds sterling]15.99 Secret Loves is a good piece of...

rapport in a storm.(a case of suicidal mother )
September 8, 2005... A suicidal mother faces having her new baby taken into care. Graham Hopkins reports on a case for an emergency duty team Problems do not conveniently confine themselves to office hours. And so for social care we have emergency duty...

Councils' duties on care services defined.(community care )(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Rules clarifying which local authority takes responsibility for people needing community care services have been proposed by the executive. Changing the legislation to avoid "unnecessary disputes between authorities" was suggested by the...

Web review.(www.practicelearning. org.uk)(Product/Service Evaluation)
September 8, 2005... www.practicelearning. org.uk The Practice Learning Taskforce (PLTF) has relaunched its website this summer. With additional funding provided by central government for one more year, PLTF aims for "a resource for everyone wishing to...

Youth justice; 'Add human rights to behaviour code'.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Human rights have been "forgotten" in the Youth Justice Board's draft code of practice on managing the behaviour of children and young people in the secure estate, campaigners have warned. In its response to the YJB's consultation on the code,...

adoption; Reformed register ; boosts placements.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... More children are being placed by the national adoption register, including its first group of four siblings. Baaf Adoption and Fostering, which has run the register since December, has matched 33 children with adoptive families in the past...

adult care; Regional offices need expert links.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Regional government offices are unclear about where to find adult social care expertise, a senior Department of Health official says. In a letter to health chiefs, Duncan Selbie, the department's director of programmes and performance, says...

book reviews.(Community Music: A Handbook, The Genesis of Artistic Creativity: Asperger's Syndrome and The Arts, Goodbuy, Mr Wonderful-Alcoholism, Addiction and Early Recovery)(Book Review)
September 8, 2005... COMMUNITY MUSIC: A HANDBOOK Edited by Pete Moser and George McKay, Russell House Publishing ISBN 1903855705, [pounds sterling]25 Although this book is primarily designed to be used in the running of workshops and participatory music in...

child protection; Edinburgh workers 'lack confidence'.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Edinburgh social workers lack confidence in their child protection decisions because of unclear guidance, according to a council report into progress made since the death of baby Caleb Ness in 2001. Though the audit finds there has been a...

child protection by gordon carson; Concerns over 'label for life' spark rethink over schedule one offences.
September 8, 2005... Schedule one offences against children might be revised after the government said that convictions for minor incidents such as childhood fights could stigmatise people for life. As part of a review started last year, the Department for...

children by amy taylor; Police sweeps fail to deter truants, suggests survey of local authorities.
September 8, 2005... Truancy sweeps are an ineffective use of police resources and most of the children stopped are not truanting, a new report claims. The survey of 120 councils, carried out by the children's rights organisation Action on Rights for Children,...

criminal justice; Protesters target 'unsafe' Durham.(prisioners' rights)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... The mother of a young woman who died in custody joined a protest against "unsafe" conditions at Durham Prison women's unit last week. Pauline Campbell, whose 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, died at Styal Prison in 2003, was protesting after the...

education by amy taylor; Plan to smooth path back to school for young offenders could backfire.
September 8, 2005... Proposals to make it easier for young offenders to return to school on release from custody could have the opposite effect, ministers have been warned. Stephen Mason, president of the National Association of Social Workers in Education, said...

families; 'Forced marriages should be a crime'.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... An expert in forced marriages has backed plans to make the practice a specific criminal offence. Jasvinder Sanghera, Asian affairs manager at charity Refuge, who ran away from an arranged marriage at 15, said people were "not being held to...

inspections; Providers put case for less red tape.(standards of social care regulation)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Social care regulation should be about quality not paperwork, a sector leader has said ahead of a meeting this week with government officials about reforming the national minimum standards. Care provider associations were due to meet Department...

local government; Councillors want to commission health.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... The Local Government Association is calling for councils to be given health commissioning powers. A draft manifesto, discussed this week by the LGA executive, says councils should assume control of services, including health, from other...

design ; principal.(an interview with Mary Marshall, director of Stirling University's Dementia Services Development Centre)(Interview)
September 8, 2005... Mary Marshall headed a pioneering dementia centre and helped to revolutionise thinking on how design should take heed of cognitive impairment. As she retires, she talks to Terry Philpot Two things happened on Mary Marshall's first day as...

mental health; Teachers who help are not equipped.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Teachers do not receive enough support when dealing with children's mental health problems, campaigners have warned following evidence that most parents turn to teachers first with concerns about their children. An Office for National...

my practice.(rights of crime victims)
September 8, 2005... The long-term consequences on health and social well-being of being a victim of crime are often ignored, writes Joanna Perry One of our policy papers at Victim Support is called Criminal Neglect: No Justice Beyond Criminal Justice. It shows...

older people; Lawyers find care; home fees loophole.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... More people are being urged by solicitors to transfer their homes to their children to avoid care home fees. Care home advice body NHFA said its helpline was receiving regular calls on "protective property trust wills", under which people...

parenting; Plans for orders ignore social work.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Government plans to extend its "respect" agenda, including an increase in parenting orders, have been slammed by social care leaders. Plans to give housing officers, antisocial behaviour officers and schools increased powers to issue parenting...

public order; Magistrates lobby on child Asbos.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... Antisocial behaviour order applications against young people should be heard in youth courts to safeguard their welfare, the Magistrates' Association has said. It has written to Baroness Scotland, minister for criminal justice, asking for a new...

readers' views; Queries 'should not halt fund payments'.
September 8, 2005... More than 70 per cent of visitors to Community Care's website felt that Independent Living Fund payments should not be stopped whenever there is a query about disability living allowance entitlements. This week's question asks: Should schools...

common language, ; different practice?(Hounslow Council hired US social workers )
September 8, 2005... Hounslow Council has hired US social workers to fill its recruitment gaps. So how are they coping with practice in the UK, asks Anabel Unity Sale The roar of a jet engine fills the air as a plane flies over, heading for nearby...

schools; Uniform grants may halt poverty stigma.(Child Poverty Action Group)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... A coalition of pressure groups has called on the government this week to order and fund councils to provide school uniform grants for poorer families. The call comes in a report which says poorer children risk falling behind with schoolwork or...

Raft of bills proposed in shake-up to adult protection and hearing system.
September 8, 2005... The Scottish executive has been urged to put the rights and views of vulnerable children and adults at the heart of its legislative programme for the next two years. First minister Jack McConnell told the Scottish parliament this week that the...

My inner emptiness.(borderline personality disorder)
September 8, 2005... this life Alex Williams describes her reaction to being diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder It is four years since I was diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder. I was 23 and seeing a consultant psychiatrist...

From trauma, hope.
September 8, 2005... A year ago 330 hostages died as soldiers fought terrorists holding hundreds of school children, their parents and staff at School Number One in Beslan. Derren Hayes speaks to an Edinburgh social worker who travelled to southern Russia to train...

Workforce; Graduate trainees strike gold.
September 8, 2005... Councils are using a range of methods to hire trainee social workers, increasingly involving large sums of money, writes Gordon Carson "Golden hello", "golden handshake", "market premium" or "joining payment" - these are all terms...

conference; Directors' forum goes live on web.
September 15, 2005... Community Care's website will offer webcasts of key sessions from the National Social Services Conference 2005 next month. The webcasts will include key speeches from health secretary Patricia Hewitt, England's children's commissioner, Al...

Education; Unison warns over staff skills and pay.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... The extended schools agenda is an opportunity to skill-up existing school staff, Unison said last week. Christina McAnea, national secretary for education services at the public sector union, warned a conference that extended services must not...

Policy; Fears over reform costs aired at TUC.(Trades Union Congress)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... Community and social care issues were prominent in motions at this week's annual Trades Union Congress in Brighton. The National Union of Teachers called for the government to fully fund the cost of reforms to children's services. It also...

Older people; Charity rethinks role in provision.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... Help the Aged could set up low-level social care services as part of a repositioning of its work around the needs of vulnerable, as opposed to all, older people. The changes, which include a new vision, mission statement and logo, are based on...

Learning difficulties; Legal fight delays hospital's closure.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... The Orchard Hill hospital for people with learning difficulties in Sutton, Surrey, will not meet the Valuing People deadline to close long-stay hospitals by March 2006 following delays caused by a legal battle. This week the hospital said it...

Rough sleepers; Numbers on streets lower than ever.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... Rough sleeping in England has fallen to its lowest recorded level, according to government figures. The number of rough sleepers has fallen to 459, down from 508 last year and a quarter of the 1998 figure of 1,850. The government said the...

mental health; GPs 'unhelpful' in drugs advice role.
September 15, 2005... Two out of five people trying to come off psychiatric drugs find their GP "unhelpful" and one in 10 says their doctor "made things worse", research reveals. The survey of 200 people by mental health charity Mind finds that 90 per cent of those...

Homelessness; Soup attracts more than rough sleepers.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... A "soup summit" was held by Westminster Council this week after research revealed that the vast majority of soup run users are not rough sleepers. Researchers were told of one man who was using soup runs to help him save up for a football...

Joint working by mithran samuel; Directors accuse government of snub over NHS restructuring plans.(National Health Service)
September 15, 2005... Social services directors have criticised the Department of Health for shutting them out of plans to restructure the NHS despite the significant implications of the plans for councils. Association of Directors of Social Services said it was...

Out in the field.(social care)
September 15, 2005... Isolation, staff shortages, and lack of facilities and transport all hamper social care provision in rural areas. Jon Glasby examines some innovative solutions to help service users living in the countryside Service providers are...

If you ask me...(interview)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 15, 2005... Leanna Benjamin, aged 27, is a wheelchair user. She uses the Direct Payment scheme for her home care Who has had the biggest influence on you? My mum. She makes something out of nothing and smiles when things are bad. Which health or...

Battered or confused?(assault against elderly)(Panel Discussion)
September 15, 2005... practice panel Older people's services - Leeds social services and primary care trust A woman is alleging that her alcoholic husband is assaulting her - but she also has problems with her memory. Our panel advises panel responses Mick...

Home of choice.(Citizens Advice Bureau )
September 15, 2005... Finding the right care home can be confusing. But a one-stop scheme run by a Citizens Advice team in Manchester is shouldering most of the burden for would-be residents. Sarah Wellard reports When it comes to choosing residential care or...

Voluntary sector; London providers face funding shift.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2005... London councils are to move forward with a new funding model that has raised concerns among voluntary and community social care organisations. Members of the Association of London Government, which distributes [pounds sterling]28m a year to...