World Social Work Day 2014

 

Hello Folk's

This is a hard one for me as from life experience I have seen Social Work intervention in two different counties on a few occasions.

The reader would expect that I hate Social Workers and every thing they do this would be wrong.

There is A need in society for intervention and safeguarding for all people young old or even middle aged.

The problem arises when they fail to carry out that duty.

In Cheshire when the grandad on my mums side was in need of social care support it was there the individual social worker concerned looked at everything my grandad required to help the family with his Alzheimer's.

The Social Worker went out of her way to understand the family's needs and that of my grandfather and made the time to carry out her duties to the best of her abilities.

It was a difficult time but I genuinely respect the care support and compassion that was provided at the time.

The above is what I call being a Social Worker

Then it came to Staffordshire a completely different arrangement the social worker arranged some home help to call in and assist my grandad on my dads side with keeping his home clean and tidy.

They would not turn up every second week and then fill in the care plan folder when at his home backdated.

So it was decided to tell Staffordshire County Council about this and cancel his home care as we could clean the home for him.

a few years later he had a fall of a chair whilst changing a battery in a clock and it was decided that he would require some home care and after promises from a social worker that I would receive help and support and respite I chose to resign from my own career to look after him.

This was good for grandad I took him out to Macmillan cancer care on a friday and his social worker would take him out on a Wednesday to a local day care.

The home care was sporadic and rushed on a hit and miss basis I tried to tell the Social Worker but nothing changed.

Then it came three months in, the first respite request I was told by the Social Worker that all had changed "There was no money and my grandad would have to be assessed first to see if he required respite"and that he probably would not get any.

Note not the carer the elderly person with dementia.

Then came the home help service whilst out of the house a home help came into grandads home to get him out of bed and wash and get dressed in undertaking this she rushed him and pushed him around in his bedroom, How did I know this there was a camera recording the incident.

I contacted the local Social Care Team about the incident and requested a new care provider that I had already arranged.

Behind my back the false reporting and documentation started tittle tattle and falsification of telephone conversations,from that point onwards there was no stopping it.

Social Workers in the team would lie directly to me and only when challenged with evidence would apologize.

Situations telephone calls and documentation was continually twisted to reflect that the Social Workers were undertaking there job roles.

I will probably never know why, was it target driven or was it my mistake for complaining regarding the abuse towards my grandfather. 

There was no recognition of my needs with coping 24hrs a day no one asked if i needed help

So unfortunately you will have to forgive my lack of excitement for World Social Work Day because the profession has a long way to go and a hell of a lot to learn.

There are good professionals out there however there will always be those who hold no compassion and are only interested in there own professional gain.

I recently read an article where a social worker discussed all about her own achievements and not one word about what she had done to make the peoples lives she cared for better.

Steve