Lying in bed....tired but not sleepy. Mind churning. Lists of things to do for work going through my head. This does not feel good. I worked till 8.25pm last night. I left for work at 7.30am to hand deliver a form to a GP surgery before going in to the office to be on Duty. I picked up my second s.47 report in 2 days, on top of 3 or 4 new initial assessments.
What is difficult is planning my time, when there is so much to do. It's obviously important! And without it, I hurtle from one day to the next without any sense of being in charge. But I am not a naturally organized person, a "Born Organized" sort. I like to move at a certain pace, think in a certain way, which is not frenetic.
And this job is frenetic. One of our colleagues is going to offer a 30 minute workshop on getting Initial Assessments done on time. I was looking forward to it, though it was on a Duty day so I thought I would probably miss it.....in any case he discovered that he had a clash on his own diary! As the email informing us all of this put it, he was going dealing with his own time management issue......funny! But not really, as this is a very, very organized person.....what must it be like for the rest of us who aren't quite so?
So I worry about the initial assessments I have not yet started. I know I need to have a process.....robotize the response so that I don't even think about the first steps. One would be to send out a letter within a day of receiving the referral. Don't think to much about the background, just get the basic appointment letter out. Give people 3 or 4 days notice and just get the visit in the diary. The only difficulty with this is when referrers have not told parents as because we work in partnership with parents :-) we need to start with them being willing for the referral.
......I need to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about this. Sounds grand. And it is potentially interesting. 14 year old girl, shipped out to Angola by Mum, to strangers, apparently. Girl had been doing well in school. Girl not happy in Angola. FCO want us to do an assessment. However, Mum does not know about this. So I suggested there is a need for FCO to contact Mum and break the good news to her. That was Tuesday....now it's Friday and I haven't heard and time is slipping by. I haven't made an appointment with Mum and will have to move fast now to get the assessment done in 10 days. Did I remember to put it in my diary as due? I hope so....
Today our ICS (computerized record system) is being upgraded. So it won't be working from 2.30pm. Oh Joy! I hope the whole thing just goes through a sort of spontaneous combustion and liberates us from the trance of technology. I did social work before ICS and it has been one of the most ridiculous, time wasting, clumsy and expensive encumbrances to the job. Yesterday for example I had an assessment ready, pretty much, in Word, and just had to copy and paste it into the boxes. I had almost no more actual writing to do.
I did that little bit of writing. It took me about 1.5 hours to sort out getting the assessment actually into the ICS system and copied to siblings. Click, click, click, click. At least 4 clicks, per dimension, 8 dimensions, then finishing off...another 20 clicks or so. 50 clicks. It is mind numbing. If I just typed it, and put it on to the system with one click, how much time would be saved?
This week I have been on Duty. For the intake team, that's when you're right in the frontline, dealing with all new Child Protection Referrals for the Local Authority. Starting on Wednesday, we were 3 people plus a manager. I haven't done an actual s.47 for months. One of my fellow Duty Social Workers has never worked in the UK before. And she, like me, was booked in for 2 days of ICS training. Mine was postponed, but my colleague had to go to do hers. The third is not actually a fully fledged Social Worker though she has passed her examinations but there are the layers of bureaucracy to go through first, of course.
So effectively I was the only Social Worker available to do Child Protection Enquiries. No pressure there then, for me or my manager!
You are meant to write things up, right away nowadays. After the CP enquiry on Wednesday I went home and did a draft write up. I had the energy, and it's reaassuring to know something is in print, for the bit of me that does care about getting things done on time....yes, I do have that bit, and I want to have a job of course. Yesterday though, the CP enquiry included the girl being with foster carers.
A young Pakistani girl with a boyfriend that Mum does not know about, who is on the phone "all night" and after a row with Mum she has a nosebleed which she says was caused by being hit by Mum. Mum denies hitting her. She says she is keeping her younger sister awake by all the phoning. She does not want her to have a boyfriend until she is 18. It's all fascinating stuff, and it's people's lives, what happens now could change all their lives as Mum is a professional child care worker....Oh and the girl does not like her stepdad, whom Mum adores, and alleges she was raped by the brother of stepdad.
So yesterday I did a visit, to Mum, and heard her side of the story after hearing the girl's side all morning.
I spoke with one of the siblings, and saw all the bedrooms. I have to speak with all of them, contact schools, contact GP, and it's half term next week. I have to attend an ABE interview (video interview with the police re the alleged rape). There will be no supporting evidence, the suspect is in Sweden....I am going to support the girl. Then we will be returning her home, or at least not offering her further time with fostercarers.
I haven't made notes about the bedrooms, and don't remember who slept where....tut tut. I know they weren't dirty or messy at least but ideally I would have time to make some notes when I came back to the office.
But yesterday 2 IAs were due and I had to submit them. Which was really more important? Well time to think about that girl and her family and discuss the situation in an unpressured way would have been good. And it would be good to have recorded what I did in detail. Here is a list of what I will need to write up..in detail.
The intervew with the girl.
The discussion with TM and police
The second part of the interview, about whether she wants to pursue the allegation against her mother into a complaint.
I sent the girl back to foster carers while we, policwoman and I went to see mother. Police don't want her to go home because of interview re rape.
Mother not in.
I had no telephone number for mum so I called her work.
Mother called me and said she was in.
I did visit to Mum and saw 2 of siblings.
Back to office, it is now about 4pm.
Discussion with TM and another night with foster carers is agreed.
Referral form to be completed. Gets sent just before 5pm.
Our knuckles are rapped for sending girl back to carers she was with the first night.
I feel thankful that as it is a Police Protection Order, I don't need to complete any more paperwork.
And I feel it was the right thing to send the girl to the same carers, how ridiculous to move her
when it is only going to be one more night. But these are emergency foster carers so they need to
keep the bed available. Etc.
So once that form was sent, I spent 3 hours at work processing the two initial assessments that were due. I phoned one of the mothers involved and had a discussion that should have happened face to face, but I don't have the time for that sort of luxury. I also told another client to complete a form herself, that I should do with her, so that she can get help from the mental health team. All these not so great, but have to get it done, decisions.....I left the office at 8.25pm.
And you know what made my heart sink ever so slightly. I wasn't last to leave. There were at least 4 social workers and 2 managers in the office, likely to work till 10pm. And no one seems to think it is the least bit strange....We have a culture now where it's acceptable to work from 9a m to 10pm...no wonder my colleagues in snatched conversations say they can't cope, it's impossible, it's slavery and it's also dangerous. Where getting an assessment done in time becomes a mini crisis, you lose your perspective on the real world and what is happening out there.
For example, the son of a client was stabbed. I should have phoned, I meant to, but pressure of time, and pressure of deadlines for initial assessments meant that I just didn't. I was so keen to get assessments done, and the checks that they entail, that a simple, caring call did not happen. I'm not happy about that, I hope it's a lesson to me about not getting caught up in the mania to get things done at the price of human compassion.
When I left the office I took a breath, and realized, this is my life. It's happening amidst all this frenetic activity in which I don't connect with myself for hours at a time as I am so busy doing. It was almost a shock to be free again, to think my own thoughts. To feel my feelings. Is it right to be so busy because of a controlling system, that I forget to be aware of this being it, this is life. This is my precious life, and I choose to enjoy it, no matter what.
I remember seeing a tree in the morning, on my way from dropping off the letter. It was a tree with a wonderful, vivid red apple. Like an apple in a fairy tale. A moment of beauty which I appreciate.That's why it's worth it to write about my real life in social work. I get to reconnect with who I am.
Rilke is a great source of comfort and inspiration. He knew a thing or two about the relentlessness of the every day challenges we face and I am glad to remember what I believe about life and its ultimate mystery...
My life is not this steeply sloping hour
By Rainer Maria Rilke
My life is not this steeply sloping hour,
in which you see me hurrying.
Much stands behind me; I stand before it like a tree;
I am only one of my many mouths,
and at that, the one that will be still the soonest.
I am the rest between two notes,
which are somehow always in discord
because Death’s note wants to climb over—
but in the dark interval, reconciled,
they stay there trembling.
And the song goes on, beautiful.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Welcome to Robot World!
What a week! I am so angry, so deeply angry, that I don't know how to express it fully. The craziness of the system, and not even just in social work, makes me furious! This week there has been an outburst of moral outrage in the press about the treatment of the elderly in care homes. One in five hospitals aren't meeting the required standards of care of the elderly and too many are left without proper attention and unnoticed even when they need to go to the toilet or have a drink of water. If there was a possibility of that being my mother or father, how angry I would feel.
But the debate is taking the tone of "we must employ the right sort of people, with the right sort of values." Not these monsters who apparently have slipped through into our precious NHS and are busy neglecting our nearest and dearest. How dare they!
There are comments about the paperwork taking up too much time....but still, one of the responses I heard was..."Let's have new procedures."
Great! Wonderful! Let's have a bureaucratic response which will probably add to the burden of paperwork and ramp up the "control and command" within the system.
I wish I had a voice that could be heard. I would say: Look, you have created a system based on logic and the left brain. To function in that system, people have to make efficiency their number one priority. Caring is fundamentally not an activity driven by logic. It's a heart centred attitude. You can't measure and quantify it. Yes you can make rules about actions and behaviour. Do this every so often, take the pulse, take the temperature, give so many drinks etc. And if people are busy beyond belief, and know that their performance will be measured based on those actions, they may do their best to reach the targets. But the targets are not designed for human beings and the system itself robs its staff of their humanity.
Caring is about having time to see. It means having time to get to know a patient or a client, not to see them just as a number with a chart of boxes to tick. It means time to have little chats about how they are feeling, what they are looking forward to. Time to have human encounters that establish a connection. Then it comes naturally to look out for Mrs A who didn't have a visit for 3 days and feels a bit down. Or to take the time to listen to Mr B who is worried he isn't going to get better in time to go to his son's wedding.....and you wouldn't dream of leaving Ms C, a former teacher, lying in soiled bedding for hours because you've got paperwork to complete....."
Impossible? Well, no, actually. That is what is so annoying about all of this. I remember very well growing up in a small community where that is exactly how it was, when I was in hospital. I had my tonsils removed and I was a frightened 10 year old. But I was being "cared for" by nurses who knew my mother, where there were connections and links between people and even if a particular nurse was a bit lazy or not in the right mood, she would not want to let my family down. It didn't even have to be thought about.
I also remember as a young person hearing about how computers were going to change our lives. Away with drudgery! Everyone would have a 4 day week and we would become the leisure society! But of course, computers have provided a system of control and measurement which has generated vast amounts of unproductive work with no relevance to CARING.
I remember as a young (ish) social worker in a "patch based" team. We were....maybe 20 people dealing with the needs of an area the size of ...let's say the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets. Every week there would be about 6 new cases, sometimes more. We had a team meeting at which the cases were allocated. Often someone would say...oh that's the Bloggs family! What is it this time? Was that not the family where...such and such happened or there is so and so who is a bit risky?
We often knew our cases as people, they turned up for s. 1 payments, and we offered support and at times we intervened on a statutory basis. As a social worker, I was not all that aware of working for the Council, I was primarily a professional doing the best job I could. After a visit I would write a short note on the file and do anything that needed to be done....
Nowadays, how does it go?
There are about 20 of us dealing with all the new cases for a whole Borough. That's called intake. We have 10 days to complete an initial assessment. That includes seeing the child alone. There is no actual limit to the number of new cases you could get in a week. Could be 3, could be 8. And the "paperwork" ie computer work for each case is ridiculous.
Examples...this week I was asked to go and check who was caring for a child whose mother has mental health problems. In the old days, I'd have gone and done a short visit, established where she was living and as it was mostly in another Borough, I'd have contacted that Borough, advised them to follow it up and referred mother to mental health services. I would have kept the case for a few weeks or months to make sure that mother was getting services and to liaise with the other Borough. I would have been able to meet the older brother, who is 16 and attending College. I would have done write ups as needed.
Nowadays, I have to go, do the visit and complete an initial assessment, covering 8 "dimensions" including social presentation and identity. I have to write this up. Instead of taking half an hour, it takes at least 3 hours to put on the computer. It has to go straight to a team manager for approval and that must happen within 10 days. I have to contact other professionals for information about health and education.
I can't keep the case open, and I am not at all sure it will get passed on to the locality team as there is not actually work to do other than checking that referrals are made and services provided.
I should have "opened" an assessment on the 16 year old as well and will probably get my knuckles rapped that I did not. But I was trying to complete the assessment within time scales and that would have caused a bit of delay.
The pressure is phenomenal, when these timescales are made the be all and end all of the job. They just take over. This week I got a new case where the family was feeling quite anxious and I wanted to visit briefly before a visit I had already planned. I left the office to go and collect my car.We can't park at the office any more of course....I was running late...(dealing with paperwork) and the car would not start! I had to think whether I could till do the visit, and be late for my appointment, or postpone it to the next day. It was raining...I chose to postpone, made the appointment for the next day and went to my original visit.
This worked out OK, I suppose, but I know that the nerds who designed the system that controls my life, made no account of car breakdowns, the longer time travel by public transport takes, the fact that the weather influences moods and choices. It did not matter on that occasion, but I wondered if the situation had been different would I have been able to make the choice to do two visits on that afternoon? I am not sure.
A robot though, would never be put off by rain, tiredness, too much work, wanting to have a life of its own. Maybe it could be programmed to care for people too, little robotic chats that make people feel good. A robot would function efficiently, not need breaks, not need water or to go to the toilet or to have a little human contact...it would not want to enjoy its leisure time, question authority or see the absurdity in this brave new world. A robot would never make mistakes.
This week I spoke to my manager about feeling slightly down and not sure I would stay in this job. He is quite a reasonable human being who has some sympathy with my frustration. But he did say..."Don't you think you might become more efficient as you get used to the job?" And he sent me information on a training about dealing with stress. I fully appreciate the desire to help which he is expressing. But it also conveys the message....this is about you, it's your responsibility, it's not the system. You have to be more efficient. You have to cope with stress......
Someone should suggest replacing social workers and nurses with robots.....if we want efficiency at all costs, it is the ultimate solution. In the meantime, I just stifle the human bit of myself and become as robotic as I can....let's get the job done. Caring...mmmh, isn't that a luxury that only real human beings can experience, not half robots like me?
And that's what my anger is about, feeling that the system I work within is depriving me and many colleagues of my sense of joy in life, my wellbeing. Why, really, should I care about anyone else's wellbeing when the system itself leave me and my colleagues feeling like victims and slaves.... and how will I care, when I have to numb my emotional life in order to do the job at all?
But the debate is taking the tone of "we must employ the right sort of people, with the right sort of values." Not these monsters who apparently have slipped through into our precious NHS and are busy neglecting our nearest and dearest. How dare they!
There are comments about the paperwork taking up too much time....but still, one of the responses I heard was..."Let's have new procedures."
Great! Wonderful! Let's have a bureaucratic response which will probably add to the burden of paperwork and ramp up the "control and command" within the system.
I wish I had a voice that could be heard. I would say: Look, you have created a system based on logic and the left brain. To function in that system, people have to make efficiency their number one priority. Caring is fundamentally not an activity driven by logic. It's a heart centred attitude. You can't measure and quantify it. Yes you can make rules about actions and behaviour. Do this every so often, take the pulse, take the temperature, give so many drinks etc. And if people are busy beyond belief, and know that their performance will be measured based on those actions, they may do their best to reach the targets. But the targets are not designed for human beings and the system itself robs its staff of their humanity.
Caring is about having time to see. It means having time to get to know a patient or a client, not to see them just as a number with a chart of boxes to tick. It means time to have little chats about how they are feeling, what they are looking forward to. Time to have human encounters that establish a connection. Then it comes naturally to look out for Mrs A who didn't have a visit for 3 days and feels a bit down. Or to take the time to listen to Mr B who is worried he isn't going to get better in time to go to his son's wedding.....and you wouldn't dream of leaving Ms C, a former teacher, lying in soiled bedding for hours because you've got paperwork to complete....."
Impossible? Well, no, actually. That is what is so annoying about all of this. I remember very well growing up in a small community where that is exactly how it was, when I was in hospital. I had my tonsils removed and I was a frightened 10 year old. But I was being "cared for" by nurses who knew my mother, where there were connections and links between people and even if a particular nurse was a bit lazy or not in the right mood, she would not want to let my family down. It didn't even have to be thought about.
I also remember as a young person hearing about how computers were going to change our lives. Away with drudgery! Everyone would have a 4 day week and we would become the leisure society! But of course, computers have provided a system of control and measurement which has generated vast amounts of unproductive work with no relevance to CARING.
I remember as a young (ish) social worker in a "patch based" team. We were....maybe 20 people dealing with the needs of an area the size of ...let's say the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets. Every week there would be about 6 new cases, sometimes more. We had a team meeting at which the cases were allocated. Often someone would say...oh that's the Bloggs family! What is it this time? Was that not the family where...such and such happened or there is so and so who is a bit risky?
We often knew our cases as people, they turned up for s. 1 payments, and we offered support and at times we intervened on a statutory basis. As a social worker, I was not all that aware of working for the Council, I was primarily a professional doing the best job I could. After a visit I would write a short note on the file and do anything that needed to be done....
Nowadays, how does it go?
There are about 20 of us dealing with all the new cases for a whole Borough. That's called intake. We have 10 days to complete an initial assessment. That includes seeing the child alone. There is no actual limit to the number of new cases you could get in a week. Could be 3, could be 8. And the "paperwork" ie computer work for each case is ridiculous.
Examples...this week I was asked to go and check who was caring for a child whose mother has mental health problems. In the old days, I'd have gone and done a short visit, established where she was living and as it was mostly in another Borough, I'd have contacted that Borough, advised them to follow it up and referred mother to mental health services. I would have kept the case for a few weeks or months to make sure that mother was getting services and to liaise with the other Borough. I would have been able to meet the older brother, who is 16 and attending College. I would have done write ups as needed.
Nowadays, I have to go, do the visit and complete an initial assessment, covering 8 "dimensions" including social presentation and identity. I have to write this up. Instead of taking half an hour, it takes at least 3 hours to put on the computer. It has to go straight to a team manager for approval and that must happen within 10 days. I have to contact other professionals for information about health and education.
I can't keep the case open, and I am not at all sure it will get passed on to the locality team as there is not actually work to do other than checking that referrals are made and services provided.
I should have "opened" an assessment on the 16 year old as well and will probably get my knuckles rapped that I did not. But I was trying to complete the assessment within time scales and that would have caused a bit of delay.
The pressure is phenomenal, when these timescales are made the be all and end all of the job. They just take over. This week I got a new case where the family was feeling quite anxious and I wanted to visit briefly before a visit I had already planned. I left the office to go and collect my car.We can't park at the office any more of course....I was running late...(dealing with paperwork) and the car would not start! I had to think whether I could till do the visit, and be late for my appointment, or postpone it to the next day. It was raining...I chose to postpone, made the appointment for the next day and went to my original visit.
This worked out OK, I suppose, but I know that the nerds who designed the system that controls my life, made no account of car breakdowns, the longer time travel by public transport takes, the fact that the weather influences moods and choices. It did not matter on that occasion, but I wondered if the situation had been different would I have been able to make the choice to do two visits on that afternoon? I am not sure.
A robot though, would never be put off by rain, tiredness, too much work, wanting to have a life of its own. Maybe it could be programmed to care for people too, little robotic chats that make people feel good. A robot would function efficiently, not need breaks, not need water or to go to the toilet or to have a little human contact...it would not want to enjoy its leisure time, question authority or see the absurdity in this brave new world. A robot would never make mistakes.
This week I spoke to my manager about feeling slightly down and not sure I would stay in this job. He is quite a reasonable human being who has some sympathy with my frustration. But he did say..."Don't you think you might become more efficient as you get used to the job?" And he sent me information on a training about dealing with stress. I fully appreciate the desire to help which he is expressing. But it also conveys the message....this is about you, it's your responsibility, it's not the system. You have to be more efficient. You have to cope with stress......
Someone should suggest replacing social workers and nurses with robots.....if we want efficiency at all costs, it is the ultimate solution. In the meantime, I just stifle the human bit of myself and become as robotic as I can....let's get the job done. Caring...mmmh, isn't that a luxury that only real human beings can experience, not half robots like me?
And that's what my anger is about, feeling that the system I work within is depriving me and many colleagues of my sense of joy in life, my wellbeing. Why, really, should I care about anyone else's wellbeing when the system itself leave me and my colleagues feeling like victims and slaves.... and how will I care, when I have to numb my emotional life in order to do the job at all?
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Three Voices of a Social Worker
First Voice "How wonderful to have a job helping people...especially helping children have a better life. Wow! I can go into work today and really make a difference to people's lives! Amazing! I'm really excited about that, and can't wait to get on with it. I can be creative, powerful and have a real impact. I can encourage parents who are struggling, challenge parents who are complacent or misguided, and if it's really necessary I can intervene and use the powers that be in local authorities and Courts to ensure that children have every possible chance of wellbeing and a great life. What a wonderful job, I love it, it's inspiring and a real privilege. How blessed am I . I want to learn everything I can about it, and be the best social worker that I can be. "
Second Voice. "It's a job, fairly much like any other. I'm accountable for my work, for the decisions I make, at least accountable to my team manager. I understand the need to have adequate assessments which don't omit significant facts. I understand the need for them to be done in a timely way so that children aren't exposed to unnecessary suffering. I will do my best to complete initial assessments in timescales and with the best possible outcomes for children. It's a matter of being well organized and business like in how I do things. Having lists of what to do on each case, keeping up to date with recording, being child focussed. Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge but I'm getting there. I can cope if I remember to look after my own wellbeing too, and don't waste any time"
Third Voice. "This is unbearable. I feel hemmed in and choked by the regulations and the nitpicking bureaucracy of the system. My life is hardly worth living as I scurry around like a rat in a maze trying to find the cheese. I hate working in an open plan office, where the only privacy is when I go to the loo. I am frightened that my team manager will pull my assessments apart, he has so little time to listen and doesn't want to hear me weighing things up, he'll want clarity about my decision and then he'll pick holes..
No one truly cares if children are actually happy and doing OK. It's all about covering your back.What matters is if the parent is not fitting in or complying in some way, the system is out to get them. And if I don't comply I'll be blamed and shamed as not good enough.
I am frightened I won't have the physical stamina. I resent having to see all children alone and having no say as to whether that is necessary. It means we have to do the bulk of visits after 3.30 and 7 or later.And we may not get the time back in time off, so our days can be from 9 am to 7 or 8pm. I am furious not to have control of my life, my time, to be owned by the system.!
I am being punished for something I have done, or not done, some failure of faith or courage. The penalty is to be living in an endless Kafkaesque nightmare. Social Work is a profession of slaves who are commanded and controlled by the system and in turn they do this to others.
The worst thing is that I am wasting my life. I could be doing something else, I should be doing something else with my life. My gifts, talents, passion, past experience and training are completely wasted doing this soulless social work. I hate myself for going along with it and the worst thing is I haven't the gumption to get out of it. There is no escape.I feel numb and despairing."
These are the three main voices in my head when I think about Social Work and my current job. I hear all of them at times. What a conflict! Which is the truth? I don't know how to reconcile them, or if it's possible. The weird thing is that they are all valid! I was tuned into the first voice some of the time this week, then the busyness starts,and the second voice kicks in...By the end of Friday, the third voice was definitely the strongest. The busier I get the louder the third voice becomes and the less energy I have for the job. Is this only me, or is it true of anyone else? And is there another voice, which has something new to say? I hope so, let's see!
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Dear David
......I just started work in your area 2 weeks ago and have had the privilege of 2 weeks of induction. Sadly if I had the courage, I would like to tell you that I am already looking for an escape route. I am certainly feeling that I will not be around for long. There were a couple of things that really bothered me during the induction. It isn't even the things in themselves, but the culture that they represent...a work culture that I believe is toxic.
I am in the intake team dealing with new childcare referrals. It is one of the most pressured areas of social work. It is impossible to fit it into normal working hours which are 9 - 5. So people start work at 9 am and frequently continue until 8 or 9 pm . It really concerned me to hear that a young married social worker with a young child, who started the job in July, has accrued 18 hours TOIL (time off in lieu.) She told me that she does not think it is worth taking it the time off, as her work will get behind. Does this mean that we are expected to work for nothing for X amount of hours per month?
I really want to have a good work-life balance! There is more to life than work, even if it is social work. I said to my young colleague that this extra work was time that was being stolen from her family and her young child. Neither of them will get it back.
Other worrying signs ..... my new team were having an away day, during our second week of induction. In the morning they had the renowned Prof Shemmings to speak about disordered attachment. We inductees had ICs Training at that time. Guess which event took precedence...yes, ICS of course. And the afternoon of the away day for the team was cancelled so that they could get some assessments finished on time.
Another warning sign for me was the response at the Launch of the new department. It was a dull event, there was no real life about it, there was no excitement or enthusiasm, just a bunch of senior managers describing tasks and setting standards.. There was no interaction with staff. There was little response, and people I talked to afterwards were quite open about the negativity in the room. Did any of you senior managers notice this? What are you going to do about it?
Everyone comments about the beautiful new office in which our team is based. Oh dear, I find it soulless. Brand new, clean, hot desking, no personal possessions, no bins except in the kitchen, no plants, no pictures......Soulless of course. No private space. A great control mechanism, having the photocopier in the kitchen just so no one will relax as they have a drink because colleagues and managers pass through to collect printing. What a stroke of genius in the control culture.
Open plan offices mean total distraction, stimulation overload and stress for employees, especially the way we do them in Britain. I won't be brainwashed into chanting the "what a lovely office" mantra because it isn't, to me. I won't do my best work there...it's just another shibboleth of a toxic workplace culture to shove people together to work and assume that means something positive.
Overall the omens aren't that great, and I'm a bit disappointed. I thought you had a genuine vision but I see it translates into the same old, same old of focussing on timescales. Frankly, that's so limited....
Sorry David,
Disappointed new employee.
I am in the intake team dealing with new childcare referrals. It is one of the most pressured areas of social work. It is impossible to fit it into normal working hours which are 9 - 5. So people start work at 9 am and frequently continue until 8 or 9 pm . It really concerned me to hear that a young married social worker with a young child, who started the job in July, has accrued 18 hours TOIL (time off in lieu.) She told me that she does not think it is worth taking it the time off, as her work will get behind. Does this mean that we are expected to work for nothing for X amount of hours per month?
I really want to have a good work-life balance! There is more to life than work, even if it is social work. I said to my young colleague that this extra work was time that was being stolen from her family and her young child. Neither of them will get it back.
Other worrying signs ..... my new team were having an away day, during our second week of induction. In the morning they had the renowned Prof Shemmings to speak about disordered attachment. We inductees had ICs Training at that time. Guess which event took precedence...yes, ICS of course. And the afternoon of the away day for the team was cancelled so that they could get some assessments finished on time.
Another warning sign for me was the response at the Launch of the new department. It was a dull event, there was no real life about it, there was no excitement or enthusiasm, just a bunch of senior managers describing tasks and setting standards.. There was no interaction with staff. There was little response, and people I talked to afterwards were quite open about the negativity in the room. Did any of you senior managers notice this? What are you going to do about it?
Everyone comments about the beautiful new office in which our team is based. Oh dear, I find it soulless. Brand new, clean, hot desking, no personal possessions, no bins except in the kitchen, no plants, no pictures......Soulless of course. No private space. A great control mechanism, having the photocopier in the kitchen just so no one will relax as they have a drink because colleagues and managers pass through to collect printing. What a stroke of genius in the control culture.
Open plan offices mean total distraction, stimulation overload and stress for employees, especially the way we do them in Britain. I won't be brainwashed into chanting the "what a lovely office" mantra because it isn't, to me. I won't do my best work there...it's just another shibboleth of a toxic workplace culture to shove people together to work and assume that means something positive.
Overall the omens aren't that great, and I'm a bit disappointed. I thought you had a genuine vision but I see it translates into the same old, same old of focussing on timescales. Frankly, that's so limited....
Sorry David,
Disappointed new employee.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
"Beginning your career as a social worker in London" written September 09
"Social workers provide support, encouragement, counselling and advice for individuals facing a life crisis - such as unemployment, mental illness, abuse, homelessness or disability - and who have been excluded from society as a result. In both London and the greater UK area, social workers are highly-qualified individuals who are keenly aware of the social, physical and emotional needs of their patients. These professionals use their skills and knowledge to help uplift the lives of those in their care, and reintegrate them into their communities."This is a direct quote from a site that wishes to recruit social workers. Does it not sound great? Would it not appeal to anyone with a heart? Of course it will attract people into training as a social worker. I'd be tempted myself...if I wasn't rolling around the floor laughing instead.
Beware, beware, beware. Once again this week I and my colleagues have battled our way through a week on the frontline in a referral and assessment team. Yesterday, my brain simply went into gridlock. All of the above worthy aims and intentions might be possible, if I had half the work that I have. But I doubt it. I and every colleague I spoke to, feels desperately under pressure. Sure, some of the time I cope, but that does not mean that work is getting done.
And what is this work, exactly? Well on Monday I spent at least 5 hours filling in forms, filing, printing out data, photocopying and sorting out meeting dates and times. Work that I did not need any social work training whatsoever to do. Administrative tasks, that a sensible, averagely intelligent 18 year old could do. And the fact is, about 3 hours almost every day would need to be spent on such tasks, to keep up with the demands laid down by legislation.
Later in the week, I went to see a family which had a 6 year old boy just left with them by his mother. Under the regulations, the time I spent with the family was controlled by the requirements to complete a core assessment and do checks, eg 1hour was spent filling in CRB forms...So out of the 4 hours I spent with that family this week, how much was to "provide support, encouragement, counselling and advice"?
I would say, about 20 minutes. That included 10 minutes with the abandoned child and 10 minutes with the brand new carer, on her doorstep, after a lengthy interview controlled by bureaucratic demands. The time I left her home was 6.30pm, so I was not rushing to meet some finish by 5pm deain meeting the demands of the bureaucracy. Worse still, other clients will lose out because I cannot spread myself thinly enough to treat all of them in that way. I am adjusting to this, to the built in failure and shoddy work, but I won't endure it for long, especially now that it is eating away at my own sense of integrity.
So most days I do the juggling act, keeping as many balls as possible in the air, hoping I am not dropping the one that could be the next Baby Peter or Victoria....but with absolutely no certainty of that of course!
So far I am hanging in there, but please don't annoy me with ridiculous rhetoric about uplifting lives and add hypocritical insult to the inevitable injury of staying on this soulless treadmill.
More clearly than ever this week I see myself acting as a functionary, a cog in a huge machine. If I am true to myself, and treat my clients as fully human, then I simply will not succeed in meeting the demands of the bureaucracy. Worse still, other clients will lose out because I cannot spread myself thinly enough to treat all of them in that way. I am adjusting to this, to the built in failure and shoddy work, but I won't endure it for long, especially now that it is eating away at my own sense of integrity.So most days I do the juggling act, keeping as many balls as possible in the air, hoping I am not dropping the one that could be the next Baby Peter or Victoria....but with absolutely no certainty of that of course!So far I am hanging in there, but please don't annoy me with ridiculous rhetoric about uplifting lives and add hypocritical insult to the inevitable injury of staying on this soulless treadmill.
I'd like to end with another quote: it's a definition of slavery:
"A slave is:
- forced to work -- through mental or physical threat;
- owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse;
- dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as 'property';
- physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement."
I overslept today. Possibly to do with doing a visit late afternoon yesterday, driving through pelting rain, and then discovering at the client's home that I had arrived at an Eid party. The guest of honour (the carer of my client) had just returned from Haj. And all dressed in white, very striking he looked too! I removed my shoes and sighed to myself as I entered, knowing I was the ultimate party pooper, that my timing could scarcely be worse, and that all I could do was keep the visit as short as possible....
I declined several offers of hospitality, in the interest of not prolonging matters. Ultimately I succumbed to a few dates brought back from the pilgrimage, which were tempting.... and I was worried that in refusing hospitality I would be seen as in some way offensively dismissive. Along the way I explained the official thinking on supporting the placement financially (we would not be doing so, of course.) I also remembered that I had to revisit the CRB form. I had written that prior to her current address, Mrs X had been living in Afghanistan. "But you must get her exact address, " our lovely, patient business support person had explained. "Otherwise they will send it back...." " I see," I said. And I did, all too well.
So I brought the subject up, right there in the brightly decorated room, with various relatives and friends all keen to welcome back the doughty pilgrim.
"Exactly what was Mrs X's address in Afghanistan by the way? I need it for the CRB check."
Mr Z looked at me in some astonishment. "Just....XYZ province. There have been a lot of (and he made a gesture of explosions.) There are no streets and numbers or postcodes as you have here. It is...why we are here, because we did not want to be killed...or to kill."
But, ever wishing to be cooperative, Mr Z, who has become a British citizen and so understands the drill fairly well, wrote down another word. "There," he said. "That's like...Well, a district in the province. That is as close as you will get to an address."
"I see," I said. This time I really did. I must just hope that the CRB agency will understand that there are parts of the world where addresses are not quite as they are in the UK.
I declined several offers of hospitality, in the interest of not prolonging matters. Ultimately I succumbed to a few dates brought back from the pilgrimage, which were tempting.... and I was worried that in refusing hospitality I would be seen as in some way offensively dismissive. Along the way I explained the official thinking on supporting the placement financially (we would not be doing so, of course.) I also remembered that I had to revisit the CRB form. I had written that prior to her current address, Mrs X had been living in Afghanistan. "But you must get her exact address, " our lovely, patient business support person had explained. "Otherwise they will send it back...." " I see," I said. And I did, all too well.
So I brought the subject up, right there in the brightly decorated room, with various relatives and friends all keen to welcome back the doughty pilgrim.
"Exactly what was Mrs X's address in Afghanistan by the way? I need it for the CRB check."
Mr Z looked at me in some astonishment. "Just....XYZ province. There have been a lot of (and he made a gesture of explosions.) There are no streets and numbers or postcodes as you have here. It is...why we are here, because we did not want to be killed...or to kill."
But, ever wishing to be cooperative, Mr Z, who has become a British citizen and so understands the drill fairly well, wrote down another word. "There," he said. "That's like...Well, a district in the province. That is as close as you will get to an address."
"I see," I said. This time I really did. I must just hope that the CRB agency will understand that there are parts of the world where addresses are not quite as they are in the UK.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Back Again..Still Here!
I have changed roles since the last time I wrote. Now I am a social worker in Private Fostering. This is a system which came about following the death of Victoria Climbie. It seems the Government does not think it is good that a family makes its own decisions about children, who for whatever reason cannot be with their own parents or very close relatives as defined by legislation. It isn't enough to do an assessment and make a decision about whether monitoring is needed or not. Monitoring must be done, regardless.
So today I visited a 15 year old boy from Afghanistan. He is living with his married cousin who has serious financial difficulties and asked for help to provide for the boy. I explain that there is no provision to make payments to families. They should provide for the boy from the family's resources. Or else.....
Ah now, there is the rub. What if the family decide that they can't make ends meet and request that the Borough find accommodation for him?
Well, then we can place him with foster carers. They might be of the same religous background, if there are any Muslim foster carers available.They will be professional carers, assessed, vetted, checked, trained, monitored and paid....to do the job of providing care in their home for a young person.
But wait a minute....What about listening to the wishes of the young person? "I want to stay with my cousin, but I want pocket money and I need clothes. I would miss my little cousins..." And it is my professional view that apart from the financial problems, this young person is well cared for at his current abode.
So we would really accommodate him, pay an allowance of £xxx per week, make a clothing grant and set in motion a whole Leaving Care process which will result in him having support until he is 18 and in acquiring a Council tenancy. Total cost....including social work time..£thousands.
We would rather do this than make any financial contribution to help a family to manage. Because....???they are family. They might harm the boy. We prefer to have him accommodated. No wonder the Borough is overspent...and just how would I explain this to the boy?
So today I visited a 15 year old boy from Afghanistan. He is living with his married cousin who has serious financial difficulties and asked for help to provide for the boy. I explain that there is no provision to make payments to families. They should provide for the boy from the family's resources. Or else.....
Ah now, there is the rub. What if the family decide that they can't make ends meet and request that the Borough find accommodation for him?
Well, then we can place him with foster carers. They might be of the same religous background, if there are any Muslim foster carers available.They will be professional carers, assessed, vetted, checked, trained, monitored and paid....to do the job of providing care in their home for a young person.
But wait a minute....What about listening to the wishes of the young person? "I want to stay with my cousin, but I want pocket money and I need clothes. I would miss my little cousins..." And it is my professional view that apart from the financial problems, this young person is well cared for at his current abode.
So we would really accommodate him, pay an allowance of £xxx per week, make a clothing grant and set in motion a whole Leaving Care process which will result in him having support until he is 18 and in acquiring a Council tenancy. Total cost....including social work time..£thousands.
We would rather do this than make any financial contribution to help a family to manage. Because....???they are family. They might harm the boy. We prefer to have him accommodated. No wonder the Borough is overspent...and just how would I explain this to the boy?
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