Weekly Social Work Links 30
As the days become more distinctly autumnal, I’m sharing some interesting links I’ve come across over the last week. As always feel free to share any other links you find that are related or...
View ArticleBenefits
I’ve made my position clear about ‘benefits’ over the year. ‘Benefits’ are not really benefits at all. I decided to look at the meaning of the word ‘benefit’ and found (according to dictionary.com)...
View ArticleWhy I Quit BASW (British Association of Social Workers)
I felt a tinge of sadness when I finally decided to quit BASW (British Association of Social Workers). I’ve been an advocate and member for a good few years and I have a great deal of respect for a lot...
View ArticleRIP NHS?
Image via Wikipedia A truly national health service as conceived in the post-war years has been tottering on the brink for a number of years. As the previous Labour government sowed, so the Liberal...
View ArticleDocking Benefits and Blaming the Poor
I know I covered this more generally on Monday in my rant about ‘benefits’ but it’s worth coming back to with the proposals explained in the Guardian Magistrates and crown court judges could be asked...
View ArticleWhy I’m wrong – A response from BASW
I am not going to add anything to this post. After I wrote a post explaining why I left BASW, I was sent this as a response and agreed to publish it. I’ll leave the questions and comments for others...
View ArticleInterviews and Ideas
Please forgive the blatant self-promotion in this post but it’s Friday and I’m feeling a like I have a bit of a cold coming so I’m less ‘perky’ than usual. Dorlee from Social Work Career Development...
View ArticleRemembering 11th September and the aftermath
I don’t have any grand or notable memories from 11th September 2001. I wasn’t connected to New York in any personal way but this last Friday, after work, I spent the evening by coincidence with the...
View ArticleChoice, Control and Obfuscation – How the Personalisation Dream is Dying
In the bold move towards a transformation in adult social care, it feels from where I sit, that control has completely overtaken any pretence of ‘choice’ in the so-called move towards more idealised...
View ArticleGoodbye
For reasons that I can’t go into, I am having to close this site for a while. I want to allow people to take and copy information that they might want or need from it and will open it up over the next...
View ArticleThere and Back Again
I didn’t think I’d come back again but I’m pondering it now. I have a new job and a new role. While I’m still a registered social worker, I’m no longer working in the local authority and am no longer...
View Article10 reasons I disagree with Frontline and fast-tracking Social Work Training
Frontline is a scheme dreamt up by the IPPR who published a report – which has since been embraced by the government and opposition – which builds on the Step Up to Social Work model of social work...
View ArticleParting Shots – Why I left my Social Work Post and What I’d change
I left my job as a Mental Health Social Worker, AMHP, BIA, Practice Educator and all that I wrote about here last December. While I can’t be too specific about my current role, it’s (unsurprisingly...
View ArticleOn Leadership – from a Follower
I read a lot about ‘leadership’. Tips on being a great leader. How to lead. Even, rather comically in my view, on the Frontline site, something about social work being a ‘leadership profession’. Most...
View ArticleBedlam – Do we need stories to understand?
I watched Bedlam, a documentary based on the work done in the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust last week and this week. I was reassured by last weeks’ episode, titled “Anxiety”...
View ArticleWhat I’ve learnt about Social Work
A couple of ‘anniversaries’ have come up recently for me. It’s six years since I published my first post on this blog. It’s one year since I left my social work job. These milestones have caused me to...
View ArticleLooking back and looking forward
I haven’t posted much here over the last year and most of my posts have been about looking back rather than looking forward. 2013 was an important year for me in a lot of ways. By moving out of a...
View ArticleOn Kindness and Compassion
This weekend, I’ve been reflecting a lot on kindness and the way it impacts on my job. On Friday, I had a conversation with someone I work with (in a different organisation) in which they demonstrated...
View ArticleOn Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty
Having been a Best Interests Assessor since the position came into being, I have a particular interest in how the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) work (or don’t) in practice. I am a fan of the...
View ArticlePersonalisation in Practice
(Note – I wrote this for something else where it was not used but thought, I’ve put the work in and might as well see if anyone else finds it useful/interesting! That’s why it’s a slightly different...
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More Pages to Explore .....