I'm sorry that you weren't listened to. It should never come down to money, at least in my opinion, though sadly the NHS is heavily focused on savings and efficiency, as are many LAs, and there is a huge pressure on all professionals to find ways to save money whilst still meeting the needs that we have to provide services for. As a person who has to see both sides of the coin as a professional and as a family member of someone with dementia I can, as I have already touched upon, struggle to balance the two as I know that as a relative there are things I want to see happen that I know as a professional won't necessarily happen, and that is extremely frustrating. For example, my FIL is a younger adult with dementia at the age of 55 and I am angry that my neighbouring LA has excellent service provision for younger adults yet a lot of it isn't available if you live outside the area, and in my area there is no provision for younger adults specifically. As a professional I feel strongly about the issue but it doesn't compare to the emotions that I will inevitably feel if the day comes when my FIL requires residential care and every other resident is 10 years older than him at best. I find the thought of it more upsetting than a professional with no personal connection would ever feel, though many would undoubtedly be frustrated that there isn't a better option.
I'm not the most experienced of social workers but I wholeheartedly try to provide for everyone who has a need, not just the individual or the carer but both where it is possible. Sometimes it simply isn't. In your case there was clearly no need to change something that was already working. That's not fair and I can only imagine that it came down to money and they weren't open about that, which they should be if that is the issue. It isn't a nice conversation to talk about cuts with people but it is a reality of the world we live in at the moment. I think people would appreciate the openness even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear. It would be better than a **** and bull story about the person's needs being met or not.
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I'm not the most experienced of social workers but I wholeheartedly try to provide for everyone who has a need, not just the individual or the carer but both where it is possible. Sometimes it simply isn't. In your case there was clearly no need to change something that was already working. That's not fair and I can only imagine that it came down to money and they weren't open about that, which they should be if that is the issue. It isn't a nice conversation to talk about cuts with people but it is a reality of the world we live in at the moment. I think people would appreciate the openness even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear. It would be better than a **** and bull story about the person's needs being met or not.
Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point