Reeling. Verbally threatened by SW

[Dagne]

Just reeling after talking to police and out of hours SW. Our relative's SW has rung us to tell us to stop phoning and emailing SS. He didn't make direct threats but his tone was menacing and implied that by continuing to contact SS it would be to the detriment of the care we are trying to secure for our relative. When we asked him for the results of the assessment he carried out on her, he lied, claiming my partner had prevented him from carrying it out (we have an independent witness who was present that can attest to the opposite - my partner bent over backwards to offer every assistance).

He then claimed that by removing her to respsite care following a fire in her flat, we had 'created an event' which subsequently prevented SS from giving her any further help.

We are not oversensitive, we are hard-bitten journalists (for example I have interviewed criminals and a founder of Hamas!), yet we felt shaky and scared. I logged it with police and out of hours SW. Will be putting complaints in. Not for our relative, who is safely in respite, and he will not go near her. Not for ourselves, we will not be permanently traumatised by this. But for any vulnerable person, carer or relative who would be frightened into not rocking the boat by his threats, lies and menacing tone.

 

[garnuft]

If I was a hard-bitten journalist, I would be writing a piece about what had happened, naming the LA involved and take it to a newspaper.

 

[supporter1]

Really sorry to hear of this horrible experience.

It is shocking when you experiences something like this (my family went through something similar but in our case it was SS and psych). I won't go into our experience but I will say definitely put in a complaint in writing. keep copies of every contact with SS ( emails the lot !) and request a new SW + remind them that they should offer you an assessment of your needs under the community care act, as carer's you are entitled.

As for your contacting the out of ours SW or police ultimately it is your decision as to whether you use those services , they are there for a reason.

Unfortunately nearly 2 years down the line I and my family are still feeling the effects of the scar we have been left with. Personally I would rather interview members of Hamas than deal with SS sadly you will not believe this but I was a community care manager and yes that means I was a SW ! we are not all bad honest.

 

[Welshwoman]

Just reeling after talking to police and out of hours SW. Our relative's SW has rung us to tell us to stop phoning and emailing SS. He didn't make direct threats but his tone was menacing and implied that by continuing to contact SS it would be to the detriment of the care we are trying to secure for our relative. When we asked him for the results of the assessment he carried out on her, he lied, claiming my partner had prevented him from carrying it out (we have an independent witness who was present that can attest to the opposite - my partner bent over backwards to offer every assistance).

He then claimed that by removing her to respsite care following a fire in her flat, we had 'created an event' which subsequently prevented SS from giving her any further help.

We are not oversensitive, we are hard-bitten journalists (for example I have interviewed criminals and a founder of Hamas!), yet we felt shaky and scared. I logged it with police and out of hours SW. Will be putting complaints in. Not for our relative, who is safely in respite, and he will not go near her. Not for ourselves, we will not be permanently traumatised by this. But for any vulnerable person, carer or relative who would be frightened into not rocking the boat by his threats, lies and menacing tone.

That is absolutely disgusting and, definitely agree you should take it further - Good Luck

 

[Dagne]

Really sorry to hear of this horrible experience.

It is shocking when you experiences something like this (my family went through something similar but in our case it was SS and psych). I won't go into our experience but I will say definitely put in a complaint in writing. keep copies of every contact with SS ( emails the lot !) and request a new SW + remind them that they should offer you an assessment of your needs under the community care act, as carer's you are entitled.

As for your contacting the out of ours SW or police ultimately it is your decision as to whether you use those services , they are there for a reason.

Unfortunately nearly 2 years down the line I and my family are still feeling the effects of the scar we have been left with. Personally I would rather interview members of Hamas than deal with SS sadly you will not believe this but I was a community care manager and yes that means I was a SW ! we are not all bad honest.

Thank you, Supporter1 and I am so very sorry for your own bad experience. I can only try to imagine and extend you and your family my most heartfelt sympathies. I do not for a moment judge all social workers - one of the reasons we didn't push harder earlier, is that we felt so sorry for the cuts and how overstretched they were. Our relative's first social worker didn't achieve very much but we could see how hard she was trying, so despite our disappointment in the lack of progress, we sang her praises to her bosses at every opportunity. We recognised she was up against the system and the complexities of this awful disease, and we told her we would give her any help - ringing the GP when she was too busy, whatever it took, to back up what she was trying to do. We also extended the benefit of the doubt to the care manager until he sent us a very cynical email effectively washing his hands of our cousin.

We will definitely keep everything in writing and make complaints to all the relative bodies. The police couldn't do anything because the threats were implied rather than direct, but at least it was logged while we were still feeling upset - so much harder when you wake up the next day and decide that it was so bizarre we must have imagined it.

I never thought I would be entitled to a carer's assessment, as we were not living with her and not involved in her personal care. But I had to take 2 weeks off work with a mini nervous breakdown after the fire, and I have spent entire days on the phone and emailing. I am also beginning to become obsessed. If only I could channel the energy to articulate this to the powers that be. So maybe a carer's assessment would be sensible (though I would feel like an imposter compared to the real carers).

Not so ironic mentioning Hamas, as one of the reasons they get broader support than they otherwise might by providing welfare services to the population! And our relative is like a stateless refugee, with neither old nor new LA willing to acknowledge her as a resident. Not trying to be dark here, just in shock and disillusioned.

 

[Dagne]

That is absolutely disgusting and, definitely agree you should take it further - Good Luck

Thank you, the worst is beginning to doubt my own sanity, but I have been so reassured by TP'ers, the specialist helplines of AS, EAC etc. and independent witnesses to some incidents that SS are way in the wrong here.

 

[Dagne]

If I was a hard-bitten journalist, I would be writing a piece about what had happened, naming the LA involved and take it to a newspaper.

You are so right, but it is easier to campaign on behalf of others than for your own experience, which is too close to get a clear perspective on. I will take it to a good colleague who can be both objective and passionate.

 

[Pickle20]

Demand to speak to the head of social services for the authority and casually mention your a journalist and it is in the publics best interest to know what as a family you are currently going through and feeling, things will soon be sorted out with a new social worker!! Really sorry to hear you have had this situation!

 

[Dagne]

New social worker called me!

Wow, the new LA have accepted our cousin as a resident. They haven't jumped in to covering the fee gap while we wait for the COP, but the CH aren't pushing us and we hope that either DWP or COP emergency release of funds will come through soon to bridge the gap while awaiting COP decision on deputyship.

The amazing thing is that instead of us chasing them, they are calling us to get the ball rolling to assess her! And when they do call they are generally being helpful and sympathetic. Having done my homework with the CRAG guidelines, I knew that we should ask for the contract to be with the LA rather than us, and for us to use our cousin's funds (once deputyship is granted) to reimburse the LA, rather than signing our own contract with the CH. I explained this to the SW who immediately knew what I meant and didn't seem to think it would be a problem.

While I hadn't lost faith in SWs because I know there are so many good ones out there, despite our experience with the old LA, I had started to lose faith in 'the system'. This has been compounded by the date on which we were supposed to receive a response to our complaint having come and gone with no communication. So the next stop is probably the ombudsman.

Reading others' posts on TP, I know lots needs to be done to fix 'the system', but it's heartening when things go right. I actually feel like I'm on another planet from a few weeks ago. Here's hoping it continues!

 

[supporter1]

Pleased to hear things are improving now. I know it made a massive difference to us when we got a new 'good' SW . I relaxed when I spoke to her on the phone and got the same answers that I gave to family and clients.

As for our complaint against the SS , we are now17 months down and still have not had a completion of the investigation. I probably should inform the ombudsman but to be honest I have lost the will to live on that front...

I spend the remainder of my energies on my mum and dad both of whom need support in different ways.. mum in sheltered h and dad in ch.

 

[Dagne]

Pleased to hear things are improving now. I know it made a massive difference to us when we got a new 'good' SW . I relaxed when I spoke to her on the phone and got the same answers that I gave to family and clients.

As for our complaint against the SS , we are now17 months down and still have not had a completion of the investigation. I probably should inform the ombudsman but to be honest I have lost the will to live on that front...

I spend the remainder of my energies on my mum and dad both of whom need support in different ways.. mum in sheltered h and dad in ch.

So sorry to hear your investigation has dragged on, this must be dispiriting. I completely sympathise with needing to spend limited energies on supporting your parents rather than struggling with yet more bureaucracy - they simply have to come first.

I'm going to force myself to make the complaints (one about the team, and one about an individual social worker) while the sense of frustration is fresh enough to give me the energy!

 

[Dagne]

Finally got release of emergency funds, and DWP. This will cover our cousin's arrears, and up to the time the COP gave us as an estimate for a decision, plus a few weeks' leeway.

A big relief, although the CH were very nice about it. The finance person even called us up after sending an invoice, specifically to tell us not to panic, that they were aware of our circumstances.

Still no word from the original LA, regarding our complaint, despite the MP chasing this up on our behalf. So I'm mustering the emotional energy to put a complaint together for the ombudsman.

 

[Kathphlox]

Finally got release of emergency funds, and DWP. This will cover our cousin's arrears, and up to the time the COP gave us as an estimate for a decision, plus a few weeks' leeway.

A big relief, although the CH were very nice about it. The finance person even called us up after sending an invoice, specifically to tell us not to panic, that they were aware of our circumstances.

Still no word from the original LA, regarding our complaint, despite the MP chasing this up on our behalf. So I'm mustering the emotional energy to put a complaint together for the ombudsman.

I know you are emotionally involved now Dagne, because you are trying to care for someone in this situation. Not many journalists are.. now is your chance to publicise this. I know your experience has been good but it's far and away from the experience we see on this forum from everyday people. My Dad died from this disease in 2012 and I spent a lot of time on this forum then.. helping as much as I could and reading the horrendous posts of those who got little or no help.. I hope you can bring this into the public eye.

I recently watched Great Canal Journeys with Timothy West and Prunella Scales. Pru is at the start of her journey with this horrible disease.. it was lovely to watch, but it fills me with fear that Tim has no idea of what is to come I wish him well and hope he can cope.. but I very much doubt he has a real idea.. let's hope he can join us here with a pseudonym when things get too hard.

 

[BLONDY]

Finally got release of emergency funds, and DWP. This will cover our cousin's arrears, and up to the time the COP gave us as an estimate for a decision, plus a few weeks' leeway.

A big relief, although the CH were very nice about it. The finance person even called us up after sending an invoice, specifically to tell us not to panic, that they were aware of our circumstances.

Still no word from the original LA, regarding our complaint, despite the MP chasing this up on our behalf. So I'm mustering the emotional energy to put a complaint together for the ombudsman.

We are in a similar situation, threatening call from SW, problems with LA something to bear in mind is the ombudsman has no legal training, SUPPOSEDLY just an impartial individual. Our LA sounds exactly the same as yours and our MP has had no luck either. One important point was the SW actually a SW or like in our mothers case just purporting to be. There was a succession of them involved in our mothers care who said they were SW's shamefully they were not. We were informed by her mental health team they were social workers. This surely needs looking into, false pretences by the NHS. Crag rules our LA ran rings around them to suit their selves. Welcome to hell, who would believe that trying to get care for someone could be so utterly debilitating.
Kind Regards
Blondy

 

[Dagne]

We are in a similar situation, threatening call from SW, problems with LA something to bear in mind is the ombudsman has no legal training, SUPPOSEDLY just an impartial individual. Our LA sounds exactly the same as yours and our MP has had no luck either. One important point was the SW actually a SW or like in our mothers case just purporting to be. There was a succession of them involved in our mothers care who said they were SW's shamefully they were not. We were informed by her mental health team they were social workers. This surely needs looking into, false pretences by the NHS. Crag rules our LA ran rings around them to suit their selves. Welcome to hell, who would believe that trying to get care for someone could be so utterly debilitating.
Kind Regards
Blondy

Blondy, I am shocked by your experience. I wouldn't feel as bad about our case if I thought it was a one-off. The thought that there are many more vulnerable people being left in unsafe situations just makes me feel sick. The social worker, who never did any work on her case, is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. I will be making a complaint to them about him as an individual, as well as to the ombudsman about how the whole team handled it. A crucial thing will be to find out when he was appointed to be her social worker. If it was before the crisis, it reflects very badly on him as he never even had an initial visit with her. If it was after the crisis, it looks bad for the team as she was without a named social worker for nearly a year.

 

[Rageddy Anne]

Finally got release of emergency funds, and DWP. This will cover our cousin's arrears, and up to the time the COP gave us as an estimate for a decision, plus a few weeks' leeway.

A big relief, although the CH were very nice about it. The finance person even called us up after sending an invoice, specifically to tell us not to panic, that they were aware of our circumstances.

Still no word from the original LA, regarding our complaint, despite the MP chasing this up on our behalf. So I'm mustering the emotional energy to put a complaint together for the ombudsman.

Dagne, if you can muster the energy to follow this through there will be SO MANY people grateful to you, people too worn out with the everyday effort of hands on caring to complain on their own behalf. You seem to be just the person to do it, and I wish you all the energy in the world.

 

[Saffie]

One important point was the SW actually a SW or like in our mothers case just purporting to be. There was a succession of them involved in our mothers care who said they were SW's shamefully they were not. We were informed by her mental health team they were social workers. This surely needs looking into, false pretences by the NHS.

Sorry, surely SW does stand for Social Worker- or am I missing something here.
What has the NHS to do with SWs?

 

[AlsoConfused]

According to a mid-level Social Services manager friend (herself a qualified Social Worker), a number of the LA Social Services staff are unqualified Social Work Assistants, not qualified Social Workers. Carers and clients simply assume they're properly qualified professionals.

Unqualified Social Work Assistants may have very little training / education and usually don't receive close enough supervision / support from qualified Social Workers (there are too few of them and their case loads are too high). Qualified Social Workers may be "struck off" by their own independent Council if their performance falls below acceptable professional standards; Social Work Assistants can't be held to the same standards.

 

[Saffie]

That's interesting, thanks.