Mental Health Social Worker who's brain you can pick for 1 night only!

[chewplop]

Ok guys so I am sat her working late and was looking at Alzheimer's web sit for some ideas on case and i noticed that it seems there are allot of people out there that may benefit from some acurate advice.

So if you want to take advantage of this very tired and over worked social worker for 1 night only go for it and ask away. I am not sure how long I will be here but will do my best

 

[Summerheather]

With Social Services and care of individuals with AD is everything really based on cost?

 

[chewplop]

With Social Services and care of individuals with AD is everything really based on cost?

Adult Services are legally obliged to provide an individual with a needs assessment if it is requested but they do not have to provide a service if that individual is above the capital threshold. That is currently £23250 (not including value of property).

Carers assessments are also a legal right should teh carer request one and services under this system will differ depending on which local authority you live in. Some LA's means test this and others don't.

If an individual is in excess of thsi threshold and lacks capacity with regards to their care needs it is possible for Adult Services to provide an individual with a service but they would be charged full cost for that service.

New Care Act will be coming in in April 2015 which will change this somewhat in that Adult Services can be requested by service user to directly provide a care service but the individual would again be charged if they are above capital threshold and Adult services could levy a service charge.

 

[Sue J]

Don't want to take advantage and too tired to think of any questions, but just to say thank you for your post and what you do in your job
Best wishes
Sue

 

[chewplop]

thank you I really appreciate that x

 

[jenniferpa]

Hi and welcome to Talking Point. I think it's great that you are willing to give us the benefit of your experience: I think often social workers get the rough end of the stick, frankly, and it's not a job I would wish to do.

On the other hand, I do rather take issue with this

that may benefit from some acurate advice.

The implication being that posters here might give inaccurate advice. I'm not saying that on occasion some posters might not give the advice that you might give, but on the other hand, this forum has a lot of posters and any "wrong" advice has always been corrected by other posters as far as I can see.

 

[chewplop]

Hi and welcome to Talking Point. I think it's great that you are willing to give us the benefit of your experience: I think often social workers get the rough end of the stick, frankly, and it's not a job I would wish to do.

On the other hand, I do rather take issue with this



The implication being that posters here might give inaccurate advice. I'm not saying that on occasion some posters might not give the advice that you might give, but on the other hand, this forum has a lot of posters and any "wrong" advice has always been corrected by other posters as far as I can see.

I certainly didn't mean to give offence with my turn of phrase and I will not claim to be an expert on this forum as I have only come across it tonight I was more commenting on some of the wrong advice that people seem to have been given by social workers in the community who perhaps are Area Social Workers rather than specifically trained MH ones.

I was a little shocked by some of the wrong advice that some of the posters had been given and sadened that my profession was potentially adding to people's concerns and worries rather than alleviating them.

 

[jenniferpa]

Fair enough. Sorry if I jumped on you. And you are correct that sometimes people are told things by general (for want of a better word) social workers that are actually wrong, particularly about financial issues.

So perhaps you know the answer to this question - are social workers really not aware of CRAG? I understand that financial matters are the purview of the LA financial department but it seems odd to me and other posters that instead of saying "I'm sorry I don't know" sometimes (by no means always) they state absolutely wrong information as if they are even unaware that CRAG exists. I'm not talking about the unusual situations either: something as basic as "if you are a married and your spouse has to go into a care home you don't have to sell your house to pay for their care".

I'm think of this thread http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?80430-Advice-please in particular but it's a not uncommon theme.

 

[chewplop]

I would like to say that all Social Workers are fully aware of CRAG but I fear I would not be being realistic. In my experience I am constantly disappointed by certain individuals in my profession but then I have been in practice for a fair few years.

It is also my experience that many local authoritys seem to have moved over to a system where finances are almost wholey dealt with by a different department. When I first started it was the SW who completed the financial assessments and as such you had to have more than a fundermental understanding. That is not to say I enjoyed this part of my job as becoming that involved in the financial arrangements often hindered the therapeutic relationship.

To be honest the training with regards to finances depends on the LA you start working for and I am afraid training budgets are under significant strain and always seems to be the thing that is cut first.

I do agree that it is always best to admit if you don't know something rather than adlib and I have always taken the stance that honesty is the best policy so if I don't know something l admit this but tell the individual that I will however find out from someone who does and get back to them.

 

[jenniferpa]

In fact what you say rather mirrors what I have said myself in the past: that it's a lack of training and exposure rather than deep conspiracy on the part of the social worker and the LA.

But it's a pity. Anyone who finds this forum will find a number of people who can help them with this, at least as far as giving them the information they need. What concerns me is that there are a lot of people out there who will never find us.

 

[chewplop]

I agree and I have to say it was due to sadness at some of the bad advice people have been given by the professionals 'who should know' that prompted me to post. However I am glad this forum exists for those who have the ability to go looking for the answers - it is those who can't that saden me the most

 

[garnuft]

'For one night only' ...sounds about as much as a social worker can take as opposed to someone whose life it it, to suffer from need or be a carer.

Thanks but no thanks.

#patronising


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[chewplop]

Again I am sorry if my wording has caused offense it was simply my intention to demonstrate that I was unlikely to be on the site on a regular basis. I doubt I would be permitted to access this site during office hours and as I was working late tonight in the office thought i could offer some help. I certainly didn't mean to come across patronising

 

[garnuft]

You could always partake of talking point while you're not being paid?


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[chewplop]

That is what I am doing now I don't get paid overtime - i'm simply allocated a case load and expected to fit it in somehow.
I was simply trying to catch up on some work and came across the site and thought i could offer some help.
I would try to do some at home now i have found it but not sure my 5 year old will give up the computer

 

[Lindy50]

That is what I am doing now I don't get paid overtime - i'm simply allocated a case load and expected to fit it in somehow.
I was simply trying to catch up on some work and came across the site and thought i could offer some help.
I would try to do some at home now i have found it but not sure my 5 year old will give up the computer

You remind me of when I was a social worker, chewplop

Often I used to tell the family on a Saturday or in the evening that I was going to the supermarket - then I couldn't resist popping into the office to catch up on reports etc. The food shopping had to be done in double-quick time

I wasn't being paid either.....

I loved my job but now that I'm no longer employed, I am starting to see things from a different viewpoint as a carer

Thanks for offering information and don't overdo the unpaid overtime!

 

[chewplop]

My husband does get a bit cross with me and coleagues say by doing the overtime it is covering the cracks in the system. Trouble is the simple fact is if i don't do the work then someone doesn't get what they need

Thankyou for your kind words thou as i was starting to think my being on here was causing more offense than good and that certainly wasn't my intension.

 

[jenniferpa]

Well you have to understand that as a group, family carers are always underpaid and often unappreciated. And we are often treated as incompetent (not by any means always but sometimes). It's true we may not have any qualifications but we do know the person we care for better than anyone who may see them in 30 minute blocks. So we can get a little defensive by people apparently (and I say apparently, because I really don't think this was your intention) coming in and offering us "advice" no matter how well-meaning. So if we are a bit bristly, do please understand where we are coming from.

As Lindypop says: once you are a family carer you can see that there are multiple sides to this. Obviously we would in an ideal world work together, but it does sometimes seem that as "clients" or "service users", the role of a social worker is not always about empowering us, but acting a block for us. I have no doubt that this is rarely the intention, but it's often how it seems.

So bristly we are. And we may not be able to say it to your face for fear that the support we get will be withdrawn.

 

[chewplop]

I can appreciate that.

I do have a little bit of experience of the dis-empowering feeling of being on the other side of social services. My husband is physically disabled and I have to say I found my interactions with social services less than helpful, In fact once I asked for help and a duty social worker told me "they weren't a baby sitting service!" and that I should find a way to balance my caring and working responsibilities. To say I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach was an understatement.

I am very lucky in that I have my dad who lives nearby who can help out but not everyone is as lucky as me in that regard.

I guess from my professional perspective I find it very frustrating that I can't provide people with more and often feel that the system I have to work within is more about eligibility criterias etc etc. What I can say is if you have a good worker in your corner, who is willing to think outside the box and go the extra mile then I hope they really can make a differnece. Sadly the service is often only as good as the person you get to support you -(

 

[jenniferpa]

In fact once I asked for help and a duty social worker told me "they weren't a baby sitting service!" and that I should find a way to balance my caring and working responsibilities.

Sadly, this could be a quote from a lot of our posters. In fact I think I've seen it. Depressing for everyone on all sides, but far more corrosive if you are on the receiving end.