Social Work Adviser Gets To Work
Work has started to draw up an action plan to improve social services in Dumfries and Galloway. Adviser Stephen Wilds has begun a six-month contract with the council after a
Read MoreWork has started to draw up an action plan to improve social services in Dumfries and Galloway. Adviser Stephen Wilds has begun a six-month contract with the council after a
Read MoreThe number of people convicted for abusing children has increased by nearly 50% in the past six years, according to figures released by the Scottish Executive. The charges include cruelty to children, sexual abuse and grooming children for sexual purposes.
Read MoreResidents are celebrating after winning a two year fight to shut down a mental health rehabilitation centre on their doorstep. A planning inspector has ruled that private firm Cambian Healthcare must stop its current operations at The Aspens in Mexborough, following a four-day public inquiry last month.
Read More{mosimage}The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) have published the second round of annual performance assessments (APA) for 102 local authorities. The situation has improved since last year, with 10 authorities judged excellent and 76 judged good for their contribution to improving services for children and young people overall, and within that group, 15 authorities judged excellent and 60 judged good for the quality of social care they offer. Fourteen authorities are making an adequate contribution to improving services for children and young people, with two making an inadequate contribution for services overall. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, Christine Gilbert, said: “In spite of the many strengths emerging across a number of authorities, it is the provision for some of our most vulnerable children and young people that remains of grave concern.
Read MoreServices for Norfolk’s 170,000 children and young people are on the up, according to a glowing report by government inspectors. Children’s services and social care for young people were both given the three-point rating “good” – up from the “adequate” two-point assessment last year. The potential to improve is also “good”, as it was in 2005. The performance assessments by the school inspectorate Ofsted and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) are graded from one to four – inadequate, adequate, good and excellent/outstanding.
Read MoreThe long waiting list for home helps in Calderdale has been blamed on a cash shortage. Councillors were told an extra £550,000 would be needed immediately to give the most needy people the help they require. Calderdale Council Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel was told the entire budget was at risk of overspending to the tune of £2 million and that home care was just a small part of it.
Read MoreAn ultimatum handed to care home staff across Essex has been branded ‘monstrous’ and is fuelling fresh fears for the future of Stanley Wilson Lodge in Saffron Walden. According to the GMB union, employees of five Excelcare facilities for the elderly in the county were told they must accept a cut in wages and working conditions, or lose their jobs. Meetings with affected employees have been followed by letters outlining the new ‘take it or leave it’ contract.
Read MoreDisability charity MOVE Europe has unveiled its new Charter at the House of Lords, urging government to recognise the huge health and social benefits its unique mobility programme can deliver. The MOVE Programme has been shown to reduce the financial pressures on social care agencies and health services. Yet despite being available in this country for almost ten years now, only 1.5 per cent of the UK’s 110,000 severely disabled children are able to access the scheme. Only two English local authorities are currently making MOVE available to all those that could benefit, and nine in Scotland.
Read MoreA project which helps care for babies born addicted to drugs in Edinburgh has scooped a major award. The city council-run Vulnerable Babies Project was among the winners in the Standard Life Edinburgh Achievement Awards. Run from the Springwell House Social Work Centre on Gorgie Road, the project helps prepare foster carers to look after babies born to drug addicted mothers. The children often experience withdrawal symptoms, called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, after becoming dependent on drugs in the womb. Latest figures show 40 babies are born every year in Edinburgh addicted to heroin.
Read MoreCarers, support groups and individuals affected by mental health problems and learning disabilities are united in their hopes of a fresh approach to services in Northern Ireland. As the findings of the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability were finally presented to the Government, marking the conclusion of a four-year initiative, concerned parties waited in the Stormont Hotel for a response.
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