North Lanarkshire social work bosses accused of ‘policy on the hoof’

BOSSES at North Lanarkshire Council’s social work department have been accused by home support workers of “ruining” staff morale with decision-making described as “policy on the hoof”.

The Wishaw Press were told that, in the space of a few days, hard-working staff effectively had their workload doubled without any prior consultation. When it became apparent the changes were making the job impossible, bosses did an about-turn and reverted to the previous system which had been tried and tested and had been in place for years.

On Friday, May 14, around 60 home support workers were informed at a meeting that as of Monday, May 17, they would be expected to spend just 15 minutes with each of the service users they assist – many of whom are totally dependent on the service – instead of 30 minutes, which was the timescale allocated up to until then.

Effectively, this meant that each worker was being expected to double the amount of people they would help each day, taking the total to as high as 40. It was feared it meant the level of care being administered to users was halved.

A disgruntled home support worker with many years of service who contacted the Wishaw Press said: “It’s completely unacceptable. We were just told this was happening without any prior warning or consultation. How can anyone possibly be expected to double what is already a hectic work schedule and administer an acceptable level of care and assistance to their service users?

“It’s impossible to do and it compromises both the health and safety of the service user and provider. We’re meant to prepare meals for some of these people amongst many other tasks. How is that possible in just 15 minutes?

“Since it was introduced morale amongst the workforce has plummeted. There are workers off with stress and a significant amount have made official complaints to the department, both about the changes and the way that they’ve been treated when contacting bosses to say they’re running late.

“The service users are very upset by it all as well. They don’t want to see us rushing in and out of their homes. It makes them feel as though they are an inconvenience, which is the exact opposite of how they should be feeling.

“Such has been the level of discontent with the changes that already some of the home support workers in the department have had their schedules changed back to the previous system.”

Mary Fegan, head of social work services said: “We regularly review the services we deliver to ensure these are appropriate and meet the varied needs of our service users. We are actively reviewing the situation and will respond to these concerns. We treat all concerns about our services seriously.”