Welfare Reform on the Web (October 2007): Social care - UK

Champions can leap hurdles

P. Swift

Community Care, Sept. 6th 2007, p. 32-33

The author analyses obstacles to greater uptake of direct payments from staff and users' points of view, and suggests ways of surmounting them. Research suggests that the most effective way of promoting direct payments within local authorities is to assign 'champions' of the system to each care group and ensure that success stories are shared.

Nothing about us without us

P. Beresford

Community Care, Sept. 13th 2007, p. 16

There is growing commitment in government to service user involvement in planning and delivery of health and social care services. However, this accompanied by a sense of frustration among users themselves, who witness, in practice, ever-reducing levels of support.

Why fitness standards are vague and disabling

Chih Hoong Sin

Professional Social Work, Sept. 2007, p. 16-17

The author sums up the Disability Rights Commission's Formal Investigation into fitness to work standards used by regulatory bodies, including those governing social work in Great Britain. It is argued that such criteria are vague and have clear adverse consequences for the employment opportunities of disabled people.

You're having a laugh

L. Tickle

Community Care, Aug. 30th 2007, p. 14-15

Reports evidence that morale among social workers is rising thanks to:

• Improvements in the status of the profession at the macro-level
• Increased public trust thanks to the regulatory work of the General Social Care Council
• Good management practices and reductions in paperwork, especially in forward-thinking authorities such as Sandwell Community Caring Trust