Posts Tagged ‘Social Care’
Monday, January 30th, 2012
The future structure and operation of the NHS Commissioning Board is set to be discussed at its board meeting this week.
Its board will consider a 63-page document outlining the NHS Commissioning Board’s future structure. It will have an “hour glass” shape – an 800-strong central office, four commissioning sectors (based on SHA cluster locations) and, at least initially, 50 local offices (covering PCT cluster areas). Each commissioning sector and local office is expected to have about 50 staff.
Whilst there is logic behind the structure, some might question how lean this structure really is. However, it seems that the NHS Commissioning Board’s budget represents a reduction of about 50% compared to the running costs of the functions transferring to it.
The board will also be asked to approve and adopt Clinical Commissioning Group guidance that has been in circulation (some in draft form) for a few months. Don’t ignore the board papers accompanying each item either, as they also contain some useful information.
Posted by Jonathan Hayden, specialising in: advising health and social care clients including clinical commissioning groups, primary and secondary care contracting, commercial contracts, joint ventures, statutory powers/duties and governance.
Jonathan Hayden
0121 237 4551
jhayden@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: clinical commissioning groups, health, NHS, NHS commissioning board, primary care trusts, Public Sector, Social Care
Posted in Health, NHS, Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Research by Action for Children shows half of social workers ‘feel powerless’ to stop children being neglected due to high thresholds and inadequate resources. 80% of social workers warned that cuts will make it more difficult to intervene in neglect cases.
It is obviously difficult to make meaningful cuts in expenditure without decreasing the quality of service provided. No doubt local authorities are monitoring this balancing act very closely, and clarion calls such as this should be listened to.
However, thresholds and resources are two very different issues, and there is real danger if they are conflated. If the threshold is too low, then it is too low whatever the resources position. A lack of resources should not be a reason to lower the threshold – it would be wrong to make it easier to remove a child from his parents because social workers have less capacity to investigate the home situation. The budgets cuts create real pressure, and clear heads are needed.
Kate Bear
0115 976 6104
kbear@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: action for children, child neglect, child protection, local authorities, personal social care budgets, Social Care, social services, social workers
Posted in Local Authorities, Social Care | No Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
LexisNexis Butterworth is reporting on a claim against the Children’s Society that was in court on 16th January. A man in his 60s claims that, as a teenager, he was sexually molested and raped by the son of the warden and the matron at a Children’s Society home. During a police interview in 2008, the son admitted indecently assaulting the claimant and other children at the home.
The claimant argued that the son was sometimes entrusted to look after children at the home. It was argued that despite the fact that he was not an employee of The Children’s Society, the charity is liable for the abuse as it took place while the son was ‘in charge’. If this argument is successful the categories of people for whom defendants such as schools, charities and fostering agencies might be vicariously liable could be enormous.
We will be providing an update as soon as the judgement is available.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 8.5/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: children's services, children's society, Social Care
Posted in Social Care | No Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
This week brings news that four siblings received nearly £1m from Essex Council. Their claims were based on alleged failings on the part of Essex social workers. The detail of each claim is confidential but they do reflect a change in the quantum of damages that claimants are expecting in abuse cases (and a corresponding increase in costs).
Even 5 years ago claimants proving prolonged and very serious sexual abuse over a number of years were recovering a maximum of £50,000 General Damages. More minor and isolated incidents might attract as little at £5,000. Special Damages claims were also relatively modest, with Claims of Therapy of £7,500 on average, and future loss of employment capacity usually calculated on a Smith -v- Manchester basis at between £10,000 and £20,000.
These days the effect of cases like this, and claimants’ increased use of CFAs means we are often reserving even modest claims at £100,000.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 8.5/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: cfa, child abuse, childrens social care, claims of therapy, essex council, insurance, Social Care, social workers
Posted in Insurance, Social Care | No Comments »
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
We’ve seen a lot of publicity recently about the Government’s intention to make the adoption process easier and faster, but for the most part the focus has been on placing babies and young children.
This week brings news that the needs of older children are being forgotten and that it is a concern that deserves to be taken seriously.
Since 1999 it has be possible for children to bring claims against local authorities for failing to secure appropriate arrangements which are in Looked After Children’s short and long term best interests. Failure to do so could be the subject of long, expensive and protracted litigation – something which we are seeing a lot more of.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.3/10 (3 votes cast)
Tags: adoption, adoption system, childrens social care, Education, fostercare, local authority children's services, Social Care
Posted in Education, Litigation, Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Following Treasury’s “rapid review” of adoption services Children’s Minister Tim Laughton has set up a new panel to draw up plans to overhaul and, crucially, speed up the way people are assessed to see if they are suitable to adopt.
Tim Laughton wants social workers to be able to make common sense judgements about people’s suitability to adopt, but I can see trouble ahead if the correct investment is not made to train, support and develop those Practitioners responsible for the task. It’s a complex and sensitive task, and although it could be done faster than is currently the case, care must be taken to ensure that people aren’t allowed to conclude they have a right to adopt no matter how old, unfit or inflexible they may be. The welfare of each child must be paramount.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: adoption, adoption services, child welfare, children's minister, Social Care, social care practitioners, treasury
Posted in Social Care | No Comments »
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
The Government’s adoption advisor and former chief executive of Barnardo’s, Martin Narey, has branded the adoption system as ‘not fit for purpose’. So, an overhaul is planned.
Under the current system the wait for adoption averages over 2 years and around 1,000 children a year are unable to find families. This statistic is not helped by the system discouraging new applicants and existing applicants being turned away for being overweight or for previously smoking. There is clearly some work to do here.
Tim Loughton, has asked a group of experts to draw up new plans for assessing potential adoptive parents; not an enviable task. Whilst improvements must be possible, striking the right balance between protecting some of the most vulnerable children in society and opening the door to more applicants will prove challenging.
Social Workers have responded by saying that delays are an essential part of ensuring matches between children and adopters are sound and the risk of breakdown limited. There is a risk that for the sake of speed and numbers, the quality of assessments of potential adoptive parents could be reduced.
Kate Bear
0115 976 6104
kbear@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: adoption system, barnardos, Martin Narey, Social Care, social workers, Tim Loughton, vulnerable children
Posted in Social Care | No Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
George Osborne’s Autumn Statement was issued on 29 November 2011. The statement revealed that cuts to public spending, including social care, from 2015 to 2017 will be greater than previously predicted. Local authority funding will fall by 3.5% in 2015 – 2016 and 2.7% in 2016 – 2017.
This will significantly impact on vital services provided by the local authority. In particular, it seems even more unlikely that the government will follow the proposals set out in the Dilnot Report on the funding of adult social care, despite clear findings that the current adult social care system does not work. Instead, the proposals for the future funding of adult care, which one expected to be set out in a white paper in early 2012 are likely to be far more modest. The concern will be that short term savings will postpone necessary reform, and cost us more in the long run.
Posted by Louise Wilbraham, who specialises in defending child protection claims against local authorities, including class actions; familiar with smaller group and individual cases; undertakes educational and personal injury work.
Louise Wilbraham
0115 976 6552
lwilbraham@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: adult social care, autumn statement, George Osborne, government spending cuts, Social Care, social services
Posted in Local Authorities, Social Care | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Later today the Government is expected to publish its Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan. The Government’s aim is to bring together the police, CPS, local safeguarding children boards, agencies, independent bodies and the voluntary sector in order to tackle this problem.
Emphasis is to be put on protecting children in care who are four times more likely to be victims of abuse. In order to do this councils will be asked to work together to prevent the trafficking of children within the UK.
These proposals will involve greater information sharing between different organisations and between different Councils. With current concerns regarding data security organisations will need to develop robust policies on what information to share and under what circumstances. These policies will need to strike a careful balance between ensuring that information is kept safe and secure but also that all relevant organisations have the information required to fully address potential exploitation and trafficking.
Kate Bear
0115 976 6104
kbear@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: child abuse, child protection, childrens social care, CPS, Education, local safeguarding childrens' boards, sex offences on children, sexual exploitation, sexualisation of children, Social Care
Posted in Education, Social Care | No Comments »
Monday, November 21st, 2011
Social Care Practitioners and adopters have been invited to share their views about the Treasury’s “rapid review” of adoption services. It certainly is rapid. Some may think the deadline is too short to allow for sufficiently broad range of feedback.
The letter is dated 14 November 2011, and asks for feedback on its 24 questions by Monday 28 November 2011. We are also saddened to see how little publicity this has received.
When there are changes we hope to see them introduced after widespread training, and led by experienced practitioners. If that doesn’t happen we can expect to see more litigation from adopters, children and their birth families in the future as those Social Workers who have to spearhead changes break new ground.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: adoption, adoption services, government, Social Care, social care practitioners, social workers, treasury
Posted in Social Care | No Comments »
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
The doctrine of vicarious liability establishes that an employer is liable for the acts or omissions of its employees. It was founded on a two stage test: (1) is the relationship (normally one of employment) one to which the principles will apply; and (2) whether the act or omission was within the scope of employment.
Case law has chipped away at the doctrine, ever widening the relationships that now seem to give rise to vicarious liability. Mr Justice MacDuff’s judgment in JGE yesterday was no exception. It widened the first stage further to include a situation whereby the key elements of “employment” did not figure.
Although Mr Justice MacDuff said that the doctrine is not “infinity extendable”, previous judges made the same point before adding one more little extension. Mr Justice MacDuff’s judgment was no different. So where does that leave us? Potentially analogous facts to those relevant in this case are easy to imagine; the relationship between foster carers and local authority springs to mind. Mr Justice MacDuff’s judgment by no means opens the door for such claims, but he may well be offering a key to a previously locked door.
Posted by Ceri-Sian Williams, who specialises in defending claims brought against social services
Ceri-Sian Williams
0115 976 6563
cwilliams@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: case law, Education, employers liability, fostercare, JGE, local authorities, Social Care, vicarious liability
Posted in Education, Social Care | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
At the end of September we posted about a DfE report on adoptions. The last week has brought us news that the Government will name and shame local authorities that are failing to put children up for adoption and fostering quickly enough.
The good news is that at least one successful blueprint is in place. Understandably, there may be some concerns about the amount of investment needed to follow this blueprint or a similar model (we don’t know what the set up costs were) but Harrow, working in partnership with the charity Coram, reports it is saving £440,000 a year removing children from the care system by matching children with adopters within between 4 and 6 months.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: adoption, coram, Department for Education, dfe report on adoptions, fostering, Social Care
Posted in Local Authorities, Social Care | No Comments »
Monday, October 31st, 2011
A judge has ruled that four siblings receive damages after Buckinghamshire County Council’s Social Workers failed to protect them from very serious sexual abuse by their father. The highest award was £155,487; the lowest £12,000.
What makes this case unusual is the large discrepancy between the lowest damages award, and the highest award.
More significant still is the fact that this judge was prepared to find that, although social workers closed the file on 5 June 1993, a duty of care was owed to a child who had not even been conceived. Hampton, J pointed out that the risk posed by the father to “any child” in the family had been established. I do hope this finding is Appealed. If it is allowed to stand it could be the basis of broadening the category of people to whom social workers owe a duty considerably. There simply aren’t the resources to carry out risk assessments anticipating children who aren’t on the scene.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: child protection, local authorities, safeguarding, Social Care
Posted in Local Authorities, Social Care | No Comments »
Monday, October 31st, 2011
The Health and Social Care Bill brings new duties to local government in the care they are required to deliver.
Bringing public health to a local level will involve engaging in and creating partnerships that connect local public services together. This will need time, resource and money, things which aren’t easy to come by these days.
Councils should remember that using their enforcement role they already play an important role in ensuring that the environment in which we live, work, and play enhances our health and so it may be possible to meet the new duties at minimal cost.
For example, a PCT recently commissioned a council’s housing team to undertake additional enforcement/inspection activity, combined with referrals to GPs/community health teams. Council inspectors reached members of the community who might otherwise not be seen by GPs and the project showed that enforcement had a role to play where landlords showed a disregard for their tenants’ health.
This is a good example of the NHS and a Council working together to perform their legal duties improving health outcomes.
Helene Maillet-Vioud
0115 976 6213
hmaillet-vioud@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: health and social care, Health and Social Care Bill, NHS, social and health care partnerships, Social Care
Posted in Health, Social Care | No Comments »
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
There are an increasing number of claims being made against local authorities for failing to take children into care. Whether or not a duty is owed to each particular child depends on the facts of the case – the closeness of the relationship between the authority and the child, the forseeability of harm, and whether it’s “just and reasonable” to impose a duty of care.
Cash strapped local authorities are now considering charging parents who put their children into voluntary care.
Both the arguments for and against such a policy are understandable. It’s been done in the past, but in the current climate there’s a risk that immediate savings will be more than set off in addressing future claims from children whose families descend into damaging crisis because the parents refused to pay for voluntary care.
If there is a change of policy it needs to be clearly stated, followed up with well evidenced clear and regular staff training, and closely policed.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: children in care, local authorities, Social Care, voluntary care
Posted in Local Authorities, Social Care | No Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement (29 September 2011) that only 60 babies were adopted last year, comes the news that the number of children in care in England has increased to 65,520.
Monitoring these placements is not easy, it involves social workers working with multidisciplinary teams and families to try and work out what is best for each child. We are seeing an increasing number of claims arising out of such placements (and indeed failure to make such placements). To defend each claim we have to read lots of paper and electronic documents. We also need to spend valuable hours with practitioners so that we can explain what Social Work Practice means on the ground, and why decision making is not simple. The amount of time this involves is breathtaking yet quite often the value of the claim relatively low.
Sadly my view is that Social Workers may, like health professionals, have to become used to the idea that giving evidence in professional negligence claims is simply part of the job. Employers can make that change of culture easier by providing regular training and support.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: browne jacobson, child protection, children in care, Claims, local authorities, professional negligence, professional negligence claims, Public Sector, safeguarding, sarah erwin-jones, Social Care, social work practice, training social workers
Posted in Professional Indemnity, Public Sector, Social Care | No Comments »
Friday, September 30th, 2011
DofE statistics show that around 4000 babies under the age of one were adopted in 1976 but this fell to 150 in 2007 and was down to just 60 in 2010. This is partly cultural, partly because the process takes over a year and partly because good practice requires social workers to try and keep families together.
Alongside all of this, local authorities are increasingly being asked to pay damages for failing to remove children from inadequate families early enough. Claimant lawyers often argue that delay means their clients have missed an opportunity to be successfully placed with an adoptive family, instead growing up in foster or institutional care. They say this part of the claim alone is worth at least £50,000.
Local authorities take heart – this latest report shows how difficult it is going to be to succeed in these arguments. Three quarters of children in care are placed with foster parents with a remaining 12% in residential accommodation. This suggests that only 10 to 12% are suitable to be even considered for adoption.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Tags: adoption, browne jacobson, child protection, damage claims, foster parents, inadequate families, local authorities, safeguarding, sarah erwin-jones, Social Care
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, September 19th, 2011
A “Dear Colleague” letter (15 September 2011) provides a useful update on the development of the clinical senates and networks recommended by the NHS Future Forum. The letter also provides further clarity on the different roles these networks and senates are likely to fulfil, and invites interested parties to engage in their development.
It seems that clinical networks will usually be specific to a particular patient/professional group or disease, and will support improvements in pathways and outcomes. Clinical senates (of which there are likely to be about 15) will involve a range of experts, professionals and others from across health and social care, and will offer advice about quality improvements or reforms across geographical areas.
The stated intention is that these organisations will help, rather than constrain, commissioners. However, the suggestion that the senates may also be involved in the quality aspects of a clinical commissioning group’s authorisation or annual assessment may set alarm bells ringing.
Posted by Emily Birkett, who specialises in advice to NHS bodies ; their local authority partners and related organisations in commercial law, contracting, procurement , competition governance and all aspects of primary care.
Emily Birkett
0121 237 3934
ebirkett@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Tags: browne jacobson, clinical network, clinical senate, clinical senates, clinical senates NHS Future Forum, Emily Birkett, health, NHS, Social Care
Posted in Health, NHS, Social Care | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
The flurry of activity which has followed the publication of various reports about Pembrokeshire Council by the Welsh inspectorate bodies, CSSIW and Estyn shows how important it is to get childrens safeguarding systems right, whether that be in regard to social care or, crucially, in education settings. The most recent report recommends that the council evaluates all safeguarding work within the education department and its schools and takes urgent steps to remedy deficiencies in the governance and management of safeguarding, including associated functions in human resources. Pembrokeshire have appointed a new Cabinet Member with responsibility for this.
Its going to be a tough job. Particularly in the teeth of a “special investigation” by the Wales Audit Office. It’s all very well writing policies and procedures, but the true test will be whether staff at the coal face know about the procedures and are confident about using them. Once everyone has been trained in the sensitive area, will and should employers be prepared to performance manage or discipline those who fall short?
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: Anne Hughes, CSSIW, Education, Pembrokshire Council, safeguarding, Social Care, Welsh Audit Office
Posted in Education, Social Care | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
Today sees the launch of a consultation on changes to the inspection of local authority children’s services. Ofsted’s announcement flags the “No Notice” element of the scheme and reports that it is proposed inspection will include direct observation of services in action, including interactions with children and families.
Inspection will also consider whether the quality of early help could have prevented the child from entering the child protection system in the first place and the impact of the failure to provide such help might have had on the child.
It doesn’t take much to work out what triggers have prompted these developments, which, it is proposed, will be implemented May 2012. The consultation invites comment, but the closing date for this is very soon; 30 September 2011.
Posted by Sarah Erwin-Jones, who specialises in social services, the care sector, education and negotiating legal costs; advises on risk management issues including data protection matters.
Sarah Erwin-Jones
0115 976 6136
serwin@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: child protection system, children's services, local authority, Ofsted, Social Care
Posted in Local Authorities, Social Care | No Comments »
