The Guardian

JANUARY 24, 2023

Stephen Cottrell told the Guardian he was “really concerned” about care company owners taking multimillion pound dividends while delivering substandard care at the launch of a new vision for social care.

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68

The Guardian

MAY 24, 2023

There remains a vast tension between the importance of care work, both paid and unpaid, and how little recognition it gets Westminster rarely serves up good news, so let us celebrate when it does. There are around 5 million unpaid carers in the UK, looking after parents or family members. Continue reading.

Disability 74

Disability University 74

The Guardian

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

Sir Andrew Dilnot, who has advised successive Conservative-led governments on fixing a sector whose struggles are causing severe discharge backlogs in the NHS, told the Guardian he welcomed announcements of up to £4.7bn in extra money for adult social care in England. Continue reading.

Government 69

Government 69

Community Care

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

The care population in England has grown for a 15th consecutive year, official data shows. Looked-after children: key statistics Number: 83,840 children were looked after in England as of 31 March 2023, up 2% on a year earlier (82,080). Trend: this is the 15th consecutive annual rise in the care population.

Adoption 206

Adoption Government Social Services Social Services 206

The Guardian

APRIL 27, 2022

I felt every emotion you could think of when I heard the news that the government’s early policy on care homes in England – when elderly and vulnerable people were discharged from hospitals into care homes without being isolated – had been ruled unlawful.

Government 76

Government Hospitals 76

Community Care

JULY 5, 2023

Director of education and children’s services at Haringey Council when the Peter Connelly case (known at the time as Baby P) hit the headlines of every news outlet in 2008, Shoesmith was removed from her post during a live TV press conference by the then secretary of state for children, Ed Balls. Haringey Council swiftly sacked her.

Social Worker 248

Social Worker Psychosocial Hospitals Social Services 248

The Frontline

OCTOBER 17, 2022

According to the independent survey of more than 2,000 UK adults, two thirds (66%) feel social workers are given a hard time and are portrayed negatively by the media. With almost half (45%) of people only understanding what social workers do from reading media stories, the negative news agenda is having a knock-on effect on the ground.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker Diversity Addiction Mental Health 52

The Frontline

SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

According to the independent survey of more than 2,000 UK adults, two thirds (66%) feel social workers are given a hard time and are portrayed negatively by the media. With almost half (45%) of people only understanding what social workers do from reading media stories, the negative news agenda is having a knock-on effect on the ground.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker Diversity Addiction Mental Health 52

Social Care

AUGUST 22, 2023

Emerging from a group of social care operators, this organisation was established to enhance the quality of care across the UK. Throughout this journey, my role as a director has allowed close collaboration with various sector partners, including Skills for Care, DHSC, CQC, and Care England. Nominate someone today!

Nursing Home 52

Nursing Home 52

The Critical Blog

APRIL 15, 2021

BASW England, Professional Officer, Social Worker & Anti-racism Visionary. Although Professor Glaude’s work refers to ‘the lie’ upon which America has predicated its beliefs, the relevance to the UK is unquestionable. In my work, I’m able to act as an Anti-racism Visionary for Social Work across England. By Wayne Reid.

Social Worker 52

Social Worker Diversity Self-harm Communication 52

The Guardian

APRIL 13, 2024

Observer investigation finds that private companies made £105m despite not being registered with Ofsted Hundreds of extremely vulnerable school-age children in England are being sent to illegal, unregulated homes every year because of a chronic shortage of places in secure local authority units.

Schools 110

Schools 110

The Guardian

APRIL 16, 2024

£25bn of public money would have been saved between 2019 and 2023 if north had same care entry rates as south, report says One in every 52 children in Blackpool are in care compared with one in 140 across England, leading to calls for more to be done to urgently tackle the widening north-south divide , brought on by “decades of underinvestment”.

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87

The Guardian

MARCH 19, 2024

Damning report on long-term care system blames uneven funding and a lack of a plan for failure The government has brought adult social care in England “to its knees” with years of uneven funding and a “woefully insufficient plan” to fill thousands of staff vacancies, MPs have said in a damning report on a system that provides long-term care for 835,000 (..)

Government 98

Government 98

The Guardian

MARCH 2, 2024

A local authority leader claims private equity groups are exploiting vulnerable youngsters in care homes in the pursuit of profit Care companies are insisting on unnecessary and expensive support packages for vulnerable children to boost their profits, a council leader has claimed.

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99

The Critical Blog

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Likewise, in the UK, social workers need to be aware that they are not performing an objective, technical task, but exercising judgement over the distinction between tolerable variation and intolerable abuse. New York: New American Library. news/2018/07/new-service-to-reduce-to-keep- children-safe (accessed 28 November 2018).

Social Worker 40

Social Worker Self-harm Psychiatric Welfare 40

The Guardian

MARCH 17, 2024

Helen Pidd reports “I think there’s something very natural about bringing young children and older people together, and yet in the UK it’s not the norm any more,” Helen Pidd , the Guardian’s north of England editor, tells Nosheen Iqbal. Is the UK missing out on the benefits of intergenerational living?

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76

The Guardian

JULY 8, 2023

Shocking figures gathered by the Observer show social care provision is dictated by money, not need New children’s care homes are being disproportionately placed in cheaper and more deprived parts of England, according to an Observer investigation.

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97

The Guardian

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Whitegates Care Centre defends distributing the funeral directors’ cards, described by one relative as ‘appalling’ A firm of funeral directors sent Valentine’s Day cards to residents of a care home, in what has been described as an “appalling stunt” that the undertakers have admitted was “misjudged”.

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81

The Guardian

JANUARY 24, 2024

Money comes after Tory MPs write to PM demanding funds to prevent cuts to services as financial crisis worsens in election year UK politics live – latest updates Councils in England are to be handed an extra £500m in funding amid a worsening financial crisis at town halls across the country.

Government 80

Government 80

The Guardian

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Some of those asked to help fill skills gap say they have been effectively paid as little as £5 an hour and charged unexpected fees Foreign care staff invited to the UK to help fix a chronic worker shortage are being “exploited on a grand scale”, a trade union has said, after it emerged some had been effectively paid as little as £5 an hour and charged (..)

Healthcare 91

Healthcare 91

The Guardian

APRIL 24, 2024

However, these data snapshots do not present the full picture, as they do not account for the complexity of care histories.

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47

The Guardian

JUNE 6, 2023

Exclusive: Volunteers sought in England to take equipment and drugs to people’s homes among other tasks Health ministers are to recruit a new volunteer army for social care to ferry medical equipment and drugs to people’s homes in a bid to free up congested hospital wards.

Hospital Discharges 111

Hospital Discharges Hospitals 111

The Guardian

MAY 26, 2023

Ten-month-old Finley Boden died on Christmas Day, just over a month after being returned to parents’ care A couple found guilty of the “savage and brutal” Christmas Day murder of their 10-month-old son have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

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98

The Guardian

MARCH 17, 2023

Ministers set to halve the £500m promised to invest in staffing of sector with more than 165,000 vacancies, report says Politics live - latest updates Ministers are poised to cut £250m from investment in the social care workforce in England, it has been reported, in a move that providers say could set back care “for years to come”.

Government 112

Government Hospitals 112

The Guardian

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

million children born in England between 1996 and 1999. Their data was recorded between the ages of 10 – the minimum age of criminal responsibility in England – and 17. Using data collated by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department for Education, the study monitored the experiences of almost 2.3 Continue reading.

Criminal Justice 78

Criminal Justice 78

The Guardian

AUGUST 28, 2023

Sarah, an adult social care worker, has seen lower wages, more insecure work and years of staff shortages • Exploitation and low pay causing poverty among care workers, says TUC “Unless you’ve actually experienced some sort of care in your life, it’s an invisible job,” says Sarah*, a senior adult social care worker who has more than two decades of (..)

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77

The Guardian

JANUARY 26, 2023

Laura Winham, 38, had severe mental illnesses and was ‘abandoned’ by NHS and social services, family allege A severely mentally ill woman whose dead body lay in her home unnoticed for more than three years was effectively “abandoned and left to die” by NHS and social services who missed repeated chances to save her, her family has alleged.

Schizophrenia 105

Schizophrenia Social Services Social Services 105

The Guardian

OCTOBER 20, 2022

A new criminal offence should be created for people working in positions of trust who fail to report allegations of child sexual abuse, according to a landmark report that also calls for the creation of a national scheme to compensate victims for the “incalculable” harm inflicted on them.

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96

The Guardian

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Poet and broadcaster says Rachel de Souza should be pushing ministers to do much more Lemn Sissay, the poet and broadcaster, has launched a bruising attack on the children’s commissioner for England, accusing her of failing to champion children in care at a crucial time and “smothering the voice of her own office”.

Schools 98

Schools 98

The Guardian

AUGUST 23, 2022

MPs tackling crisis of 165,000 staff vacancies hear of managers dreading Aldi opening nearby ‘as I know I will lose staff’ Half of care workers employed in independent care homes would earn more if they took an entry level job in a supermarket, according to new research into a staffing crisis that has left thousands of vulnerable people suffering inadequate (..)

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98

The Guardian

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

County Councils Network says local bodies facing insolvency after increase in children being taken into care and ‘out of control’ costs “Out of control” increases in child protection spending since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic have put one in 10 of England’s biggest councils at risk of effective bankruptcy in the next few months, a survey has (..)

Government 73

Government 73

The Guardian

JANUARY 19, 2023

give more than 50 hours a week, as care system struggles with rising demand Five million people – including children as young as five – provide unpaid care to people with long-term health conditions or problems related to old age, census data for England and Wales has revealed. Figures show 1.5m of the population to 4.7%.

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97

The Guardian

DECEMBER 28, 2022

Exclusive: Nearly one in 10 care homes that offer dementia support reported on by inspectors in 2022 were given worst rating ‘Very grim’: daughter criticises Surrey care home over father’s death Families of people with dementia have said there is a national crisis in care safety as it emerged that more than half of residential homes reported on by (..)

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98

The Guardian

JANUARY 1, 2023

Charity Become says ‘shocking’ numbers highlight need for stability and more funding for foster carers More than 1,200 children in care were uprooted and had to move placements over Christmas last year, figures from councils in England show.

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94

The Guardian

DECEMBER 3, 2023

Social workers scrambling to find places for children after net loss of 1,000 foster families in past year Child protection experts have called for an urgent nationwide hunt for thousands of new foster carers after a net loss of 1,000 families in the past year and a record number of children being placed far from home.

Social Worker 62

Social Worker Government 62

The Guardian

APRIL 27, 2022

High court judgment deals blow to claim government threw ‘protective ring’ around vulnerable residents in England The government’s policy towards care homes in England at the start of the Covid pandemic has been ruled illegal, in a significant blow to ministers’ claim to have thrown a “protective ring” around the vulnerable residents.

Hospitals 108

Hospitals Government 108

The Guardian

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

Warning of £3.7bn funding shortfall over next 18 months piles pressure on Liz Truss after campaign pledges Adult social care in England is in serious crisis, Tory council leaders have warned the government, as it faces a £3.7bn funding gap and a growing staffing shortage that has brought many local care providers to the brink of collapse.

Government 96

Government Interventional 96