PPlog

Thought it useful to share this: Dear Mike, , We are pleased to tell you that the latest edition of the Shaping Our Lives newsletter has just been published. You can see it on line by going to http://www.shapingourlives.org.uk/ourpubs.html where you can view it as a PDF or text only word version. We also wanted to let you know that Shaping Our Lives and the Social Care Institute for Excellence are working together to develop a strategy or plan to help service users take part in social work education and training. Universities and colleges that train people who are going to be social workers have to make sure that some service users take part in this training. As part of this project we are trying to find out what is happening in different parts of the country. We would really like to hear from you if you are involved in social work education in any way, and have experience or views about the involvement of service users in social work education and training. Please give us a call (084...

Been trying for ages to get some music on here. This seems to work: Just click on the title and it should take you to my audio album. Looks like you'll then have to enter the verification text shown, then click on an audio file and in the video box displayed click on the play button. Can anyone please suggest an easier way to get audio files onto pplog? Heddwch. Mike.

It really makes me spew when a statutory body like Norfolk County Council poses as serving its county while in reality it focusses on a minority of its population who live in a city area like Norwich and neglects its rural areas where the population is in the majority. It makes me rage and rant when the same statutory body pays a cavalier disregard to its statutory duties, especially those relating to disabled people. Maybe if the Boundary Commission, in its current machinations, chooses the option of a slightly expanded Norwich as one area, a Gt Yarmouth and Waveney union as another and the rest of rural Norfolk as the remainder to form new councils, we’ll get some improvement. Below are entries about my complaint to Norfolk County Council earlier this year. My letter here is the resolution of that complaint: David White, Chief Executive, Norfolk County Council, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich. Nr1 2DH Hello Mr White. Your ref: My Complaint Against Norfolk County Council I ...

In police training for new recruits the mantra “It may be surprising to you but people tell us lies” is drummed in at every opportunity. In the November ‘News from Norfolk Constabulary’ they say “The county’s 52 Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNTs) are listening closely to our residents and working with them and other partners to resolve the issues they raise.” See my report of the Safer Neighbourhoods meeting of 25th September below.

These are my views on why child protection, especially in relation to the social work profession, is failing in what are rare but tragic instances. Firstly: people who go into social work as a profession mainly do so because it is about a career in helping others. The International Federation of Social Workers’ Definition of social work is: “The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.” The role of ‘social policeman’ markedly conflicts with this basic purpose. Social workers are not trained to interrogate, arrest, forcibly remove and deprive of liberty and deal with violence and aggression - and for the majority who enter...

Norfolk LINks - The interim core group have called it Norfolk LINk but in my opinion the structure will only work at all effectively as a series of local community networks, not as a single county wide Local Involvement Network - so I insist on the plural. The interim core group and the interim host (Voluntary Norfolk), from the end of May on made a very good start working actively in partnership with the host to set up some early strategies and policies (should have been from 1st April but the county council were, IMHO, tardy). I think in particular, the Code of Conduct produced is excellent and could be a model for others (I am currently updating ppeyes and will be including a copy of core documents there). My own involvement began in July with inclusion in the “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies” LINks group. This was interrupted by the scandalous temporary loss of my driving licence (see earlier blog entries) but I’m now back in the loop and we had an ...

Reconcile these: “Make community involvement more convenient ...LINks should provide more ways for more people to be heard and they will work hard to engage with people who may be easier to ignore.” (LINks Guide no 4, NHS National Centre for Improvement) “The experience of disabled people, people with learning difficulties and people with mental health conditions is a significant resource, so make it clear their experience and knowledge is valued. Think through the implications of your promotional programme so that any venues can meet all access requirements.” (LINks Guide no 8, NHS National Centre for Involvement) Remembering that the people NCI is talking about mainly live on welfare benefits ------- With this: The NHS National Centre for Involvement ANNUAL CONFERENCE INVOLVING, ENGAGING, EMPOWERING - PPI In action. Tuesday 25th November 2008 International Convention Centre, Birmingham “Our annual conference is organised to to bring together everyo...