THE TRUMPETER

Did you hear the news that councils are now thinking about charging to collect our rubbish so that we can manage our rubbish? What is the ever rising council tax we pay for?
Just like rubbish..this idea is rubbish!
Arent we burdened with enough taxes here and there? increases in petrol, gas and electric bills? We do not get any increament in wages over 1.??%
So I ask where will the money come from? I think these people want a protest or civil disobedience in their hands. We are bleeding from unstoppable increases that is hurting us badly and they appear not to understand. How would they? They have the money and can afford it anyway.
How about the TV licence and water increases. I think enough is becoiming enough. We can only take this much!
Let the government act before the mass of the people make their silent suffering known openly. Remember te Margaret Thatcher period?
Do you agree with me?
Let's hear your views because it affects everyone.

For the past week now the news headlines have always centred on the NHS coming redundancies following financial problems described to us as 'need for futher modernisation'. The main actors on the political scene are making us understand that it is either 'modernise' or 'die'.

Soon after the news hit the headlines we started seeeing the health sector machine swing into action. From news releases, it appears to me that it is making an impact whilst a demonstration match is scheduled for sometime in May. Unison has also indicated a sympathy strike on condition their members are balotted.
This blog is linked to my last but one relating to why we need people and infact all social care workers to show interest in what affect us and our profession.

Today somewhere I raised similar issue but some of those I discussed this with were not too enthusiastic or found it maybe unreasonable.
I wonder why and how this is so.
Could it be apathy? Or maybe it did not make any sense.

Luckily we now have people of substance taking up social care issues at the centre, does that mean we at our different local levels cannot do anything to raise the people's awareness of what and who we are in terms of our values and what we stand for?

Do we have to wait for something bad to happen in the country due to an error on our part with its accompanying bad media reports before we start attemting damage limitation?

We must understand that social care at present is at local levels(?) and that appears to be where the centre wants it be. But should this be? What can we do to help, promote and publise ourselves?

If 7000 health sectors workers go with all the political inconvience it creates, what then says social care will be make a ripple if this were to be directed at us?

By the way, who are these 7000 health care workers that will be going? Would these be foreign nurses whose services are no more required?
That will be an interesting thing to find out.
Meanwhile, social care workers, go out; scream, shout and use all available sources to carry our our own self-promotion. We need to be able to have an impact.

I have taken this topic out of the Comminity Care Magazive issue 6-12 April 2006, pgs 28-30.

I am raising this issue again and requesting public contibution. Should the ADSS be made more inclusive or remain the way it is?

Has the ADSS been as active as it should have been comparatively to others within the health and education?

Give your view.

Community Care will never cease to amaze me with the topics and issues raised in the magazine. I refer to issue 6-12 April 2006 pgs. 16-17.

I was happy when I read the news analysis on the above topic. It is very nice to see that we now have people of substance taking up social care issues at the level that is now capable of getting attention at the centre. It is even better to know that Wanless (Wanless Report) will be part of the team to review adult care funding at the DOH.

I will argue that this opportunity should not be allowed to fade. Instead, continued pressure through all available means including use of the press should be utilised.
The old people of today were the workers and creators of todays wealth. So is the fact that the growing adults of today will be the 'old' adults of tomorrow. We should not forget the popular saying 'what goes round comes around'. They deserve better than they are getting.

I will be asking any political party what their policy on social care is. This MUST be as important as health, education and taxes.

Community Care will never cease to amaze me with the topics and issues raised in the magazine. I refer to issue 6-12 April 2006 pgs. 16-17.

I was happy when I read the news analysis on the above topic. It is very nice to see that we now have people of substance taking up social care issues at the level that is now capable of getting attention at the centre. It is even better to know that Wanless (Wanless Report) will be part of the team to review adult care funding at the DOH.

I will argue that this opportunity should not be allowed to fade. Instead, continued pressure through all available means including use of the press should be utilised.
The old people of today were the workers and creators of todays wealth. So is the fact that the growing adults of today will be the 'old' adults of tomorrow. We should not forget the popular saying 'what goes round comes around'. They deserve better than they are getting.

I will be asking any political party what their policy on social care is. This MUST be as important as health, education and taxes.

It is believed(?) that one of the most stressed jobs in the world that also does not pay much can be found within the social care sector. Social workers included.
Now you hear all big political spins by the politicians and I quote Jon Glasby (whose book in partnership with Littlechild I was just reading some days back)in Community Care 23.2-2.3.06, pg.34: 'The green paper was social care's day in the sun, now we're back in the shade'.

And I stil go to quote his analysis on the 'Our Health, Our Care, Our say'.
'Tony Blair's foreword makes it clear that this is an NHS document with social care only as ''an add on''. His introduction talks of NHS investment, of patients, of doctors, and of waiting lists, with social care only appearing in the final paragraphs - not in its own right but in the context of its potential contribution to NHS priorites. Search the full document electronically, and ''health'' comes up 1,125 times compared with ''social care'' just 305; ''GP'' appears 152 times while ''social work'' gets only 18 mentions; and ''PCTs'' receive 277 references, ''social services'' only 35'.

My point is that from Glasby's analysis, it is quite obvious where social workers and social care belong in the arena of priority/importance of New Labour.

If you refer to my previous entries, social workers and social care appear to be deliberately being put into extinction. It would therefore seem appropriate to refer to social care and social workers as the 'endangered species'. If we were animals, we would be protected.
How the system thinks with such policies as these, retaining social workers or enticing students into the profession would be possible or easy beats my imagination.
One of our values is to uphold anti-discriminatory practice in every sphere of our activity. Funny enough, we are the most discriminated.

Thanks to all those who are presently engaged in the struggle to push social care into the national political and central arena. RESPECT to these galant people. I will also be doing my own little bit at my blog level.

If you have noticed,all issues raised have been taken from Community Care magazine. I will continue to do so on the ground that it is the one I have chosen as the best media on social care/work issues. Thanks and thanks Community Care for as long as I continue using issues raised in your paper to raise further awareness.

I will like to read from like minded people and social workers in particular as this blog is dedicated to you and our champions.

In my part one speak, I raised the above subject matter found in the community care magazine. Again this week, some one wrote on the same topic. So, I decided to follow up too. This is topical.
This tuition development is becoming quite interesting by the day.
I remember one of my social work books that I read which said that 'partnership' is all about power. Social care and health come together. Health is the big player. Social care the little 'David'.
It is easy for the politicians to twist words instead of giving a simple yes or no.

Now it is becoming clear that the DOH is seeking to put us where we belong, no where they think we belong!
People forget that they will become old some day and would need these same social workers who are being thrown to the wolves today!!
We work with and for the fulfilment of better life for the less privileged and able.
Yet, DOH thinks it is fair to retain the health tuition suport for their nurses whilst those on the social work side cannot.

What is the message DOH is sending out to us?
Can the health sector do our work plus theirs? Do they do more than we do?
Social Workers need to have bits of understanding of medicine, counselling, psychology and many others. In short, we make the less priviledged and able in the society live just that little bit of dignified lives within what we are provided with.
Our health colleagues have a one way approach in terms of specialisation, You have headache...panadol is the answer.

Thanks again to Gordon Carson writing in the Community Care magaxine 05.04.2006. He writes on the same topic of the DOH favouring their health students and throwing the social workers to the dogs.

Is this a deliberate ploy to destroy social workers?
DOH, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.

Please note, there are people showing keen interest in this. Stop this power play. Stop destroying the social care sector.

We are too stressed to be stressed.

Let social workers and other like minded people speak out. If we do not speak, no one will and this is becoming obvious.

Comments welcome.