David Lammy, the Tottenham MP, spoke yesterday in an interview on LBC about his views on smacking. Among other things, he said “There are groups of people in this country who are confused by the law and we need to listen to those people,” he told the Guardian. “There is a divide between professionals and… [Read more…]
January 26, 2012 by politicalnurse
Once upon a time a group of politicians thought it would be a good idea to give lots of money or funding to research into whether people who are on welfare benefits differ from those who are not. Their hypothesis was that they must be suffering from a faulty gene if they lacked a desire… [Read more…]
January 26, 2012 by Zarathustra
Rod Liddle’s Sun column today is repulsive even by his standards. Also, I am nothing if not a creature of fashion, a cool and with-it hipster, daddio, who is always up to date with the latest trends. And being disabled is incredibly fashionable. The number of people who claim to be disabled has doubled in… [Read more…]
January 26, 2012 by Abe Laurens
Another day, another report on the parlous state of foster care. Media coverage, such as it is, homed in on the shortage of carers, variously estimated at between 8000 and 10,000, and on the poor outcomes for children in care in fundamental areas such as educational achievement, incidence of mental health problems and offending behaviour.… [Read more…]
January 25, 2012 by ermintrude2
I came across this paper from the International Journal of Social Welfare titled ‘Role of social welfare in European suicide prevention’ – happily with open access so freely available. I thought it was useful to share as it echoes some of my concerns about the move towards stigmatising those who receive welfare payments that is… [Read more…]
January 24, 2012 by ermintrude2
Yesterday the House of Lords debated the government’s flagship policy about imposing a benefits cap of £26,ooo. Iain Duncan-Smith fanfared the populist agenda by rattling on about this being equivalent to a salary (after tax) of £35,ooo and the tired lines about why anyone who doesn’t work should get the equivalent of £35,ooo from ‘state… [Read more…]
January 21, 2012 by Zarathustra
Approved Mental Health Professionals practising in England needed to complete a survey about stress and burnout. The survey aims to determine whether there is a difference in experiences of stress and burnout between the professional groups that perform the AMHP role. The study has been approved by King’s College London Psychiatry, Nursing and Midwifery Research… [Read more…]
January 20, 2012 by ermintrude2
Yesterday, I was engaged in a (very brief) discussion on Twitter about this article in the Guardian on Wednesday which highlights a case where direct payments were used fraudulently with tragic consequences. The thrust of the discussion was that while there will always be isolated incidences of potential abuse and criminal actions, highlighting the method… [Read more…]
January 18, 2012 by ermintrude2
I, like many others in the sector, no doubt, were perplexed by the headline as I read it yesterday on the Guardian website that Paul Burstow, the Minister of State for Care Services, claimed there was ‘no funding crisis in social care’. Although I follow Burstow fairly regularly and have a good idea of his… [Read more…]
January 16, 2012 by ermintrude2
Reflections on Bevan’s Run Yesterday, I went to the Department of Health to watch the end of Bevan’s Run. If you haven’t come across ‘Bevan’s Run’ it involved two hospital consultants, Clive Peedell and David Wilson – both cancer specialists in Middlesborough, running from Aneurin Bevan’s statue in Cardiff to the Department of Health based… [Read more…]
January 30, 2012 by ermintrude2
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