Archive for the ‘Community Care Magazine’ Category

Conflation

03-05-11

Manhattan

Wilt Portfolio

It is not just the GSCC who are incompetent, yet again its Welsh sister the Care Council for Wales (CCW) http://www.ccwales.org.uk/ have fucked-up big time.

See here the Community Care article: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/04/27/116732/welsh-regulator-under-fire-over-handling-of-conduct-case.htm

And here the original judgement on the new First Tier Care Standards Tribunal website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/care-standards/index.htm

The specific judgement is here:  http://www.carestandardstribunal.gov.uk/Public/View.aspx?ID=1147

Wilt Portfolio

Wilt Portfolio

Albeit Borley lost her appeal she won the moral ground in terms of the immoral acts of the CCW. The ultimate effect being akin to the CCW of committing defamation of character, and contempt for the Care Standards Tribunal – fucking Dorks.

When will these twats learn?

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on May 3, 2011

We Will See

03-05-11

It seems social care workers are not fond of trade union membership, according to this community care report: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/04/28/116735/alarm-over-lack-of-union-membership-among-care-workers.htm

Wilt Portfolio

Is that so bad?

We will see.

Meanwhile Cafcass might be on the move http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/04/26/116724/ministers-likely-to-accept-cafcass-move-to-justice-ministry.htm

It would be far preferable that it simply disappear.

And Wilt’s favourite quango, the GSCC, has won a three month reprieve:  http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/04/27/116733/delayed-end-to-gscc-may-cause-confusion-over-registration.htm

Wilt Portfolio

Wilt Portfolio

This website will not desist in monitoring its (GSCC http://www.gscc.org.uk/Home/) progress to ultimate demise and persist in monitoring the emergence of the new Health and Care Professions Council (HPC as they are now http://www.hpc-uk.org/).

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on May 3, 2011

What a Disgrace

31-03-11

Bird

Wilt Portfolio

Ah Rosalind Shaw – we remember her. She was an early casualty of the disgraceful GSCC and their inept, innately unfair procedures and utter lack of compassion. In other words utter fucking Dorks.

Wilt reported on this case some time ago. See here: http://regulatorwatch.co.uk/2010/03/more-fireworks/

And here: http://regulatorwatch.co.uk/2009/10/dorks-with-bells-on/

Head in the Clouds

Wilt Portfolio

This was 2009 – Rosalind was at/beyond retirement age but the GSCC decided, in its perverse wisdom, to remove her name from the Register of Social Workers. Wilt cannot say whether Rosalind perhaps should have bowed out sooner due to her age, more modern approaches to the work, and the undeniable effects of the profession upon any social worker, but it was clear that the woman was poorly treated. In fact undeniably badly treated and shat upon from a great height.  What a way to end a long career – go you awful woman, irrespective of your long years of service and rot in hell, was the effect of the GSCC despatch.

Well, the GSCC had not then (in fact they never have) got to grips with a very basic concept called justice, or even human rights or indeed common sense, compassion or that useful tool called intellectual ability.

The Care Standards Tribunal (see above links) ordered a rehearing of Rosalind’s case; see here the recent Community Care article: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/03/30/116578/struck-off-social-worker-let-back-on-to-register.htm not least because she was in the days/weeks/months in the run up to her original GSCC hearing (2009) almost fully occupied in the care of her dying parent, then suffered the inevitable bereavement and then all the chores thereafter in the respectful “sending off” of the loved one.

Matrix

Wilt Portfolio

Obviously the GSCC thought that “sending off” involved some kind of referee Red Card – they certainly gave Rosalind the Red Card for failing (despite her request to defer the case)  in what must in the history of GSCC decisions been the most bizarre.

What exactly was this unemployed (of retirement age) social worker who had suffered a close family bereavement going to do to create such harm to the unsuspecting public? God knows, but the GSCC decided to add insult to injury by demonising her as utterly incompetent – to what end exactly? Of all the cases (and they number in the dozens) where the GSCC have been shown to be utterly incompetent, the case of Rosalind Shaw takes the biscuit. The GSCC were quite frankly cruel, let alone the technical facts of being incompetent and unfair. They relished in making this woman’s life hell – they enjoyed it, the bastards.

I reiterate, this was 2009 – the Care Standards Tribunal ordered a rehearing. It is now 2011, some two years later (I only state that as the GSCC twats do not understand arithmetic) and yes we have a result. The GSCC decided in their ultimate wisdom to replace the removal from the Register with a one year admonishment. Wilt needs to allow this to sink in – a one year admonishment!

Hosta

Wilt Portfolio

What the fuck is wrong with these people – are they total twats and idiots? Answers please on a postcard.

Look…. Rosalind is a nice old lady (sorry Rosalind for the ‘old’ reference) and is rather harmless – she never (even the GSCC agree) had any proper supervision or support, and yes she may have not been at her best; was it really necessary to admonish her after two years post the claimed failings? All we now need is a further complaint to the Care Standards Tribunal, and Rosalind would have a perfectly reasonable case.

What is utterly laudable out of this very sad case matter is that the GSCC (from the Community Care article) stated:

A spokesperson for the GSCC said: “In this and all cases we take the decisions of the First-tier Tribunal seriously, learn from them and use the recommendations to improve our processes.

“We firmly believe that the engagement of the registrant in the conduct process is important for ensuring the fairest outcomes, and it is something that we try to encourage.”

Pyramid

Wilt Portfolio

Now that is taking the piss – the GSCC never learn. More to the point, as illustrated in this case, they do not give a fuck either.

This is why Regulator Watch exists – the cool and dispassionate reporting of Community Care, the obvious duplicity, incompetence and facile approach of the GSCC requires a Regulator of the Regulator.

Community Care needs to get a grip and start being passionate – they fail in their rather grey and anaemic coverage of core social care issues; be acerbic and challenging. You are either with social workers, especially now, or you aint. It is that simple.

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on March 31, 2011

CAFCASS

28-03-11

Wilt Portfolio

Wilt Portfolio

And so CAFCASS might be another burned Quango, perhaps: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/03/25/116540/mps-told-cafcass-is-beyond-reform-and-must-be-abolished.htm

Who might miss them – not many we think. Nice idea and all that but CAFCASS had a difficult birth and has gone on to be rather disabled in the minds of many. Not a lot more successful than some other former quango like the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) and its successor the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) – both now defunct and their regulatory functions transferred either to Ofsted or the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

We will see what happens to CAFCASS – as predicted by Wilt, some time ago, its numbers are up.

Next – Ofsted. If you are interested you can apply to become the next CEO here: https://www.appointments.org.uk/jobdetails.aspx/1340/Office_for_Standards_in_Education_Children_s_Services_and_Skills_Ofsted_Her_Majesty_s_Chief_Ins/?page=1&Ssimple=

The salary is £180,000, whilst it lasts. You could not do worse than the current incumbent.Egypt 1 2009 228

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on March 28, 2011

Wankers

24-03-11

Metal Tree

Wilt Portfolio

So it aint just MPs who are frauds – there appears to be social workers too. See the Community Care article here: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/03/24/116533/social-worker-embezzled-26000-from-council.htm

We do miss taunting ex-MP Plaskitt after he lost his Warwick and Leamington Spa seat – likewise Elizabeth Calleja the ‘paralegal’ or otherwise idiot that goes around telling people she is a lawyer. She is not even a paralegal.

Anyway, back to our fraudulent social worker – no doubt she will be soon serving at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. Don’t bend over to pick up the soap in the shower darling!

Also in the news is former MEP Den Dover – see the Telegraph article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8404081/Disgraced-Tory-MEP-faces-criminal-charges.html

Statue

Wilt Portfolio

There is only one thing worse than a fraudulent MP or civil servant or local government officer, and that is a MEP. Dover needs locking up and his assets seized. What a wanker!

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on March 24, 2011

ManhattanWhat a total dork. Impersonating a social worker: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/03/08/116417/first-conviction-for-impersonating-social-worker.htm This relates to Tracy Smithy convicted of the said offence under the Care Standards Act 2000.

Wilt knows of someone who impersonates a lawyer – she lives in Warwickshire. She also is a total jerk, allegedly!

Allegedly, a well known term used by Ian Hislop, has some advantages.

It is also known that the GSCC are allegedly a regulator.

Perhaps all three, Tracy, the jerk from Warks and the GSCC should get together and share in ‘how to be a fraud’ party – and toast a drink to their fabulous failures.Manhattan Again

Wilt is up at some unearthly God forsaken hour to catch a flight on business – back Friday night and then a family wedding Saturday.  Who gets married on a six nation’s rugby weekend, for Gawds sake – have these people no respect? Wilt will have to be dragged from the hotel room to go to the wedding, then back to the hotel room to watch a second game before being dragged again to the formal reception!

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on March 9, 2011

Now Wilt has a slight problem with the underlying message of this article: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/03/02/116370/glass-ceiling-keeping-black-staff-from-top-social-care-jobs.htm

Avenue of Rams

Wilt Portfolio

Although it is far from scientific, Community Care’s own poll on the question of a glass ceiling for black and ethnic minority social workers indicates the vast majority disagree that they are disadvantaged. Wilt does too.

Appointments are on merit – you either cut the mustard or not. There was another article the other day on Community Care which reported on a suggestion that black and ethnic minority students were disadvantaged for several reasons but including, wait for it, their first language was not English.

Well, yes they would be disadvantaged not having a command of written and oral English – why are they there in the first place – if they cannot adequately speak English. Some might add why are they in the country attempting to find work or education if they have no reasonable command of English?

However, that is a different and more political issue.

What do people want – quotas? Perhaps we should have more Welsh, Irish or (Gawd forbid – remember Gordon Brown) Scottish people as directors.

Mind you some Scots accents are as good as not having a command of oral English. Wilt once had an accountant who was a Scot and we understood not what the first fuck he was going on about – not so much as Wilt would not understand Tax and accounting issues anyway, but because his accent was so “thick” it was utterly impossible to decipher what he was saying – Wilt simply nodded or shook his head and grunted, hopefully in the right places, in an effort not to offend the ginger haired accountant. In the end we had to let him go, although not after Wilt did insult him by saying, “I have no fucking idea what you are saying and you are a total liability – now fuck off.”

Wilt Portfolio

Wilt Portfolio

Now, Wilt being of good white-European stock can reflect that one of his best and indeed most inspirational managers was black – he was black-African in fact. He can also recall working closely with an Egyptian social worker over several years and indeed a vast array of African-Caribbean and Asian workers – both as colleagues and as their manager.

In terms of those he managed he never once overlooked encouraging their development (indeed some have succeeded) – but it was on merit, competence and prospective ability to be a good leader. So where is this glass ceiling?

Is there prejudice and racism? YES, although not always as much as some might suggest, and sadly some call on the ‘race card’ to cover up their incompetence – an easy claim to make but Wilt knows it to be fact in some matters. Do the Irish, Welsh or Scots need reminding that they suffer unfair discrimination? NO! How about the Catholic, Hindu or other value/religious based minority – are they less able to become directors or should they have a quota too? NO!

Perhaps you might be disabled – that should not be a problem either, provided you are competent and can (with reasonable adjustments) perform as a director.

Egypt 1 2009 131

Wilt Portfolio

Even the humble Freemason (scorned by most local authorities – despite it being unlawful) suffer the same prejudice – they too were sent to the gas chambers and forced into slavery by Hitler.

Wilt is aware of some excellent managers who are black or Asian. He is also aware of some who are a fucking disgrace to the profession. Whereas Wilt remains ‘on the case’ he is not convinced that there is this glass ceiling.

Some people have ‘it’ and some people do not, quite frankly.

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on March 4, 2011

Root & Branch

23-02-11

Again Tim Loughton (Children’s Minister) is giving the Courts and adoption agencies a ‘heads up’ that they need to get their act together. Key to his concerns are:

Cumbria106

Wilt Portfolio

“I think the courts are too process-driven. There are some cases where very clearly there is no way back to a child’s birth parents and the child is a strong candidate for adoption. Do we need to go through quite as many processes for that child as for another where it is not such a clear cut decision? I think we can use a more proportionate approach in many cases.”

Loughton gives his views in a claimed exclusive interview withy Community Care here: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/02/23/116332/minister-wants-ombudsman-for-contentious-adoptions.htm

He adds:

“Whenever I speak to adoption services and adoption panels they say their job is being made harder because of court processes and delays: in getting the hearing; in the fact that judges are always asking for that extra expert witness statement and so forth.

“Then I speak to judges and they say adoption panels are taking so long to process paperwork, hold meetings and bring cases back to court. There just seems to be a huge disconnect at the moment.”

Wilt Portfolio

Wilt Portfolio

All this is of course with a backdrop to issues of concern over trans-racial placements, or the lack of, due to political correctness among social workers, as reported in the Telegraph:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/8340410/Adoption-shake-up-new-guidelines-will-stop-social-engineering.html

And here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/8340280/Adoption-shake-up-the-five-key-points.html

Although it is claimed these are new issues, they are in fact very old, well ingrained and stale issues – there is absolutely nothing new in these assertions by Michael Gove, but he is right to reinforce earlier policy which negates the damaging and irresponsible attitudes of some social workers to hold onto a false and misleading concept of integration of children into families who must (at all costs) reflect a child’s ethnicity.

However, if he feels adoption services are better or at least equally delivered by Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAA’s) then he must have second and third thoughts, we think.

In this article Community Care report: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/02/22/116318/government-urges-more-use-of-voluntary-adoption-agencies.htm that the Government urges more use of VAA’s. Do Gove and Loughton really think that will improve matters – some of the worst offenders of political correctness occupy posts in the voluntary sector.

Wilt Portfolio

Wilt Portfolio

And to add injury to insult, voluntary agencies (REMEMBER THE WORD VOLUNTARY) charge such massive fees as set out by BAAF (British Association for Adoption & Fostering) http://www.baaf.org.uk/ to the tune of £20,640 + £3,440 to cover a package of post-adoption services for each child placed. That is £24K per child, and more if it involves London based agencies. See the BAAF list of charges here: http://www.baaf.org.uk/webfm_send/2108

A VOLUNTARY ADOPTION AGENCY charging fees to a local authority? Is Wilt confused or do these people obtain grants and pay executives massive salaries, or what? These are not voluntary agencies but a private business masquerading as voluntary agencies – they have a mantra, as described by BAAF themselves as “Every Child Deserves a Family.”

Mmmmmmm, yes at a cost and profit to the voluntary agencies.

Not infrequently Wilt undertakes kinship or otherwise general assessments of prospective adopters and foster carers, at a fraction of the cost, normally within the region of £3500 – £4000.00.  How is then possible for voluntary agencies need to charge £24K?

So Mssrs Gove and Loughton – think on mates. Costs and political correctness? Who do you think runs the national adoption register? Well, it is of course BAAF who also set the national inter-agency fees for inter-agency placements.

Is there a conflict of interest here?

In Big Society Terms there needs to be a root and branch review of what is the distinction between so called VOLUNTARY agencies and effectively private business – and not just their tax breaks.

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on February 23, 2011

Bring it On

22-02-11

Cumbria106

Wilt Portfolio

Well the cuts, they are coming thick and fast. Not nice for those facing redundancy – or is it?

Throughout my local government career I was faced daily with staff who took the piss with sick leave entitlements and others (if not off sick) who only dreamt of early retirement. Wilt suspects that things are not that different today.

Whilst trade union leaders on six figure number salaries protest and the Labour Council Leader in Manchester has a similar high salary (i.e. £260,000) protest at cuts whilst not cutting their own salaries, they remain ineffective and unconvincing. How do they get these kinds of salaries anyway?

A Council Leader and Trade Unionists on six figure salaries – something has gone wrong somewhere. Thank gawd Wilt is not a trade union member any more, cos he just otherwise he might need to commit a serious verbal assault on his leadership.

DSC_0008_edited-1

Wilt Portfolio

Neither should a trade union leader or councillor receive more than the average wage, and CEO’s of any public body more than the Prime Minister.

Bring it on, Wilt wants his tax bills lowered – please.

It cannot be so bad, see this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1355358/Quango-paid-2m-redundancy-workers-refused-sent-Coventry.html

OK Coventry is a bit of a shithole but if it came to it, albeit grudgingly, Wilt would move to work there if it meant having a job, rather than not having a job. But then some people just like to take the piss, as here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359267/Hazel-Cunningham-Facebook-unveils-benefits-cheat-bride.html Hazel Cunningham will now be at Her Majesty’s pleasure and not be flying off to Turkey on holiday or Barbados for a wedding at public expense.

Then we have Sarah Messenger of Local Government Employers (LGE) http://www.lge.gov.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=1 stating in this Community Care article:

Those working at the highest level in social services perform a hugely important job and have to make decisions which affect the well-being and happiness of thousands of people. Councils need to be given the flexibility to attract and keep these specialists whose expertise plays a vital role in the care and protection of society’s most vulnerable individuals.”

DSC_0025

Wilt Portfolio

Obviously, despite her name, Sarah has not got the message – where exactly are these highly valuable people going to go to? Yes, the private sector as she states in a way that this is a bad thing. What Messenger fails to grasp is that is exactly what should happen, in order to reduce the tax burden to us hard working people.

See the Community Care article here: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/02/22/116319/attack-on-pay-sparks-fears-of-social-work-brain-drain.htm

I just love that picture of Eric Pickles – Wilt’s hero. Carry on, Eric – sort the twats out.

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on February 22, 2011

Narcissist

22-02-11

001

Wilt Portfolio

This is a long article – but read on, as it is worthwhile we humbly submit. Above all it gives a two finger salute to those who attempt to curtail freedom of speech.

It has been a little while since we turned our attention to the subject of Calleja, that Elizabeth of Leamington Spa. After her arrest last year for suspected harassment Wilt et al reflected on her character.

B0000702

Wilt Portfolio

She remains a regular visitor to Regulator Watch via her T-Mobile Android driven and Safari web browser on the tiny screen of her mobile phone – she appears to believe her activity by such media is undetectable or not permanently recorded both on her device and by the Regulator Watch “sniffer” programme to monitor access to the website. No such luck Elizabeth – your every click is recorded, by us and T-Mobile.

Whereas Elizabeth was not ultimately charged with any offence and released from bail, the arrest, we think, had a definite impact on her activity – Wilt has received reports that (due to bail conditions) she did not access the websites of those companies who brought the police complaint against her, for the full period of her three month bail. She has on a couple of occasion’s accessed one company (complainant) website post release from bail.

Probably for the second time ever, Calleja was on the back foot – it was she who was under scrutiny and despite her efforts to achieve the same it was not those who she complained about but in fact her who was arrested. The police were in fact rather annoyed that this “crying wolf” Calleja was an utter menace and distraction from the real and vital crimes that police forces try to address daily. This is not a dissimilar position adopted by the former CSCI (Commission for Social Care Inspection) who, were to their credit, the first to take on the task of dismantling the Calleja/Plaskitt mythology of “victimisation.”

Plaskitt is the former Labour MP for Warwick & Leamington Spa. You can find details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Plaskitt or upcoming http://www.jamesplaskitt.com/ – the latter is reserved and we can only assume the twat has something in mind. Perhaps photographs of dunes!?

225px-James_Plaskitt_MP

James Plaskitt - Wikepedia

Police “forces” is used in the plural because it was not just West Mercia Police but also several other police forces that were in receipt of complaints – Calleja will and has made multiple complaints on the same “stale” issues to numerous agencies.

The list of agencies Calleja has complained to is far too numerous to mention (they run into the dozens) in her near 11 year campaign to, what she/Plaskitt term as an effort to clear her name, to attack the character of others – the classic “attack is the best defence” approach which she and idiot Plaskitt (now ex-MP) undertook in a rather underhand way.

DSC_0016

Wilt Portfolio

Quite a number of agencies were initially taken in by this nun with a switchblade and took up her cause in the mistaken belief that Calleja, aided and abetted by former MP Plaskitt, was a victim of the big bad system. These were her high points. Some of it was captured in the CSCI Internal Review Report here: http://regulatorwatch.co.uk/2009/11/csci-internal-review-report/ and thereafter her demise was assured. Well done CSCI.

Come the general election in 2010 (when Plaskitt lost his Parliamentary seat) Calleja was on her own, most agencies had realised she was simply “vexatious“(including even the GSCC) and her reputation with the said dozens of agencies was in disarray.

After her arrest in 2010 she focused her switchblade, very nun like, on Regulator Watch which has, among other matters, reported the alternative and more truthful story of Calleja – she had begun the process by reporting her (false) woes to the press herself, aided and abetted by former MP Plaskitt in both the House of Commons and the press. She made herself public, her cause public and seriously discredited others very publicly – is it therefore a surprise that others defend themselves publicly via Regulator Watch?

Plaskitt it appears, as some describe him, been a “poodle” or “lap dog” of the woman, forever doing her bidding.  Calleja, otherwise known as Mrs Fax (given the volumes of data sent by fax to numerous bodies), became more and more isolated and considered by many agencies as suffering some kind of illness.

Why otherwise would she harass so many over so many years? Munchausen’s Syndrome was once proposed and remains a significant contender but Wilt et al have another theory, too.

The demise of Plaskitt (who lost his Parliamentary seat) was a significant loss to Calleja – the “poodle” no longer had a voice, safe within the protected confines of the lower House. He also needed to take a low profile due to his dodgy MP’s expenses, especially his £400 per month (no questions asked) food bill, among other claims on expenses. If only Wilt (and most of the world) had £400 per month for food, without receipts – world hunger would be solved, surely?

There is a considerable body of belief that Calleja “is just simply evil” – she was fully aware of the damage she did to the reputations of others and the distress that caused, but that explanation does not exclude the impressions of others who state that “Munchausen’s Syndrome” or indeed simple “Narcissism” also play a part in the makeup of this complex woman – this is the consequence of having psychiatrists, psychologists and religious people on the board of Regulator Watch.

250px-Michelangelo_Caravaggio_065

Wikipedia

See an article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder – if reading these you are looking into a mirror, do not blame Wilt, especially if your name is Elisabeth.

Being a pure “evil” person argument is a strong contender – Calleja was intent upon doing the maximum harm to her victims. This does not of course exclude simple mental health problems. “I want this agency de-registered” (or words to that effect) or this and that person de-registered from the GSCC suggests a vengeful and disproportionate attitude especially when it carries on a decade after her perceived abuse of her by others – abuse which all evidence indicates never really took place, although she did as a foster parent suffer some mild maladministration by a local authority (Northamptonshire – see the CSCI Internal Review Report).

Such efforts at revenge never stopped her after it was conclusively determined that the CSCI/GSCC/Police/Information Commissioner could find no grounded cause of complaint – she simply regarded those agencies as complicit in her “paranoid” view that there was a conspiracy, and thus she was even more embolden.

IMG00006-20091229-1723

Wilt Portfolio

“Paranoid” is one thing, “Munchausen’s Syndrome” is another – that remains a virtual certainty. However how about Calleja being a Narcissist? Well, the combined thoughts of the experts seem to agree at least on this description of the nun with a switchblade – a term coined to describe Julie Andrews of The Sound of Music acting fame who was, it is suggested, “a bit of a bully.”

This assessed Narcissist – Elizabeth – fits every description of that mirror admiring Greek mythological figure. Indeed she would surpass the fame of that classical body that ultimately became a disgrace both in life and death. She does live in infamy and a warning to mankind in terms of “selfishness”, but Calleja will leave no legacy, other than the compensations awarded to her victims. And those compensations were rather generous!

Wilt

Posted by Wilt on February 22, 2011