Thought I’d start to share a few of the stories we have been told recently about provision for the dudes ‘in the community’. I know this blog is used in social care teaching and thought they may provide some useful fodder for discussion. Names are removed and I ain’t commenting. Just retelling.
So here’s the gig.
Dude Dean (DD) is ‘independently supported’ to live in a shared house. His support needs are judged to be such that he has a limited amount of support. He shares the house with Dude Lenny who is judged to have high support needs and 24 hour support. Their house is connected through a lobby to a second house which has three dudes all with 24 hour support packages.
Now most Saturdays, Dude Lenny goes back to his parent’s house which leaves DD home alone. In House 2, the dudes are put to bed early (I ain’t commenting, just retelling) and the three support workers watch the TV. DD often nipped through to House 2 to watch the TV with them until the care manager found out and said he was breaching the privacy of the three dudes whose house it was.
DD wasn’t happy. A young man in his twenties, he didn’t want to spend Saturday night on his own. His mum asked if one of the three support workers from House 2 could come through and hang out with him, as they were only watching TV. No, she was told. They were supporting the three dudes in House 2. Not DD.
So what does DD do? Phone his mum of a Saturday night, upset and lonely.
The end.
mydaftlife 
Amazing! If it wasn’t so sad….
Well if I was Dude Dean’s Mum I would be making a few waves for some more funding support on a Saturday night to the social work, who are no doubt paying the wages of the 3 “carers / lazy gits” that are sitting on their backside watching tv. I would also be making sure that the parents of the other 3 dudes are made well aware that their youngsters are being put to bed early!
This made my stomach tight with rage and frustration – NOT surprise though. Sadly.
This is pure box ticking, book keeping, but worst of all INHUMANE!
They are working the residents lives around the system rather than the other way around.
So, so sad.
Political correctness gone mad. It’s meant to be about the dudes, not the bosses.
And I agree with Polly – waves should happen and people should question.
what I don’t get is why people like these support workers work with dudes, they clearly have no interest in engaging/ interacting with them in a meaningful ‘person-centred’ way. maybe a non-person job would be suitable???
that’s meant to say ‘more suitable’
Totally outrageous but why doesn’t it surprise me! It feels like we are still living in the dark ages!
It annoys me that he has probably been ‘assessed’ as needing less support but in actual fact he needs quite a bit more. Support to access employment and social needs are so important but unfortunately often overlooked. I’m sure dude would rather be heading out with mates or inviting mates around then settling for the company of paid employees. The lack of flexibility in the support is way too common. And three workers putting people to bed early. Why?? Makes-me-so-crazy-mad.
I know a lady who’s trying to get her daughter out of an ATU (and off section) and whose daughter wants to find a permanent care home because she’s scared of what might happen in the future and of being a burden on them and her brother and sister. Her parents would rather she move home (although a care home would be more realistic in the short term as she’s on section; a previous care home attempt failed, which is why she ended up in the unit). Much as parents can die, so can care home staff, and they can also suddenly move on and be replaced by much less caring people; budgets can be cut, and so on. And you can get this ridiculous jobsworth behaviour. Funny how the “autonomy” and “privacy” of one group of service users is used as an excuse to deny that of another, and I doubt very much whether the three guys in the other unit would be asked — they would probably be deemed not to have the capacity to consent.
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