UKC

You can blame staff at the hospital and the Children's Services but who actually provides the tools (Purse strings)to do the job?

In reply to The Lemming:

Is it always just about the money from central government? Is it never about lack of competence in the Trust or services department management? Never about internal politics and empire building? I'd suggest my last 2 questions are as relevant as my first.

In reply to teflonpete:

When you peel back all the layers of the hypothetical onion, then it all comes down to money.

If the government keeps cutting budgets then something has to give. Targets will get tighter and tighter until they are eventually unachievable and lives are put at risk because some poor sod goes too far in trying to conceal that fact.

Take my own council, like many the length and breath of the land, who have to make tougher and tougher cuts until one day a domino effect occurs and many many lives are put at risk or families are torn apart.

We are in times of austerity, I get that but we have to wake up and realise that people will try their best to hide or fudge targets, so that they can keep their jobs and put food on the table.

major organisations are failing, is it really the fault of some Middle Manager trying to empire build?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-24928204

In reply to The Lemming:


If that's the case, then why aren't all Childrens services and hospitals going to be under special measures?

Surely you have been around long enough to see different peoples attitudes to their work - some care, others don't.... when you escalate them to managment you then get managers who care about the outcome (i.e. change things for the better, do the right thing), and managers who cover their backsides and twist everything to keep themselves in a job

In reply to The Lemming: I've now worked in two locations where the threshold for being offered a service from social services (although that's not what they are called) has changed. This in both locations was due to having to find efficiencies. I know of other places too.
I believe it is about money and also staffing levels, this is also true of mental health services, the thresholds for providing care an support are raising.
The idea that the NHS is rig fenced is utter nonsense, every trust is being asked to provide and prove efficiency savings and are being told to provide more for less. The knock on effect is a reduced service provided by staff who are not able to do the work that is assigned to them and who in turn are struggling with motivation, as would anyone who is being asked to do an impossible task.

There are definitely problems with bureaucracy and at times efficiency but the response is to fine, reduce money available, add more bureaucracy to monitor the effect. Until caseloads for social workers in child protection environments come down, the number of patients per nurse, health visitor or other health professional also come down people will continue to be let down. Particularly whilst what is asked of these professionals is for best practice. Best practice demands time and resources, proving you are following best practice even more still not allowing you time to do the best you can.

Best quickest way to reduce this issue is to remove marketisation entirely from public services in my view. Those that provide the service are structured in one large service with a hierarchy and appropriate accountability an there is no nonsense about winning contracts or tenders or any such rubbish. This would make the system more effective in my view, would mean that more can be provided. That does not account for the fact that to provide the service that everyone expects is going to cost more than it does now in my view regardless.