“It is difficult stuff and the demand is instant, urgent and problematic”

Post: January 2012

A two week break at Christmas was perhaps a little too much for me. I spent half of Christmas Day in a windy field with eight firefighters and a vet trying to rescue my daughter’s pony from a quagmire and later had to deal with a flooded kitchen and replace our washing machine! So when the call came to return to work it seemed like a good idea.

However, the return has been characterised for me by a series of high profile press stories and as these are events we all have to deal with, I thought it might be appropriate to make this the topic of my first blog for 2012. The  media demands for a leader in social work are many and varied and can be the most vital task we undertake in explaining our work.

Since becoming President last May I have had to write opinion pieces for national papers, write for professional journals, be interviewed on Newsnight twice - regarding charging and the ethics of care. I have been interviewed on The Politics Show regarding welfare reform but until now I haven't had to deal with that most difficult of  challenges. responding to a child death.

I was up early on the 12th January to prepare for our seminar on integration in Edinburgh. At breakfast in my hotel I saw the newspapers which were filled with pictures of the squalid, degraded house in Paisley where amid accumulated rubbish and detritus the remains of the infant Declan Hainey had been found in 'a semi-mummified state'.

I was aware that his mother was to be sentenced that day and wondered what might be expected of ADSW. The tragic events leading to Declan's death have been much in everyone’s mind. A serious case review has been conducted but is not yet in the public domain. The responsible agencies and partnerships have to explain what has occurred and to justify the actions taken. A joint press statement by the Health Board and Council described how their efforts had been thwarted by Hainey 'deliberately avoided contact by lying to social work and health staff".


Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee has an independent chair, and those of you who have seen any of the coverage will appreciate the value of an independent person being able to articulate the key issues. This is difficult stuff and the demand is instant, urgent and problematic.

My phone went as I set out from my hotel to walk down Haymarket to COSLA. It was Jane Devine, the BBC had called, I have 30 minutes notice of a need to take part in a phone in on BBC Scotland – Call Kaye.

The theme “what can we expect from our system to try to protect children” I have twice appeared on this show previously but this was the first such occasion to deal with a real and present, emotionally charged issue. I sat in the ADSW office (immediately prior to our integration seminar), switched on the radio and it was immediately apparent that passions were roused and once more the Scottish public transferred their frustration, anger and passionate fury from the murderer onto the public agencies who were there to protect.

It is entirely understandable but very difficult to respond to and as I listened in I could hear Ruth Stark making  the case for social work practitioners in child protection on behalf of SASW but I was concerned to think how I could say something valuable, something that might introduce balance to an emotional debate. I was asked:
‘Are we drowning in the system?’
Has it become to big, too overbearing?’
Is the danger that nobody takes responsibility?’.
‘No it isn’t that the system is too big, these are complex circumstances, these cases hold up a mirror to society, shine it in a dark corner and people don’t like what they see’”
‘Yes, someone has been held to account and today they will be sentenced to life in prison.
‘No, we can never guarantee to the people of Scotland that we can protect every child, whether it be the GP, the health visitor or the social worker, we all rely on information and public support.”

It was challenging and I was keen to introduce some fairness and balance. My intention is always to explain, to represent social work fairly, to give context.

Nearer to home, in my own authority, a 3rd sector home for older people with dementia has been making the newspapers with a snowballing story. A series of allegations have made the front pages of our local press for three weeks and have also been reported by the BBC and the Herald.

How does a CSWO respond in these circumstances?  it is not directly run by the authority but we purchase nearly all the places. Furthermore, the CSWO or Director is looked to for a complex set of leadership behaviours; to establish necessary action, to liaise closely and effectively with the provider, the regulator and elected members, to provide contingency plans and above all, to secure the safety of the resident population.
When I led the work to develop new guidance on the role of the CSWO a couple of years ago, I made a particular point of giving the role a territorial as distinct from a departmental or local authority parameter. It always struck me that we have this wider leadership expectation and that we should deploy it sparingly but confidently.

Accordingly I went before my Council in  private session last week and gave them a comprehensive briefing on a service we do not manage or control and I assume a leadership role in its resolution. It is a role that has its roots firmly in the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and one of the many advantages of Scottish social work that we should jealously guard.   

Andrew

28th January 2012