Social work news

• DoLS: older people routinely having rights breached because of failure to tackle ‘huge’ backlog, warns charity

  12-03-2024 16:35
  
  Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.Older people are routinely having their human rights breached because of a failure to tackle the “huge” Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) backlog and a system in “complete disarray”.
  That was the verdict from an Age UK report that warned many people were being unlawfully deprived of their liberty because of the government’s failure to reform DoLS, signifi
  
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• AMHPs to stage walkout as social work strike action hits sixth council within a year

  12-03-2024 15:36
  
  Strike action involving social workers will hit a sixth local authority in England within 12 months this weekend.
  Approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) in Cumberland Council’s urgent care team will stage a 48-hour walkout from 15-17 March in protest against the authority’s decision not to regrade their role.
  According to their union, the GMB, the practitioners requested a regrading in July 2022 – when services were run by the former Cumbria County Council – in the
  
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• Social work in Wales: how student numbers have grown following bursary boost

  12-03-2024 14:44
  
  Wales had seen a drop in applications to social work courses in recent years but an increase in the value of bursaries may have helped reverse this trend.
  A 2022 report for Social Care Wales found only about 200 of the 350 or so social workers needed each year were joining the profession.
  The cost of training was key, especially for postgraduate courses, where the bursary had failed to keep pace with rising tuition fees.
  Boost to bursaries
  In response to the report, and a campaign led by social
  
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• Guidance: National flu immunisation programme plan 2024 to 2025

  12-03-2024 11:30 via gov.uk
  
  The annual flu letter describes the national flu immunisation programme and outlines which groups are eligible for flu vaccination.
  
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• Australia’s aged care fees are under review. Will wealthy people have to pay more?

  12-03-2024 08:41 via theguardian.com
  
  An expert panel has recommended people with a lot of super contribute more to aged care – but the government may not respond any time soonThe long-awaited report of the government-appointed aged care taskforce has recommended wealthier Australians be expected to tap into their superannuation balances to pay for more, in a bid to keep the system sustainably funded.While the government is urged to remain the “major funder” of aged care, the expert panel said older Australians are
  
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• Rape and sexual harassment reported by foreign care workers across UK

  12-03-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Multiple cases of abuse and exploitation have been documented, but many staff feel ‘powerless to complain’ for fear of losing the right to work in the countryA foreign care worker says she was repeatedly raped by her manager but felt unable to report him to the police for fear of losing her right to work, in a case that exposes the way the UK’s visa system for health and care workers leaves people completely dependent on their employer.The case is one of more than 170 examples
  
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• A Medicare-style levy would guarantee all Australians the right to aged care when we need it | Sarah Holland-Batt

  12-03-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The government-appointed taskforce has failed to mount a convincing argument why a modest financial contribution across a lifetime shouldn’t extend to aged careThe aged care royal commissioners were notably split on a number of key issues, but on one principle they were united. Older Australians should not be required to contribute to their cost of care, nor should care be means tested.Instead, commissioner Tony Pagone wrote, every Australian should “contribute towards the financing
  
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