Phew - a full on week.

There has been just so much going on this week it's been hard to keep up with myself let alone blog.



The arrival of L the new placement has been very much an on off thing all week.


But preparation meant persuading Branwen to give up her bedroom to move back in with Bethan.


We had not realised how "at home" Branwen had made herself in there until we had to move her back out.

Took half a day to move her and even then not all her books have been moved and her photos are still on the walls and her drawings still on the ceiling.




Yesterday I went to a conference (after the student had been in uni the day before and came home despondent having failed a module in ECDL.

As I said I went off to a conference, taking the car as I might need to bring L home. Parking a car in Daycastle is worse than a nightmare and I ended up over a mile from the venue. that made me fashinably late and so I am told meant I did not have to suffer the first few speakers.

The day happened against a child protection back drop with phone calls every so often and updates as the day drew on.

There were some serious issues for me though. I am getting really uncomfortable, to put it mildly with the personalisation agenda. Personalisation is good if it is a choice that you are given, but if personalisation is enforced that's not choice at all.   

Telling people it's a choice then telling them they have to have it is having a laugh at the service users expense.


Proper neoliberalism individualising the support then when they cut it it is not a population that are affected but individuals.

So those individuals who are assertive will get and those who are compliant will not.

We have a choice, all of us, social workers, carers and users.

There is no third way.

There are two choices:

Stand up or lie down.

Which side are you on?

R