Wirral Council – Drowning In The Mire

Hello Verity here, I’m afraid today’s story has left Lord and Lady Wirral Leaks’ gaster truly flabbered.  Yes Wirral Council have admitted FINALLY that actually vulnerable people to whom Wirral Council had a duty of care where systematically overcharged to a much greater degree than they had originally admitted.  

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/9887344.More_cash_for_vulnerable_adults_overcharged_by_council/

 It seems whistle-blower Marty M wasn’t just “a bit mad” or a conspiracy theorist to rival David Icke, but a man of integrity who spoke the truth, despite the deep personal cost. We at Leaky Towers have long suspected a cover up, yet we wonder why now they have suddenly come clean.  Damage limitation?  (It’s rather late for that dears, the Councils PR team has to be one of the most inept in the country, as disaster follows disaster, follows failure, follows scandal)  Perhaps there is discovery of yet another smoking gun?  😉  Perhaps, indeed!

 We predict in the coming weeks there will be the usual talk of lessons learnt, of moving on, a clean slate, of improved PI’s and of the great strides the department has made.  Elected members will be confused and befuddled by pie charts and graphs and by the magical wonder that is the point and click power point presentations (that any reasonably IT literate 12 year old could produce.) And for fear of looking like the oak headed Luddites they are Councillors will pretend to understand this tomfoolery and nod sagely. (A word of advice from Eldritch, our plain speaking Head Gardner : “Ask this – Erm excuse me but what the actual fuck do these charts mean, in like, the real world?” )

However, have lessons really been learnt?  Because sadly even the briefest of glances at the CQC website would show that some things never change, and that people are STILL at risk.  (See below)…  Has anything really changed at Wirral Council DASS?  Feel free to let us know, because we really are all ears (and eyes)

 

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 Richmond Residential Home 

http://www.cqc.org.uk/directory/1-114613057

 

The assessment and care planning processes did not protect people from receiving unsafe or inappropriate care.

  People may not be protected from abuse because adequate arrangements have not been put in place.

 Systems for assessing and monitoring the quality of the service were not sufficiently robust to ensure that people were protected from unsafe care.

 Records were not held securely to ensure that confidentiality was maintained.

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 Edgeworth House

http://www.cqc.org.uk/directory/1-311018750

“People who use the service were not protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had not taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.”

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Mersey view Residential Home

 http://www.cqc.org.uk/directory/1-150080270

 Staff should be properly trained and supervised, and have the chance to develop and improve their skills – The provider was not meeting this essential standard. Staff had not received appropriate levels of training, development, supervision and appraisal.

DASS Update: According to Peer Review Progress Not Even So-So” “

It’s now late summer and somewhat like this snifter of Courvoisier I have in my hand  we’re feeling fine and mellow at Leaky Towers and we’ve been musing  on how we’ve got to know each other very well now – so lets dispense with the formalities for the time being.

We may be members of the landed gentry but in the words of those good buddies Cameron and Brooks –“we’re all in this together” right?.  Therefore, you have special permission to henceforth refer to me by my first name Julian and my loyal and trusted Ladyship is quite happy to be called Justine.

 So, in the spirit of such bonhomie we’ve been trying to find out for you what Wirral Council’s Department of Adult Social Services has been up to lately.

As you may know they’ve got a new Director – a certain Mr.Hobgoblinson or some such and they even have a plan –  “The Everything is Going To Be Nice & Lovely Plan” – so many wonderful,clever  ideas with timetables and pie charts and spreadsheets and outcomes and targets and so on and so forth (sorry correction – Justine has just whispered in my ear :” not targets dear ,targets have become very unfashionable ” – and as we know its all about appearances these days and if its one thing darling Justine knows about its  fashion  – there isn’t a day that goes by without her fingering her way through Vogue and its supermodels).

 So there I was thinking so far, so good until dainty Miss Verity just tiptoed in with a note on a silver platter.

 And oh dearie ,dearie me  it would appear that so much for DASS getting its house in order as the unbelievable news reaches us that the so and so’s at DASS are renewing contracts with a “care provider” who were heavily criticised in the notorious AKA report and who has featured prominently in despatches from Leaky Towers and horrifyingly in this particular story “A Grave Injustice.”

 How so? I hear you cry?!  

Well apparently all those associated with Service Provider 10 has been given the all clear because the owner has been very upset about pranging the Bentley (don’t you just hate it when that happens?) and so all is forgiven apparently – and so – its business as usual and  they are now an integral part of The Everything Is Going To Be Nice & Lovely Plan  –   so break out the Bollinger boys and girls!.

 However as dear,darling Verity points out things are not as Oh So Rosy as it would  appears as there a few pesky social workers in DASS who are not very happy about this situation as it means they may be have to get into bed (if you’ll pardon the expression ) with a particular person associated with appalling practices ( I’m assuming that these “practices” which would be classed as criminal if perpetrated against you or I were never investigated properly by DASS/CQC or Police or as Ernest Eldritch, our earthy gardner puts it in his own inimitable style – “Seems they just couldn’t be fucking arsed sir, if you’ll pardon me for saying so m’lud”.

 So I suppose the question that disgruntled social workers should be posing is whether DASS managers or indeed anyone associated with the Council would be happy to have members of their family under the “care” of someone with a “bit of a rep” as once again Eldritch delightfully puts it

 And so – at this juncture I fear that all I can do is sigh deeply,adjust my monocle and commandeer one of Justine’s fashionista phrases and proclaim: ” OH DASS – this is SO VERY YOU“   

   READ MORE AT CBBC , sorry we mean CQC  has ANYTHING changed ?

More shocks in store ……

We, at Leaky Towers, are all a-quiver about the promise of astonishing revelations from mysterious sources.  It is clear from these sources that there are Town Hall employees  who are STILL afraid to go through official channels…..(and looking at this week’s Page 3 of the Globe my dears who could blame them – suicide may be painless but it’s pretty drastic isn’t it Mr. Morton?).

 However, Lord and Lady WL are sitting here with our dry Amontillado breathless with anticipation, should Miss Snoop sweep majestically and stealthily like a young gazelle with the promised piece of paper, which has been referred to in a number of cryptic communiqués from a variety of sources?

Apparently whatever is on this piece of paper is occupying the minds of the great and good of Wallasey Town Hall (OK not great and most definitely not good but I think you know who  we mean)   and what’s more it explains an awful lot about Town Hall bungling over the past few years ……..

At our age, my Good Lady and I could do with an explanation because frankly we’re having difficulty following the plot of ‘Murder She Wrote’ these days, so as you can imagine the recent Town hall “machinations” leave us bewitched, bothered and bewildered.

Watch this space, the press and all your favourite news sources.

Wirral Council Goes Back To School

As I take a break from watching the Beach Volleyball and as my good Lady was showing  a particularly avid interest in the swimming at the Olympics ,my wonderful personal assistant Miss Snoop (herself a fine Lacrosse player in her day) has just brought to my attention that Wirral Councillors and their Officers are “being sent back to school”.

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/9845875.It_s_back_to_school_for_Wirral_councillors_and_officers/?ref=mc

Yes seriously !  Yet again Wirral Council projects itself beyond satire and in doing so demonstrates the normal isn’t just abnormal, it’s bat shit, eye rolling, tongue lolling, spittle flecked nuts!  One can only conjecture what might be on the curriculum at this school for incompetents  although I suspect that Reputation Management, The Art of Spin and How to Manage a Cover Up will feature prominently.

And I’m sure that “Games” would be well attended, although sadly it appears there will be no sack race!

 It does make me wonder what the Council Officers who have attended Masters in Business Administration courses (which we the public have paid for) have been doing with their qualifications. One suspects they’re merely adornments on some glittering CV’s as any “learning” has clearly not been brought back to the workplace. How much do these people get paid ?  Our coachman Vainian has been heard calling these officers “self-serving fuckwits” and although we do not approve of such colourful industrial language (unlike Brain Moore domed  Councillor Harry “Fuck you! ” Smith) we believe he may have adroitly summed up the problem.

 

We understand that a spokesperson for the Council has issued the following statement: “

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“Lessons have been learned so ,er, lessons must be learned………will that do as an empty soundbite for now?”.

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We also note that the  Council safeguarding improvement plan  [ Council Report on Adult Protection or C.R.A.P.) is amazingly still some way off being acceptable!!!!

SEE HERE 

Now even a cursory glance would suggest that surely the advice within is obvious stuff, and something we would have expected them to be doing as the NORM!! And therefore begs the question what the hell were they doing before now ??

Adieu,

Lord Wirral-Leaks