Solicitors, will writers and financial advisers often reach for the same question when something about a client’s instructions feels slightly off: does this person have mental capacity to make this decision? It is the right question to ask, but it is not always the right question to answer the actual
Few conversations are as difficult as the one where a family starts to wonder whether a parent, partner or relative can still manage their own affairs. It might begin with a missed bill, a confused phone call, or a solicitor asking a question nobody quite knows how to answer. Whatever
Please read the following anonymous case study to illustrate how I can provide a second opinion as an Independent Social Worker. (For ease of reading I have changed some facts to make it unidentifiable). • Unfortunately, not all qualified social workers have the knowledge, skills, or experience in assessing
Please read the following anonymous case study to illustrate how I can assist private clients. (For ease of reading, I have named the client Billy and changed some facts to make it unidentifiable). • Billy previously lived at home with his wife Mary in an owner-occupied house. Both Billy and
People who are self-funding (not eligible for social services financial support) have to navigate social care systems independently. I help self-funding clients to explore their care options, consider available options and organise care to improve their quality of life. The following anonymised case study illustrates how I can assist self-funding
Social Work England (SWE) is the specialist regulatory body for social workers. The SWE six ‘Professional Standards’ apply to all social workers. The standards aim to improve public safety and confidence in social work. Standard four ‘Maintaining my continuing professional development’ contains 8 parts and these detail the requirements which
Case of Mr C In this blog the following example illustrates the independent social work support that I have previously provided to a private client. Mr C was caring for his elderly mother who lived at home but was becoming increasingly more dependent due to her physical and mental health
Case of Mrs A In this blog the following example illustrates the independent social work support that I have previously provided to a private client. Mrs A was a single parent caring for her 8-year-old daughter who had special needs. Mrs A was struggling to cope as the main carer
Case of Mr B In this blog the following example illustrates the independent social work support that I have previously provided to a private client. Mr B was 19 years of age and had experienced a serious industrial accident whilst at work resulting in a severe leg injury. This injury
As a Practice Educator I regard it as essential to draw up a supervision contract at the start of any work with social work students. This provides clarity about roles and responsibilities and how any areas of disagreement will be addressed. I hope you find this example useful in your
To help Practice Educators and support social work students to gain the most from their social work placement experience I want to share some helpful tips and tools around supervision Supervision Templates I provide my social work students with example templates for supervision agendas and minutes to support the supervision
Read my blog which provides tips and a practical discussion on how to record mental capacity assessments which I hope will be useful for social work students and qualified social workers in their day-to-day work. What social workers have reported to me is that they have not received any training
Read my blog on mental capacity which discusses key areas which can make these assessments particularly challenging work for social workers and practitioners completing these. Decision and Time Specific Mental capacity assessments are decision and time specific however, it can be extremely difficult to practically complete an assessment in one
Read my blog to gain some tips on how to practically assess mental capacity. Medical Model When defining relevant questions, a flexible conversational approach is recommended as there is no one size fits all. When a person is sitting in front of you it is not possible to predict how
Read my blog for help on this very subjective area of work. Assessing someone’s mental capacity is not an easy task. Social workers complete mental capacity assessments in a multi-tasked way. They are expected to manage a conversation with the person they are assessing, identify and discuss relevant information to
Mental Capacity Assessment- tips • It is crucial that the practitioner clearly identifies what decision needs to be made, otherwise the exercise will be pointless • Saying that someone lacks capacity is meaningless. It is about assessing a specific decision at a point in time and not a person’s ability
Mental Capacity- 10 Tips To support social workers when completing mental capacity assessments, I have devised a succinct ‘Tips Sheet’ including possible questions and prompts to consider as a starting point in preparation for the completion of a mental capacity assessment. 1. Be clear about the decision – or decisions
Mental Capacity – a practical discussion In a previous social care job, working for a local authority, I was heavily involved in the preparation and introduction of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that social care staff understood their responsibilities in relation to this new legislation. Lots of emails
Social Work England Form Template to record Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Type of CPD drop down box selection • On the job experience • Learning from a case • Self-directed learning (eg. Listening to a podcast or reading a journal or article) • Feedback from a person with lived experience
I qualified as a Practice Educator in 2003 and have developed my social work practice in this area over the years to ensure I am providing social work students with a good service, so they can get the most out of their social work placement experience. During my time as
