Following an utterly disastrous Care Plan Review with a social worker in which he was rude, misogynistic, ill prepared, intimidating, and threatening I attempted to make a complaint to his line manager. Fortunately my PA was present at the meeting and ended up asking the social worker to leave as he had reduced me to tears and it takes a lot to do that. I felt like the safety and security of my home had been violated.
I documented what had happened calmly and succinctly to the line manager and asked if we could discuss the matter. She refused.
I subsequently reported this to my MP who took up my case. The County Council set a deadline by which my complaint would be resolved. That whizzed past with no response. The MP chased them up again. They set a new deadline. That too expired without any contact. He chased them again. On Monday I received an email from a Senior Social Worker asking for a convenient day to call me to discuss my complaint. This is nearly eight weeks from the date the MP intervened, ten weeks since the incident.
Yesterday I spoke with a very sensible woman who came across as a competent practitioner, and the first thing she did was apologise for the way my complaint had been handled. She listened while I explained what had happened during the review meeting and she was obviously very shocked and concerned by the things I said. I was very appreciative of her repeated apologies.
As a resolution to the complaint I have agreed that the original review will be destroyed and I will be appointed an experienced, permanent social worker (we have a large number of locums) who will be in touch in a few weeks time to complete a new review.
A written report of the details of my complaint and the steps taken will also be sent to me.
Overall, I'm pleased it's over and I'm happy I went through with it especially if it means that the incompetent social worker I saw will now undergo further training.
