I'm sorry, you've made the wrong decision.
In your reflective activity, you should have covered these points:
- There is a serious problem and the underlying causes need to be addressed. There is a chance that the same problems could come up with the next person Clare is allocated to. If there is indeed inadequate time allowed between visits, Clare should have told you this and not simply turn up late and leave early when working with Edna.
- You could now do the right thing by recording all the information you have. You should then follow your employer’s policies and procedures to begin disciplinary action relating to Clare.
- You made a mistake earlier when you limited your action to just reassuring Edna you would review her support plan (which you did not do). The correct action to take would have been to arrange for someone else to provide support for Edna. You should then have looked at the timesheets, gathered information from both Edna and Clare and reviewed the support plan to ensure that Edna had been allocated enough support hours.
- As a social service worker, you should communicate in an appropriate, open, accurate and straightforward way. You need to demonstrate that you are reliable and dependable.
- You need to show you understand it is essential for social service workers to honour work commitments, agreements and arrangements and, when it is not possible to do so, explain why to people who use services.
- You should tell your employer, or an appropriate authority, when a colleague’s fitness to practice may be impaired.
- It is important that you enable people who use services to make complaints. You should take complaints seriously and either respond to them, or pass them to the appropriate person.
- You should respect the views and wishes of people who use services.
- You need to recognise that you remain responsible for work that you have delegated to others.
- You should listen to feedback from people who use services, carers and other relevant people and consider that feedback to improve your practice.
- You need to show you the importance of maintaining clear, accurate and up-to-date records in line with procedures relating to your work.
- You should always ask for assistance if you don’t feel well enough prepared to deal with a matter at work, or are unsure of how to proceed.
- You have not yet shown that you have the knowledge required to make good decisions. Next time you need to act sooner and with more confidence. Getting to know the SSSC Codes of Practice will help you to do this. It is important that you continually develop your own practice through reflection and learning.
When Diane told you that Edna no longer wanted Clare to provide a service for her, the correct action would have been to ask Diane for more information. For example, has Edna mentioned this before, or given any reasons? You should have looked at Edna’s care plan and checked Clare’s timesheet. You should then have asked Clare to discuss progress with Edna. You should also have arranged to visit Edna yourself.
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