Transcript

[TEXT ON SCREEN: What is social work? Rachel Daurat and Lisa Gourley, Services for older people]

NARRATOR:

9:00 AM at Sunderland's Adult Services, home to the eight teams providing services for older people. For the City West division, the day starts with a diary share meeting.

RACHEL DAURAT:

Hello.

NARRATOR:

Heading today's meeting is Rachel Daurat, who's acting up whilst her manager is on leave.

RACHEL DAURAT:

A couple of things are just reminders, really. The first one is the new RAS forms, Community Care Assessment documents?

NARRATOR:

Rachel qualified as a social worker nine years ago and began her career in the team at Sunderland Royal Hospital. She joined older people's services three years ago and reached a senior level a year later.

RACHEL DAURAT:

Every team have a diary share once a week. The team managers attend SMT, a Senior Management Meeting. And they basically trickle down information from the directorate.

NARRATOR:

Also in the meeting is Lisa Gourley, whose social work career began just 12 months ago. Lisa's colleague, Bertha, has an important issue to raise.

BERTHA:

There was an incident over the weekend with one of the members of the staff. And the manager of the home now wants him out.

NARRATOR:

An unwell elderly man has assaulted a carer at his residential home. And the home wants him to leave. Rachel and the team are concerned that it could be a hasty reaction.

RACHEL DAURAT:

He's had one incident. And it was a serious incident.

SPEAKER 1:

I think the challenging behavior team need to be involved.

NARRATOR:

It's a difficult situation with potentially serious consequences for the elderly man. As acting team manager, it's now Rachel's job to speak directly to the home.

RACHEL DAURAT:

Bertha said that you wanted to speak to her manager in regards--

NARRATOR:

The man was placed in the home just three weeks ago, after he was assessed as being unable to cope living independently. So Rachel already knows his case history.

RACHEL DAURAT:

The gentleman unfortunately lacks capacity to make his own choices about a place of accommodation. He wasn't able to manage his insulin. He wasn't able to judge when he was having a hypo. We had a big case conference. And really, the feeling was in his best interest, it would be safer to be within a 24-hour care environment.

But after that one incident, the home manager has been quite quick to then want him out. We haven't really investigated the cause of the incident. We haven't looked at getting psychiatry involved. And furthermore, we haven't really looked at challenging behavior team, which is accessible for you to directly refer to. To look at changing the home now and him moving out after three weeks, I think we need-- it's a bit hasty, I feel.

All right, thanks.

She's going to refer to the challenging behavior team. And homes can directly refer to them to get their input as to how to manage someone's behavior. I've also advised, if any other incident happens again, she really needs to get on to look at a mental health assessment.

NARRATOR:

As Rachel writes up the case notes, Lisa is heading out to visit a woman who she helped to retain her independence after a serious illness jeopardised it.

LISA GOURLEY:

She had a brain aneurysm back in March, which set her back quite a long way. She spent quite a lot of time in hospital. She spent six weeks in Farmborough Court, which is our intermediate care centre. And then she's had a couple of weeks of re-ablement, actually, in her own home. And she's just recently finished that. We're just going to go and see how she's doing.

NARRATOR:

66-year-old Olive was very poorly when Lisa first met her. It was Olive's best friend Kathleen who persuaded Lisa that there was potential for recovery.

LISA GOURLEY:

Morning, Olive. How are you this morning?

NARRATOR:

Lisa needs to be sure Olive is getting all the support she needs.

LISA GOURLEY:

Okey-doke. I've just popped in this morning just to see how the carers are doing, Olive, because you've just changed over from the girls who were coming previously, haven't you?

OLIVE:

Yeah.

NARRATOR:

Lisa spent eight years as a senior care worker in a residential home for elderly people before embarking on her social work degree at Teesside University.

LISA GOURLEY:

It was a general social work. And we did kind of-- such as social policy, ethics and values. The counsellor modules, I found really helpful. Therapeutic communication, I found really good. And I find that they most have benefited us since I've come here.

She just lives local, does she, your carer?

OLIVE:

Aye.

LISA GOURLEY:

Yeah? She just live around the corner.

Probably decided to do older people because it's what I was comfortable with. And for at least my first year of practice, I wanted something I was familiar with.

Does she treat the home with respect, Olive?

OLIVE:

Oh, yes.

LISA GOURLEY:

You're happy with the way she-- yeah? And you feel that she's meeting your needs OK, Olive? You're happy with that, yeah? Because I've obviously worked with older people since I was 18, I know their values and things like that. So that's helped. But also, because I'm now reviewing care homes, I've got an idea of how care plans should be devised, and stuff like that. So I know what to look for.

So you've been looking forward to going to visit Kathleen in her new house then, yeah? How do you think you'll manage a bus at the moment, Olive? How confident would you feel?

OLIVE:

I don't know.

LISA GOURLEY:

You don't know. I think maybe do a couple of trips with Kathleen?

OLIVE:

Yeah, that's good.

LISA GOURLEY:

And then maybe you never know.

We're focusing a lot more on community living now and personalisation, and stuff like that. We do get quite a few referrals in for 24-hour care. But they are starting to kind of fizzle out, now that I think the mindset of a lot of older people, especially here, are that you get to a certain age and that's kind of where you go. But I think we are starting to change that now. And people are accepting support at home and the extra care schemes that we want to do. So that's really good as well.

See you later. Bye. No bother. Bye.

I think it went really well. It was a positive review. I think Olive's really happy with a new bungalow and her new surroundings.

KATHLEEN:

If it wasn't for Lisa, she wouldn't have been where she is now. When the doctors told me that she would be in a home all her life, and then Lisa came in. And me and Lisa had a talk. And then she got another bungalow, so.

OLIVE:

I try to be as much busy.

LISA GOURLEY:

I think it's been positive for Olive, but also for her family and her friends to watch as well. Three months earlier, we thought she was going to have to go into a nursing home, which-- her potential wouldn't have been met because people would have been doing for her rather than showing her what to do. So it's been a really good experience.