When, as a society, did style become more important than substance? In the social care sector, this is most certainly the case. The government body, Supporting People, which oversees the commissioning and monitoring of services has become obsessed with "performance indicators", "outcomes", "support plans", "reviews" and so on. Ostensibly, of course, this creates accountability, which ostensibly leads to better services.
The theory goes something like this:
Workers provide support services to people with mental health problems, older people, homeless people and so on. For years, services have been commissioned based on the need. Our government has seen little evidence that these services are doing a good job.
What is the job? Well, on an average day, it means helping a person to fill out a form, go to pay their rent, phoning up the Jobcentre to find out what has happened to their benefits, or just sharing a joke with them. It might mean something as mundane as booking an early visit so they get out of bed in time for a job interview or it might mean something more drastic, like getting them to see a solicitor before they make themselves homeless.
That's all well and good, say Supporting People, but we need to show that the services are doing a good job. We need to measure it. Ok, yep, I'm all for accountability. Why don't you phone up or visit my clients and find out? They'll tell you, especially if you phone or visit them at random.
They don't do that, though. Instead, they look at files, check everything is up to date and score according to policies in place, quality of paperwork, regularity of said paperwork etc etc.
So, the paperwork becomes the thing. If you want to win the next contract, cut costs (also known as employing monkeys and paying them peanuts), train them to churn out the paperwork and... bingo! You've,er, won the contract. Well done. The fact that your monkeys may spend about 25% of their time doing paperwork for its own sake doesn't matter, because the paperwork is the thing. Are people not being seen?
Are they lonely and frustrated because they haven't seen their worker? Would they like them to visit and just help them with a couple of forms? Well, I'm sorry, the reviews need doing. What's the priority, applying for charity money, getting you on to a course or making sure the paperwork looks right? Well, one means I keep my job and the other means you'll get your forms done more quickly. Great, isn't it?
The theory goes something like this:
Workers provide support services to people with mental health problems, older people, homeless people and so on. For years, services have been commissioned based on the need. Our government has seen little evidence that these services are doing a good job.
What is the job? Well, on an average day, it means helping a person to fill out a form, go to pay their rent, phoning up the Jobcentre to find out what has happened to their benefits, or just sharing a joke with them. It might mean something as mundane as booking an early visit so they get out of bed in time for a job interview or it might mean something more drastic, like getting them to see a solicitor before they make themselves homeless.
That's all well and good, say Supporting People, but we need to show that the services are doing a good job. We need to measure it. Ok, yep, I'm all for accountability. Why don't you phone up or visit my clients and find out? They'll tell you, especially if you phone or visit them at random.
They don't do that, though. Instead, they look at files, check everything is up to date and score according to policies in place, quality of paperwork, regularity of said paperwork etc etc.
So, the paperwork becomes the thing. If you want to win the next contract, cut costs (also known as employing monkeys and paying them peanuts), train them to churn out the paperwork and... bingo! You've,er, won the contract. Well done. The fact that your monkeys may spend about 25% of their time doing paperwork for its own sake doesn't matter, because the paperwork is the thing. Are people not being seen?
Are they lonely and frustrated because they haven't seen their worker? Would they like them to visit and just help them with a couple of forms? Well, I'm sorry, the reviews need doing. What's the priority, applying for charity money, getting you on to a course or making sure the paperwork looks right? Well, one means I keep my job and the other means you'll get your forms done more quickly. Great, isn't it?
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