Warren Belcher

Citizen and social worker who likes lots of stuff but not keen on liquorice.

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

My new blog “When Social Work Stops Being Understood” 👇

https://t.co/JOASlunZHc

[Prof Ryan @sarasiobhan]

Rage warning should accompany the latest from @GeorgeJulian on the @CareQualityComm death data nonsense. https://t.co/acBsbM3rUO

[Mark Neary @MarkNeary1]

It's always struck me as crazy that the very parts of Steven's care package that give him his liberty are seen through the DoLS lens as the instruments of his deprivation. That just makes the law look foolish.

[Mark Neary @MarkNeary1]

However, to not have any court scrutinised input & safeguards, feels scary. The evidence has shown time & again that LAs cannot be trusted to act in the person's best interests.

[Vicky Hart @vhartsw]

And it will be the people without strong family connections and advocates in poor residential care homes and nursing homes who will suffer the most. What was intended as a protection, became a tick box. And now, even that tickbox won’t exist.

[Vicky Hart @vhartsw]

Understanding MCA law is about skill, knowledge and practice experience including working with people with dementia and learning disabilities (those most affected). But - I worry that without protections now, even superficial ones (and they mostly were), many will suffer.

[Vicky Hart @vhartsw]

Brief thoughts on the Supreme Court judgement re: DoLS as someone who qualified as a BIA pre: 2nd Cheshire West. I wasn’t convinced by the earlier judgement this overturns. It bloated the DoLs framework and led to an industry of BIAs and BIA training that I’m not sure was healthy

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

@hannahmooster @LubaMacpherson You are right : (

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

I’m devastated by the Supreme Court’s shift on the acid test. Clarity is what protects people and this ruling replaces a stable, objective threshold with something far more interpretive, especially in community settings where people are most exposed without legal tests. The most important part of my social work role is to be legally challenged and held accountable. That’s how rights are protected and how practice stays honest. But accountability only works when the legal test for a deprivation of liberty is clear and consistent. Right now, it isn’t and people’s safeguards shouldn’t depend on how confidently a practitioner can navigate ambiguity. They should depend on law, we all should and that’s now been called into question. #CopDol #AcidTest

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

@hannahmooster @LubaMacpherson The law now stops being universally rights based and starts drifting toward whatever is easiest for institutions!

[Hannahmooster @hannahmooster]

@ermate Having been a Dols coordinator when they were first introduced I couldn’t agree more. Cheshire west brought a clarity and a logic to the safeguards which could be easily grasped by managing authorities and professionals alike (and even that took a long time to filter through!)

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

@langerslangers It really is : (

[Emma Hill @langerslangers]

@ermate I wrote my first 3a today when yesterday it would have been a 3b. I’m devastated Warren. A sad day for vulnerable people who need us more than ever.

[Alex Ruck Keene @Capacitylaw]

Supreme Court overrules Cheshire West: https://t.co/DS4ySCQBtz

[Oliver Lewis @DrOliverLewis]

The Supreme Court has abolished the 'acid test'. Here's a short video explainer. https://t.co/rV334NCIS2

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

@EssexPR Excellent… now I just need to actually receive some overtime pay, because I’m effectively working six days a week squeezed into five.

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

My new short fictional story, catching up with Joy, a social worker navigating work between MS Teams calls and the moment she unexpectedly meets Marcia in the middle of it all. #socialwork

https://t.co/ZfqMNQ3tgN

[Joe Hanley ⏹️ @JoeEHanley]

"as of today, the sector is not a success story for the government. That is Wes Streeting's legacy" - Good overview from @CommunityCare of Wes Streeting's 22 month tenure as health and social care secretary, and impact on the social care sector.
https://t.co/NEDqZIpKyS

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

Brilliant, Joe and a cracking article from @CommunityCare. I guess Streeting’s legacy is leaving adult social care in a place where a system built to safeguard others wasn’t safeguarded itself. Social care never really made it onto his radar and now everything seems to be hinging on Casey’s report to fill the gaps he left. With huge LGR reform ahead, that lack of understanding about the sector’s role in rights, justice and care doesn’t bode well. As for @1adass, it raises a fair question: if the Secretary of State wasn’t engaging with the sector, how were they ever meant to influence the agenda? And if he wasn’t engaging, then why not and what needs to change going forward?

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

@blackbeltgooner Good work, enjoy 👏

[Warren Belcher @ermate]

My new blog. Local Government Reorganisation. Some reflections so far impacting #socialcare #LGR

https://t.co/avcnXRxZow