Why A Blog About Cyngor #Gwynedd Council ?

I feel it is time for a recap of the events that led to this blog being created.

The 2010 Independent Investigation - with all points upheld - was highly critical of Gwynedd SS and their management team in their treatment of an autistic child. But the recommendations of the Report were not acted upon and the child and family were ignored.

Our local MP, Liz Savile Roberts was contacted for help but her very good friend at the council, Marian Parry Hughes, intervened and Liz then ignored our request for a meeting to provide her with our evidence. Liz has continued to ignore our correspondence.

At the time, the child was on a CIN plan managed by a social worker whose attitude beggared belief, culminating in the social worker not bothering to turn up for a review of the child's case. A meeting that he, himself, had organised with parents and a teacher, letting them all down and wasting everybody's time.

A complaint was raised about his behaviour and that of the Head of Services. To say it was dealt with badly is an understatement and a Stage 2 complaint repeatedly refused. (The Ombudsman has since recommended that ALL officers involved in the complaint be given re-training in the Statutory Complaints procedure)

So I began to blog the story of how Gwynedd Council have behaved.

I have been careful to name only those officers who have behaved badly and deliberately not named one manager whom, I believe, had her arm twisted by more senior managers to misrepresent the Investigation of the censoring and mishandling of personal information and the Council's own data breach.

Gwynedd Adult services were recently lambasted by the Ombudsman for how they treated a young, autistic man. This case was only brought to the Ombudsman's attention because the Complaints department had refused to accept their complaint, also.
 
If those named would like the right to reply they have only to contact me. I am also willing to consider and/or publish their version of events if they so wish.

I would also like to thank those who have supported the family in our attempt to access services for 'high functioning' autistics and those children that continue to fall between the gaps in services.

Censoring Of Personal Information By Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

It is the end of another week and Gwynedd Council continue to remain silent in regards to the Independent Investigator's Report into our Stage 2 complaint raised in May, last year, on the advice of the Ombudsman for Wales and so I am placing the second point of our complaint on to the blog.

It involves censoring of personal information obtained under a SAR (subject access request) and a Data breach. 

Data & Information:  The complainants have been provided with an email by Gwynedd County Council which had been partially censored. They believe that there was no legitimate reason to censor the information as there were no third party information within the email, and they believe that the censored narrative was an attempt to prevent them from reading disparaging comments about them by Mel Panther to a professional in the education department.

The complainants were also given emails which contained information shared between professionals relating to other children, which was their personal information and a clear breach of data protection and confidentiality.
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The complaint says it all really and our desired outcome was -

The complainants seek an explanation for the censoring of their own information, and whether or not it is legal to do so. They seek an explanation from Melvin panther as to how he thought it in any way appropriate or professional to speak about them in such a derogatory manner to another professional working with the family.
In relation to the information containing other children’s details, they wish for this to be dealt with via the Council’s information/Data protection security policy & procedure.

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There are at least four (4) emails that have been censored by a black marker pen.

All of the censored emails were sent by Melvin Panther, a senior manager in Gwynedd Children and Family Support department.

Now I am not suggesting that Mr Panther censored his own emails, which we were the subject of, because everyone who works in the Care sector has to sign the Data Protection Act and it will have been made very clear to them at the time that altering records or other peoples information, in any way, is a criminal offence.

But someone did indeed censor our personal information, we believe, in attempt to cover up the disparaging remarks made by Melvin Panther. So who ?
I have sighted the response by the Education department to Mr Panther and I read it as a polite slap down so my thanks to that Education officer.

Melvin Panther is a Manager of the social worker, Jamie Haydon, named in the point of complaint discussed in the previous post.

The Data breach involves sending us the name(s) of children receiving support from the council and also names the school the child attends.

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Incompetent Or Malicious ?

So why is Gwynedd council delaying the release of the Independent Investigators Report into our Stage 2 complaint raised with the council as advised by the Ombudsman for Wales in May, 2017 ?

I understand that this will spoil the council's data figures and put an end to the boasting by the Head of the Children and Family Department regarding the lack of complaints being escalated to stage 2, but these are small matters when compared to helping a disabled child obtain the help that is due him.

Aren't they ?

I am also aware that using the web to publicise our story may have entrenched some within the council and social services to deny the child his rights and us the Independent Report.

But it was the council themselves who first took to the web to whitewash and diss our attempts at obtaining services for the child and this blog was started to tell the very different reality of our situation, as the report gave a very one sided view of things.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that  Gwynedd Council's Complaints Department and Procedure is not fit for purpose and that when or if we are finally allowed the 'Independent Report' will it be so censored or sanitised that it bears no resemblance to the original ?

Fearing this, I feel it would be useful to have some record of the complaint available on the web and so I am going to go through each point of our complaint - and our desired outcomes - here. There will obviously be redactions to protect not only the identity of the child but, also, those employees of the council who have acted professionally.

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One point of our complaint was -

 (Child) was on a Child in Need Plan, and as a result of Jamie Hayden (social worker) not attending the CIN Plan Review Meeting on 25^th May 2016, no review was carried out. Complainants wish to know what has happened to (Child's) Child in Need Plan since the last CIN Meeting held in February 2016, and how are social services evidencing that (Child's) needs are being met? (Parents) have never received any correspondence or information informing them that the Child in Need Plan had ended or why.

Our desired outcome to this point of complaint was -

The complainants seek a full and comprehensive explanation from Gwynedd County Council as to why (Child's) Child in Need Plan was not properly reviewed, updated, and minuted, as Gwynedd Social Services department policy and procedure clearly stated..

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Oh dear - now this could be sticky for the council as all Children cases need careful review and updating and accurate records and minutes kept  - not just those on a CIN plan.

Gwynedd's Social Service's past mistakes and failings in this child's case are clearly documented in an Independent Investigators Report from 2010. Nothing appears to have changed.

Yet Gwynedd Council  literature, policies etc on complaints handling and outcomes assure the public that lessons are learnt and changes made.

Or are they..?

Answers on a postcard postage stamp, please.

More -  https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/

A Missing Letter, An MP And A Support Team(!). Gwynedd.

And a quick recap....

A stage 2 complaint from 2010 showing serious failings in the Children and Families Department at Cyngor Gwynedd was upheld by Independent Investigators.

From 2014, meetings and decisions made concerning a child's future were being held behind closed doors by managers and a social worker without the knowledge of the parents or professionals involved in the case.
Worse was the fact that a social worker and other professionals were being ignored....as they did not feel the child's needs were being met,

A social worker who acted without thought for the code of ethics that he has agreed to uphold.
Or worse - a social worker who has been instructed by managers to behave so....inappropriately and against the interests of a vulnerable child - the client.
The jury is still out.

A failure of the children and families department to deliver the services granted by Gwynedd social services and when they finally appeared - after having their arm twisted by a solicitor - were shockingly bad.

So bad that a complaint was raised and which Aled Gibbard closed  - against statutory policy - and also without informing anyone !?!?

Kenealy Jones - you said a search was made for the letter to Mr Gibbard he claims he never received. Did you look in the bins ?

I have sighted your email to your colleague, Aled, voicing your concern about where this case could go.

The service(!) provided involved the support worker - yes him of the grunts and no feedback - leaving the client alone in a car when he attended to his own bits and pieces.
You did read the risk assessment, Iolo - yes ?
Is it council policy to leave clients alone when in their care ?

All of this even before I asked the #Plaid_Cymru MP, Liz Saville Roberts for support.
Liz, who shook my hand, looked me in the eye and said "vote for me... and contact me if you ever need help".

MP's tut - some of them will say anything to get your vote.

Cyngor Gwynedd - Problem With Management.

So where were we ?

Ah yes - I cancelled the meeting with the social worker.

The partner had become ill with the stress and nastiness of it all and my daughter had just suffered a miscarriage - all this and dealing with the light and dark side of PDA - it was a relief to use the time to calm down and think...

The social worker turned up anyway.

Lowri Williams, customer care(!) wrote later "...the Service felt that cancelling the meeting was not appropriate,"

Mr Haydon also wrote a report to his managers describing the meeting with me.

Jamie, I have seen a copy of your report and I hardly recognise your version of events.
Will the report be updated to include how you foot shuffled and spent most of our exchange staring at the floor like a scoolboy , mumbling -
"You haven't made a complaint about me, have you ?"

Will you update the report to include the fact that your managers, Melvin Panther and Sharron Williams Carter sent you to my house knowing that I had raised issues with your bad behaviour and the meeting cancelled - without informing you ?

Do you think that is "appropriate" behaviour from your managers, Jamie ?

Jamie, in your report you call me 'agitated' when I answered the door - that was a mixture of horror and anger at your presence until I realised that you had been set up.

What manager would send an employee out to visit someone who was upset and not even advise them ?
Were they hoping for confrontation ?

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2014/09/16/violence-social-workers-just-part-job-70-incidents-investigated/

Have you raised an issue with #Unison that your managers put you in an impossible situation with little regard for your safety ?

I remember saying to you "Jamie, contact your managers. Something weird is going on."

You whispered that you have to wait for them to get in touch.

#Shocking -  from you, Jamie, and your managers.

Cyngor Gwynedd have refused my right to make an official complaint about the incident.

Gwynedd Children And Families Department Fail.

Though the parents 2nd stage complaint against Cyngor Gwynedd Council showed serious failings within the Children and Families Department and was upheld by independent investigators in 2010 nothing has changed.

I have read through the report and noticed that many names involved back then are now ensconced as managers in Gwynedd social services, though it is not for me to say if these same people are now acting out of spite or have always been so unprofessional.

My experience working in the mental health field with dementia, learning difficulties, challenging behaviour and acquired brain injury was no use to me at all in this case and I was playing catch up for the first year learning about PDA, the boy's complex needs and gaining his trust.

I stood back and watched as first the Council got in contact and after discussions agreed that support may be available and a social worker would be assigned. Everyone was wary because of the behaviour of social services in the past but it was agreed that help towards social skills and integration was more important.

A social worker was allocated and a support worker was granted. Unfortunately the support was still not provided and so in desperation a solicitor was contacted and only then was a support worker assigned.

The first social worker was replaced by a second , this time from Children and Families, as the disability team would not assess, due to the boy having too high an IQ. This social worker introduced himself as having no experience of Autism and was not a disability social worker but said he was there to help.

He did not endear himself to anyone over the next period by comments such as -

'We are really doing the education departments job' 

'What to do you want a core assessment for? I don't see what use it will be, can you explain to me how you think it will benefit *****? '

'I'm a very busy man you know' (when he failed to phone back)

'This service is really for people that need a social worker'


But he was all my partner had to work with and the fact the boy was, finally, going to get help with socialisation and independent living skills was enough for me to still my misgivings and keep my professional mouth shut.

The help and support that eventually began was anything but.

Communication was poor and I mean mono-syllabic from the support worker when asked for feedback. One day he just grunted at me when I tried to engage him.
Different days different times and sessions that were arranged with less than 24 hours notice - and sessions were strictly on a take it or lose it basis.

The stress of dealing with this 'care support' had a knock on effect in dealing with other aspects of care and we all suffered for a period.

So a letter of complaint was sent to Support Services at Cyngor Gwynedd Children and Families Dept asking for continuity of times and reminding them that due to the boy's complexities the family had no idea of where he was taken, what subjects were discussed or how he engaged with others if at all and simply a plea for feedback to help us to help him progress with socialisation.

It is called team work and every professional in the care field will recognise its importance for the child and family - except, it appears, at the Children and Families Department of Gwynedd council.

A letter was duly received apologising for blah blah blah and informing us that we had to ask the social worker to ask the support worker to communicate with us re the sessions !!!! But they did take on board our need for certain times to avoid clashing with the child's education.

To be fair we were allowed the same time and day every week which removed so much stress and I am grateful for that. Imagine being grateful for a regular weekly slot from a children and families service(!) but I truly was.

The feedback from the support worker however did NOT materialise.
(Another social worker was asked further down the line again if we could have some feedback - again nothing)

In fact we did receive reports written by the support worker eventually. We asked Social Services for their file on the family and they were included. So much interesting information (and mis-information)  But that is for future posts.

My misgivings and worry about what I considered unprofessional and totally unacceptable behaviour turned to anger when I returned home and found my wife crying. She had had a phone conversation with the social worker which had caused her upset.

Then after I listened to the recording of the conversation I became quite upset, too.

A meeting between the social worker and my wife had been arranged but I wanted to be there for support so I emailed Cyngor Gwynedd Customer Care to raise my concerns about their social worker, Jamie Haydon and cancel the meeting.

My email and first contact with Cyngor Gwynedd Council was dated 29th Feb, 2016.

#bing #yahoo