Social worker gave an abusive ex womans new address

[RebootYourEngine]

Social worker 'gave safe house address to woman's abuser'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38719709

It doesnt say that she was struck off but she blooming well should have been

[owlmug]

Sorry not P.O. Box address - the actual street address.

[seafoodeatit]

It's horrific, and she didn't just do it the once either, the total failure and lack of protection for this poor woman and her children is heartbreaking.

The police advising her to drop the case says it all, they admit that they're not going to protect them essentially, your life is more important than justice, they're supposed to protect both.

The response from the local SW is also not good enough, 'fell short' does not cover the risk they put this woman through who each time could have been murdered.

[PovertyPain]

That's awful owlmug! Why did he do that and was anything said to him?

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

Over the years I have had to re move approx 60% of my service users for much the same reason.

And it is rare for anŷbody to be sanctioned or offered retraining due to it.
They call the mothers emotional abusers for hiding

It is the bane of my entire working life

[ohfourfoxache]

This is just fucking ridiculous

I really feel that there is a widespread culture of not talking domestic abuse seriously, and that includes police, SWs, the courts. This needs to change

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

I'm a social worker and I wholeheartedly believe this worker should lose their registration for this. Absolutely appalling. When I received concerns, I always tell the person that it's anonymous. It wouldn't occur to me to do otherwise. It would be an abuse of trust.

[user1475253854]

needsasockamnesty they call the mothers emotional abusers?? Bloody hell. I thought dealing with DV was bread and butter to SWs - how come they are so bad at it?

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

it is rare for anŷbody to be sanctioned or offered retraining due to it

Isn't this precisely why it happens so often? Even with the very worst cases of obvious abuse being missed, etc, hardly anyone is ever held to account; it's always "lessons will be learned", "it's the savage cuts" and so on until the next time

And while retraining certainly has a place, I'm not convinced it can make up for a total lack of common sense

[owlmug]

PovertyPain

It was read out to him like "You are charged with the assault of Miss Blah Blah of 59, Blah Blah Street"

Nobody in the court room said anything, my friend didn't say anything, she took the risk as she didn't want to be moved again. It's very common for these things to happen and everytime it does womens/families lives get thrown up in the air again.

[PootlewasthebestFlump]

Data protection seems slack across the board. We have an adopted DS but our GP surgery doesn't link children to parents on their system. So they don't know that I am his mum. They say they go by address links.

When I took him to see my GP the doctor was surprised because nothing on the system reminded him he was my child.

I am terrified that an error could easily be made where birth parents could be phoned with eg test results because their numbers are on all the original notes and scanned documents. When I filled out the forms of course I put my phone details but will they look in the right place? I have a different name to my son so how do they even know who to speak to?

I spoke to the practice manager who told me they'd put a tag on the file but if they did my GP never saw it....

People just don't understand the risks.

[PausingFlatly]

Read that with horror this morning, and this thread is even more horrifying.

Having to re-move 60% of service users can't be about accidental breaches. It must be a culture of deliberately or culpably negligently undermining women fleeing violence.

[TaliZorahVasNormandy]

Pootle, that is true where I work too. But the assumption is that the adults in the household are the parents, unless stated otherwise.

When I filled out the forms of course I put my phone details but will they look in the right place? I have a different name to my son so how do they even know who to speak to?

With this, the only numbers they should try are the numbers on file for that patient. So if you put your mobile number on, then that is the one they should ring.

[PovertyPain]

That's terrible, owl. I hope your friend is safe and happy now.

I'm no contact with my family and would be horrified if they found out where I live. I'm also carer and parental figure for my dear niece and she is at risk of being taken by her father. I can't move, so he knows where I live, so its a constant worry. The level of violence inflicted on these poor women must leave them in a constant state of fear.

[fleuricle]

sockAmnesty

Yes, I'd say mine was at least 60% too.
It's depressing and a TOTAL waste of time and resources too.

It's the lack of accountability that is the problem.
If people were in danger of losing their jobs, they'd pay a bit more attention.

[NotCitrus]

I really hope they don't assume that adults in my household are the children's parents, as there's five adults! Two are in the granny flat but legally it's the same address, and there's a lodger. Actually about 10 years ago we did get a phone call from the GP about then-lodger - they were very apologetic, but systems should be set up so you aren't relying on individuals to remember that sometimes they shouldn't follow their usual procedures.

In my community people take confidentiality seriously, so if someone asks if you could give them X's number as their phone has lost it, the reply will be "sure, I'll poke them and give them your number to contact you on". I've found more mainstream people and now school mums etc are much more blase about giving info to anyone - except the childminders, who have had training on data protection.

I'd assumed the thing where courts read out the names and addresses of accused and victims was something that had been abolished years ago - I'm quite shocked it still happens (because if it happens at all, someone's going to cock up and not make an exception where they should - that's life).

[TaliZorahVasNormandy]

I agree Citrus that it a tag needs to be set up to indicate parents and their children. Would be easier when dealing with blended families.

[RebootYourEngine]

What made it more shocking for me was that she did it twice.

In my line of work it would be instant dismissal if we disclosed any kind of personal information to anyone.

[BeautyGoesToBenidorm]

You'd have far more severe sanctions for breaking the DPA if you worked in a bloody call centre.

[PootlewasthebestFlump]

I agree - where I live there are multiple generations and extended family living in households. And who's to say an estranged parent couldn't claim they live at the same address?

If they have my son's name and my mobile number but not my name they'd have to look up his address and see who it matched. Surely safer to put on the system who has parental responsibility?

My son, at 6, is registered on a GP system with nothing more than an address and mobile number and no mention of who his parents are. I find that. ...odd.

[Roomba]

I had a GP's receptionist phone my ex, to confirm that our child was also moving to my new address at xxx street when I was moving. Just ringing to double check as they changed my details over... only I had told the GP in confidence as I was planning to leave my abusive partner. That caused no end of fun at my house when I got home, as you can imagine . I did make an official complaint and received an apology and compensation, but I'll never trust in supposed 'confidentiality' again tbh.

[OneFlewOverTheDodosNest]

That's shocking Roomba - I can't believe that mistakes like this can happen without people being held accountable!

[PatMullins]

My GP surgery also called my ex to tell him about an upcoming medical appointment for DD. We don't live at the same address and he isn't a patient at the same surgery.

Thankfully we are on good terms and no abuse history but my blood runs cold thinking of that happening to someone who is.

[Teaholic]

luckily my x too 'smart' to publicly abuse me but even my own solicitor told me it was important my dd did not become a man-hater. I felt like saying well if she did, at least she'd be SAFE!!!!! He did not tell me it was important that my son did not abuse his father. I was just trying to give my solicitor the headsup what he was dealing with and my x did make a monkey out of my solicitor the first go round. I was lucky I was safe living with family and could afford to go back to court. The vast majority of people just do. not. get. it. So called intelligent people are all bending over backwards to prove they're not ''man haters''

[EveOnline2016]

That social worker should be sacked.

In fact seeing as it was a court order that he couldn't have the address she should be arrested for breaching a court order.

[missyB1]

God its utterly depressing that there is still this culture that DV is a trivial matter, or the woman is making it up because She's just trying to stop him seeing the kids, JEEEZ when are some of these so called "professionals" going to to start taking their responsibilities for safeguarding seriously??

As pp pointed out this was not a mistake it was done deliberately as the arrogant power crazy SW decided that this man's "right" to see his kids trumped the woman's right to safety FFS!!