Social worker visit?

[rabbitheadlights]

Hi all,

I'm much more of a lurker than a poster so hopefully I won't say the wrong thing and get myself into trouble.

Our social worker arranged a visit for yesterday, when we discussed it on the phone she said it may be awkward for the kids as she'd be wearing PPE etc.. However she turned up at 9 am (feeding time at the zoo). My partner went to the door as I was busy in the kitchen and then in she strolled, not a scrap of ppe in sight, no gloves, no face mask!! Kids all saying hi etc . I was so worried I wanted to scream get out!! But she's in now so the damage is done. When she left I asked my DP what in earth he was thinking letting her in like that? He said " I know, I was worried too.but you can't refuse entry to these people because they will just make things difficult for us!!" For context he's a recovering alcoholic and is doing well, she wandered all round the house, went upstairs to chat with my daughter etc ... I just don't know what to do, we have literally been in the house since all this started except for me going to get groceries as my son is vulnerable and all for what? She could have brought anything in especially if she has been visiting other people the same way??

So my aibu is this aibu to think he shouldn't have let her in? Or is he right that with people like SW etc you have to just go with it and keep your mouth shut?

If you're not letting anyone else into your home why would you be expected to allow a social worker to just waltz in without any measures in place to protect you and your family? You don't need to know why, you complain in strongest terms. The school I work with has had staff make just a couple of home visits, at the request of the families, and the teachers wore PPE.

Let it go? Why would she do that when this same person is still out and about and likely to be upsetting other families in a similar manner?

@intelinside true

What ppe do you think she should have been using?
Gloves? Certainly if she was going to touch anything in the OP's home (as she almost certainly did if she sat on the sofa and chatted to the kids)

Maybe she sanitised her hands before entering your home? And how can the OP know that?

Masks? Shown not to be effective and just encourage face touching. The point of the mask is not to protect the wearer but to protect the people around- in this case the OPs family

Aprons? You were probably her one visit of the day and she would be going home and showering and changing clothes after you.
As above. This is not about the SW but about the OP.

I would certainly write a letter of complaint. Stress how worried you were, how hard you have been working to keep your family safe, mention how her lack of protection made you worried about your family, mention if she did not observe the 2 metres distance to your kids or yourself or your dh when he opened the door. Even postmen and couriers step away when they deliver a parcel- did she?

Think through the visit. Is it the lack of PPE alone that was a problem or was there also a problem with her not following rules (2 metres distance, not touching surfaces etc)

Be polite and not emotional, but make it clear.

We have had a lot of SS involvement and I know the fear- but this is absolutely what I would do. If she is careless in these matters, or if her unit don't have strict training, then someone needs to know.

I clearly work for a good local authority. We have PPE and we are expected to use it when visiting people. We are limiting home visits to urgent only. However, many things we deal with are urgent, so depending on level of seniority, some people continue to make multiple home visits during an average working week.
We have guidance and videos on how to currently put on PPE, how to take it off and how to dispose of it safely.
A social worker or occupational therapist may have visited 2 or 3 homes of services users, gone back to their family home and gone to the shop etc. That’s a lot of contact with various people and places.
We know that PPE is for the mostly protection of the group of people from whom we are responsible - adults with disabilities.
That social worker is probably not purposefully bad but she undertook a poor risk assessment. It should be flagged up. If it’s because there is poor stock of PPE, senior managers need to know. If it’s for another reason, it needs to be addressed.
Some people on here are unnecessarily aggressive. It’s possible to give feedback, criticise a service or complain without going all guns blazing.

@Intelinside57 I didn’t mean let it go, full stop. I meant let it go as in stop berating her partner for what’s happened. I had already made it clear that she needs to raise it with the social worker.

We are being advised that PPE only necessary if the client is symptomatic and otherwise to use 2 metre distancing within the home.

SO nobody has discussed the need to protect the client from you??? I find this very worrying, not least because yours is a profession where people may not feel they dare deny you access to their homes whatever their medical concerns?

Why, during the course of a pandemic, where everybody has been told not to allow anybody who is not a member of the household into their homes, would a SW need to be a mind reader to work out from non-verbal cues that a client might be worried about having to go against government recommendations? During a time when neighbours are actually ringing the police or posting on social media about people who let others into their gardens even?Wouldn't that be a fairly normal reaction? Would you really need to read non-verbal cues to work out that "this client is probably a bit nervous about this, how can I reassure her that I will not be putting her at risk by passing contagion on either to her or her children"?

My cleaner's coming back on Tuesday and won't be in ppe; will wear a mask though and have hand sanitiser, etc. I doubt there's too much to worry about op.

Also- what size houses do people have that a SW would be able to walk around the house and speak to young children and sit on the sofa while still maintaining a 2 metre distance at all time? I think of ourselves as fairly lucky in terms of space- 3 bed Edwardian semi- but there isn't anywhere you could do that here.

My friend's teenage daughter was literally 'dumped' back to live with her mum in Dec last year. My friend was desperate to have her back and has been campaigning for along time for this to happen. When I say 'dumped', I mean that the child was given literally 'two' hours notice that she was coming home! No time to say goodbye to anybody. No preparation time given. No thought about anything like that by social services. My friend was given 16 hrs notice! She had been taken into care and lived in three separate residential homes in the space of 18 months. My friend has some health issues and had been very careful during this period in time about protecting herself. Her daughter was not tested for Covid before being sent home. Covid wasn't even spoken about. Two social workers then arrived a couple of days later at her home...and had the cheek to ask my friend and her daughter to wear masks in their own home!!

You should have just asked that she put PPE on! Social Services are involved with my family, as I'm a recovering alcoholic etc, and I wouldn't think twice about requesting a SW put on at least a mask. This is on both your partner AND you.

I'm not a social worker but I do go into peoples homes as part of my job and it's similar in that they can't very easily say no to me. I wear my face mask at all times and stay 2m away from other people and try to stay less than 15 mins if possible. Its absolutely standard practice and she will have had access to a mask and she will have been told similar and there us no way she did that for any reason other than she was being unprofessional.

This thread was posted in May. I think thoughts and policies on PPE have moved on a lot.

report report report
jesus! for all she knew one of you could be vulnerable or contagious & than she goes on to other people!
Of course you must report
But
This is how I would suggest you do this: Dear whoever, Ms X the social worker visit my dc today but while I understand why she came I am very concerned that she did not wear a mask & for all she knew one of us could be potentially vulnerable equally for all we know we could have been silent carriers of the virus which, if she visited another household she could have infected them. My husband did not feel that he could refuse her entry or ask her to use a mask because she was a Social Worker
(someone else may already have phrased this in a better)

They surely should not have visited without wearing the appropriate PPE, she was in the wrong to knock on your door and expect admittance. Of course you are going to feel like they must be admitted but no, she was in the wrong.
You need to report this to the manager and yes i do work in this area so know they are to wear it.

@BendingSpoons

This thread was posted in May. I think thoughts and policies on PPE have moved on a lot.

Gah. How annoying. Why do people resurrect old threads like this?