-or-
Gimme a Break
and a Bite
and a little bit of Concussion.
and a Bite
and a little bit of Concussion.
Well I dunno. Maybe it's me...again
Today a client/service user/resident was taken out for lunch.
The client/service user/resident has a history of violence.
He is taken to a busy public restaurant for his meal accompanied by two female members of staff.
Client is forbidden a second helping of pudding as staff (many of whom weigh the same as a grand piano, but let's leave that one hanging there) have determined that he needs to be on a diet.
The client is unhappy about the restriction and thereupon decides to become a one-man riot.
He rips glazed pictures from the walls and smashes them.
Staff intervene using the approved "holding techniques".
These work very well when you're demonstrating them in a cozy classroom with fellow staff members who really can't be arsed to put some effort into it, but it's a different matter when a big, beefy client/service user/resident has lost the plot and wishes to stop your breathing.
Staff are struck several times and one thumb is almost bitten through.
Client/service user/resident then starts taking his clothes off.
Eventually the injured staff manage to subdue him and return him back to base.
One staff member goes to hospital, and the other one has to complete a twelve page incident report that details what happened, why it happened, what led up to it, and most important of all...to indicate that only approved holding methods were used.
Bad luck for you if you transgressed and used the wrong move when someone is trying to remodel your face.
The staff do this for the same pay as someone who stacks shelves in Tesco.
Any member of the public injured during this kind of incident may not be liable for Criminal Injuries Compensation as the client/service user/resident is not judged to be legally responsible for their actions and therefore will not be charged with anything.
Similarly staff who are injured may get nothing.
In the above incident the police weren't even called, and if they aren't called then nobody is charged and an offence never even happened.
The staff team is falling apart.
People who are already exhausted have to work overtime to cover the staff who are injured, and morale drops through the floor.
It seems to me that attempting to manage someone who is this dangerous "in the community" is utter madness.
It is a service neither the client nor the staff nor the public.
