Contrary to popular belief, my team and I do not get the whole festive period off. There are certainly some places where solicitors shut up shop for 2 weeks. But not those of us that work in social care. In fact, December and January are often our busiest periods. After all, nothing triggers a mental health crisis like Christmas. And thats without weighing pandemics and last minute changes in guidance into the mix.
Whilst some firms were shutting down their offices, I was helping to set out our guidance for service users visiting family over christmas after the last minute change in policy, whilst at the same time one of our local hospitals was dealing with a semi-serious outbreak and the question of Care Act easements reared its ugly head again. We didn’t trigger them, though. Thank goodness!
Nevertheless, we do try to get by with minimal staff (although senior members of the team like myself are ‘on call’ throughout, just in case). So I still managed to get something akin to a break and have spent it eating, mostly. And also painting, which is my current lockdown-boredom-busting hobby.
But it’s back to regular hours this week (but still in my home office) so I’ll have to get my brain in gear again.
This month, I have planned for you a discussion of the implications of the DP judgement on the scope of s21A proceedings. It’s old news, really, but in the pre-Christmas panic, I didn’t quite get it finished. I’m also very excited about the latest Surrey decision concerning continuing healthcare. The very fact this judgment exists, and that a local authority actually has taken action against a CCG is certainly noteworthy, but I’ll give it a good detailed read and let you know the headlines.
There will, no doubt, be new guidance related to coronavirus released. The MCA guidance has already been updated since my last post. I’m in the grips of guidance fatigue, at the moment, especially since so little of it appears to actually be helpful. But if I come across anything of note, I’ll be sure to share it with you.
And with the latest government announcement likely to put us all back into tighter restrictions, I won’t be the only one wondering if we’ve happened upon some sort of time machine, so instead of a new year, we’re just going to live the last 9 months on an eternal loop like groundhog day (sans Bill Murray).
Apologies, I seem to have lost my positivity. I bet its in the tub of celebrations that’s still under my Christmas tree…
In case it isn’t obvious from the fact I still haven’t identified the authority I work for, the views expressed on this blog are my own opinion and not the opinion of that local authority