Management
The company I work for has fairly recently taken over from the NHS care for service users with Learning disabilities. I don't realy think what they do can realy be classed as management as such.

Managers seem to change every three months, with few staying longer than 6. Often managers are "asked to leave" including the one they hired who may or may not have had previous for fraud. Guess what they got "asked to leave" over? Often these disgruntled ex managers take a "fuck you" attitude, misplacing vital paperwork or just not doing it. Head office is in chaos more or less constantly. Current management is geared to making the few remaining NHS staff look as bad as possible, right down to outright lying at training days/meetings ect. The company maintains a "no hands on" policy to potentaly violent or challenging behavior, and this certainly appears to lead to employees covering up any such behavior and pretending it just does not exist. Pay levels are so low that even in the current job climate they cannot fill half the positions they advertise and they recently decided that extra pay for nightshifts (about the only way to earn a decent amount of cash) needs to be cut, so it was. Without informing anyone. If this company operated truly in the private sector, and wasn't financed through local government I swear they'd have gone under long ago. The real tragedy is that there are plenty of people in the company, at all levels to be fair who realy do want to do a good job, realy want to provide the best standard of living possible but the mechanics and general built in incompetance and petty vindictiveness of the management hampers them considerably. These guys are going to wind up getting someone killed or badly hurt one of these days through their incompetance, though no doubt they'll find a way to shift the blame onto someone else. I'd love to have it explained to me how this is more efficient and a better standard of care than the public sector.

Anyway, apologies for the lack of humour, this job is getting to me. And remember, I haven't named the company I work for in this - so if someone reading this does work for them, recognises it and has a go at me about it - then clearly I've given you a very accurate description of your company.
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Sat 12 Jun 2010, 8:55, 7 replies)

Hmm.
I'm going to guess Turning Point, but it could be any number of others... The idea of getting people with LD's wholesale into the community is a blanket policy with serious flaws anyway. I know of some really wonderfully run, small, NHS LD Care Homes that are being forced to close. 'Tis a real shame.
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Sat 12 Jun 2010, 12:19, closed)

Wouldn't say even if you guessed right unfortunately. Though I'd gaz ya if you did.
And yes, its a terribly flawed policy, that's lead to a worse standard of life for thousands of people under a very fucking thin cover of "providing greater choice". Thing is, people with learning disabilities don't realy have a voice so you can do pretty much what you want with em and no-one's realy gonna speak up.
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Sat 12 Jun 2010, 13:33, closed)

Erm...
Is it a charity or a ltd company? Go on, give us a clue!
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Sat 12 Jun 2010, 18:00, closed)

Heh
They keep telling us they've applied for charity status.... we've never seen the application and it's been in the works for a while now.....
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Sat 12 Jun 2010, 20:06, closed)

eitherway...
a consultation period and notice has to be given to staff before cutting pay, even if it's a change in enhancements (eg double pay to time and half) as they can be considered customary practice.
Also staff transferring out of the NHS (ie on the old contract) would be protected by TUPE (which lasts for ever) entitling them to their Agenda for Change package
( notmyrealname, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 22:23, closed)

Oh I know
The old NHS staff kept their enhanced pay, and if I wanted to I could have a pretty good tribunal case against these guys, but to be perfectly frank it's going to take ages, and take up a lot of time I don't have, so I just decided to cut my losses and walk, I'm leaving soon anyway.
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 7:05, closed)

Lives are at stake
I'd say that, since you're leaving anyway, you should name and shame, blow the whistle, whatever you want to call it.

It won't make a blind bit of difference, but it's the right thing to do.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 15:48, closed)