Before you hit send.....
It can be so easy when you’re really swamped with work; having a difficult week; or are just about to dash off to an important meeting, to whack off a response to an email without really thinking. I’ve had a difficult week with a bit of a family crisis, but receiving an email from a frantic parent, when I was just about to switch off my computer for the day, made me stop and think. It was a lengthy email from a mother seeking an assessment for her son. One section really disturbed me: “Indeed, his housemaster's final words to me still haunt me: he feared, he said, that ‘B’ would be incapable of functioning effectively in the world beyond boarding school. There were other damning words from a close relative. Sadly, I often hear such remarks being retold to me by students or their families. I pride myself on an individual service and this was no exception. I sat back down at my desk and wrote a considered reply. This was her feedback: "What a wonderful, considerate and personalised response! Thank you so much Kris. You have indeed answered all my questions. I should be delighted if you would assess my son and feel instinctively that you will succeed, whatever his reservations, in putting him at his ease upon meeting him..... So much of what you say rings true and hits home - his lack of self-esteem is all too regrettably apparent..." Hopefully, I can now make a difference to this young man’s life; give him back some self esteem and confidence; motivate him to continue with his studies at University and enable him to realise his potential. If I’d followed my initial instinct - feeling at an especially low ebb and in a bit of a hurry – to send a fairly swift response, I might not have had that chance. Count to 5 before you send and you too might get the chance to make a difference.
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![]() Who cares? The word “care” has many different definitions and even more interpretations. Most people are aware of the Care profession as a result of intense media coverage in recent years of investigations into the failings of different organisations and individuals within this profession. To the majority of the British public, these cases highlighted instances of truly shocking actions undertaken in the name of care. These scandals which surround those very rare examples of poor delivery of care only serve to overshadow the significant strides made by the profession and its regulators over recent years. With more rigorous scrutiny of the Care Sector than ever before, the regulatory bodies the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England and the Care and Social Services Inspectorate in Wales (CSSIW) have driven up the standards measurably. Today, before any business or charitable organisation can begin to offer care and support services, there are a number of statutory requirements which must be met. The first step however is to identify the areas within society that the organisation as a care provider wishes to help. The following is a summary of some key groups which form the options available: 1. Children – aged under 16. 2. Young people – aged between 16 and 24. 3. Vulnerable adults – including those with either physical or mental impairments or special needs. 4. Drug , Alcohol and Substance abuse dependents – including the rehabilitation of these individuals 5. Ex-offenders – including those with histories of violence, abuse, or arson. 6. Dementia - to include the entire spectrum of disorders including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Once the Organisation has established the sector which they intend to support, their next step would be to decide the level of care and support that they intend to provide. They can elect any one of the following:- · Care Home – with or without nursing · Nursing Home · Supported Living · Domiciliary Care Each category has a number of variations in the type of service that can be offered – from offering social support to enable individuals to live almost independently, to those needs are only met by 24/7 care and support within a residential environment. To enable any care provider to begin offering their service to the general public, there are 28 Essential standards which must be met and a raft of policies which govern the way in which the practice will operate will have to be prepared. The main focus for the CQC and CSSIW are the following 16:- · Respecting and involving people who use services · Consent to care and treatment · Care and welfare of people who use services · Meeting nutritional needs · Cooperating with other providers · Safeguarding people who use services from abuse · Cleanliness and infection control · Management of medicines · Safety and suitability of premises · Safety, availability and suitability of equipment · Requirements relating to workers · Staffing · Supporting workers · Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision · Complaints · Records The remaining 12 regulations are concerned with the routine day-to-day management of a service. The CQC or CSSIW will consider all standards which are relevant to the service that they are inspecting. Be yourself and enjoy what you do!
People often make comments to me about being cheerful at work, to which I always reply.....”I spend too much time at work to be miserable while I’m there”. Think about one for a minute. We spend roughly one third of our lives sleeping and one third of it at work, leaving one third for everything else......how much actual leisure time we get is quite minimal really. I think maybe the old beliefs of ...”oh no it’s Monday again” and “Thank god it’s the weekend” are still heavily ingrained in us and that’s a result of previous generation thinking . Let’s be clear.....Fun isn’t just for the weekend, everyday should be fun, including when you are at work. Then of course it doesn’t even feel like work, and a Monday morning can feel as good as any day of the week. Sure we all get bad days, but generally work should be a pleasant experience. My point is, if you don’t enjoy your work, then maybe you’re either in the wrong job or you need to change your thinking or attitude towards it. The alternative is to spend approximately one third of your life just ‘working’ The funniest Insurance Claims and Quotes (genuine scenarios, incorporated into a comic act by Jasper Carrott)
A bull was standing near and a fly must have tickled him because he gored my car. A lamp-post bumped into my car, damaging it in two places. A pedestrian hit me and went under my car A truck backed through my windscreen into my wife’s face. Accidents with other vehicles. After the accident a working gentleman offered to be a witness in my favour. An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished. As I approached an intersection a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. Car had to turn sharper than was necessary owing to an invisible lorry. Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I haven’t got. Cow wandered into my car. I was afterwards informed that the cow was half-witted. First car stopped suddenly, second car hit first car and a haggis ran into the rear of second car. Going to work at 7am this morning I drove out of my drive straight into a bus. The bus was 5 minutes early. I am responsible for the accident as I was miles away at the time. I am sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him. I blew my horn but it would not work as it was stolen. I bumped into a lamp-post which was obscured by human beings. I bumped into a shop window and sustained injuries to my wife. I can’t give details of the accident as I was somewhat concussed at the time. I collided with a stationary tramcar coming the other way. I collided with a stationary tree. I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way I consider that neither vehicle was to blame but if either were to blame it was the other one. I didn’t think the speed limit applied after midnight. I had been driving for 40 years when I feel asleep at the wheel and had an accident. I had one eye on a parked car, another on approaching lorries, and another on the woman behind. I heard a horn blow and was struck violently in the back. Evidently a lady was trying to pass me. I knew the dog was possessive about the car but I would not have asked her to drive it if I had thought there was any risk. I knocked over a man. He admitted it was his fault as he had been run over before. I left for work this morning at 7am as usual when I collided straight into a bus. The bus was 5 minutes early. I left my Austin Seven outside and when I came out later to my amazement there was an Austin Twelve. I left my car unattended for a minute, and whether by accident or design it ran away. I misjudged a lady crossing the street. I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment. I pulled into a lay-by with smoke coming from under the hood. I realised the car was on fire so took my dog & smothered it with a blanket. I remember nothing after missing the Crown Hotel until I came to and saw PC Brown I saw a slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the roof of my car. I saw her look at me twice. She appeared to be making slow progress when we met on impact. I started to slow down but the traffic was more stationary than I thought. I thought the side window was down but it was up, as I found when I put my head through it. I told the other idiot what he was and went on. I told the police that I was not injured, but on removing my hat I found I had a fractured skull. I unfortunately ran over a pedestrian and the old gentleman was taken to hospital, much regretting the circumstances. I was going at about 70 or 80 mph when my girlfriend on the pillion reached over and grabbed my testicles so I lost control. I was on my way to see an unconscious patient who had convulsions and was blocked by a tanker. I was on the way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident. I was scraping my nearside on the bank when the accident happened. I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him. I was thrown from the car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows. Ice on the road applied brakes causing skid. If the other driver had stopped a few yards behind himself the accident would not have happened. In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole. Mr. X is in hospital and says I can use his car and take his wife while he is there. What shall I do about it? My car was legally parked as it backed into another vehicle. My car was stolen and I set up a human cry, but it has not been recovered. No one was to blame for the accident but it would never have happened if the other driver had been alert. No witnesses would admit having seen the mishap until after it happened. On approach to the traffic lights the car in front suddenly broke. On the M6 I moved from the centre lane to the fast lane but the other car didn’t give way. Q: Could either driver have done anything to avoid the accident? A: Travelled by bus? She suddenly saw me, lost her head and we met. The accident happened because I had one eye on the lorry in front, one eye on the pedestrian and the other on the car behind. The accident happened when the right front door of a car came round the corner without giving a signal. The accident occurred when I was attempting to bring my car out of a skid by steering it into the other vehicle. The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week. ( This is one of my favourites ) The bloke was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him. The car in front hit the pedestrian but he got up so I hit him again The car in front stopped suddenly and I crashed gently into his luggage grid. The gentleman behind me struck me on the backside. He then went to rest in a bush with just his rear end showing. The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth. The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions. The other man altered his mind so I had to run into him. The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run so I ran over him. The pedestrian had no idea which way to run as I ran over him. The pedestrian ran for the pavement, but I got him. The telephone pole was approaching and I was attempting to swerve out of its way when it struck the front end of my car. The water in my radiator accidentally froze at 12 midnight. There was no damage done to the car, as the gate post will testify. There were plenty of lookers-on but no witnesses. Three women were talking to each other and when two stepped back and one stepped forward I had to have an accident. To avoid a collision I ran into the other car. To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front I struck a pedestrian. We had completed the turn and had just straightened the car when Miss X put her foot down hard and headed for the ladies’ loo. When I saw I could not avoid a collision I stepped on the gas and crashed into the other car. Floods – don’t get caught out.
Checks before a flood Be prepared to evacuate your property and think about where you can go for safety -will the route be passable? Make sure that you know how to turn off your gas, electricity and water mains supplies Have a prepared flood kit of essential items such as a broom, spade, mop and bucket; domestic detergent and disinfectant; rubber boots, gloves and protective clothing; waterproof torch and radio; bottled water for drinking Agree where you will go in the event of a flood and how to contact friends and family Think about what items you can move to a safe place for later and what are essential items for you to have now Create a list of important numbers including Floodline 0845 988 1188 You can sign up for Floodline Warnings Direct by calling Floodline on 0845 988 1188 or by visiting the Environment Agency website. What to do during a flood. Safety comes first! Think about evacuation before it is too late to move. Make sure you follow any advice or instructions provided by the emergency services. If floodwater is about to enter your building, turn off the gas, electricity and water supplies if it is safe to do so. DO NOT touch sources of electricity when standing in flood water Gas and electricity supplies should remain switched off until a qualified professional has checked the system thoroughly. Wiring, appliances and pipe-work should also be inspected for safety and efficiency Keep listening to local radio for updates or call Floodline on 0845 988 1188 Move irreplaceable personal or sentimental items, such as photographs – as well as portable items - to an upper storey or higher location in your property to prevent loss or damage Also check any outbuildings to see if any items can be moved If possible, raise ground floor furniture on blocks or bricks to minimise the risk of damage Call your insurance company / broker to notify them of a potential claim. What to do after a flood If your electricity is switched off following an incident, make sure that a qualified electrician checks the electrical installation before it is switched back on If your gas has to be turned off, make sure that a GasSafe registered tradesperson checks the gas supply before the gas is switched back on Do not throw away any items until we or our loss adjuster tell you it is OK to do so Make a list of any damaged items that you need to throw away before you dispose of them. Take a note of make and model numbers, and take photographs of any damage if you have a camera to hand Wear appropriate clothing and gloves when handling anything that has been contaminated by flood waters. Remember floodwater often contains sewage, so take sensible hygiene precautions Carry out any emergency repairs to protect your property from further losses. If you’re unsure whether the cost of repair is covered under your insurance, contact your Insurance Adviser.. |
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