ABSTRACT

Setting standards for a social care agency is not easy. Indeed, the art is so much in its infancy, it may be better to think in terms of standards evolving rather than being set once and for all. The standards fondly set in isolation by management and committee were just not realistic or were too confusing for the staff. Standards for inputs also cover the abilities of staff. It would be quite legitimate for the agency to set a standard of training and competences without which staff would not be able to do certain kinds of work. Staff cannot consistantly do good work for the agency without there being clear standards to which they can work, and yet clear standards in themselves cannot make a bad worker good. The Mental Health Act does this by precluding anyone without Approved Social Worker Approval from assessing whether someone should be admitted to hospital under the Act.