My new blog “When Social Work Stops Being Understood” 👇 ermate.wordpress.com/2026/02…

Our statement on the recent Supreme Court DoLS judgement. We are concerned at how this sits against the background of everything else that is currently eroding the rights of autistic people and people with learning disabilities. rightfullives.org.uk/blog/st…

Rage warning should accompany the latest from @GeorgeJulian on the @CareQualityComm death data nonsense. georgejulian.co.uk/2026/06/0…

It's always struck me as crazy that the very parts of Steven's care package that give him his liberty are seen through the DoLS lens as the instruments of his deprivation. That just makes the law look foolish.

However, to not have any court scrutinised input & safeguards, feels scary. The evidence has shown time & again that LAs cannot be trusted to act in the person's best interests.

And it will be the people without strong family connections and advocates in poor residential care homes and nursing homes who will suffer the most. What was intended as a protection, became a tick box. And now, even that tickbox won’t exist.

Understanding MCA law is about skill, knowledge and practice experience including working with people with dementia and learning disabilities (those most affected). But - I worry that without protections now, even superficial ones (and they mostly were), many will suffer.

Brief thoughts on the Supreme Court judgement re: DoLS as someone who qualified as a BIA pre: 2nd Cheshire West. I wasn’t convinced by the earlier judgement this overturns. It bloated the DoLs framework and led to an industry of BIAs and BIA training that I’m not sure was healthy

Having been a Dols coordinator when they were first introduced I couldn’t agree more. Cheshire west brought a clarity and a logic to the safeguards which could be easily grasped by managing authorities and professionals alike (and even that took a long time to filter through!)

I wrote my first 3a today when yesterday it would have been a 3b. I’m devastated Warren. A sad day for vulnerable people who need us more than ever.

Supreme Court overrules Cheshire West: mentalcapacitylawandpolicy.o…

I’m devastated by the Supreme Court’s shift on the acid test. Clarity is what protects people and this ruling replaces a stable, objective threshold with something far more interpretive, especially in community settings where people are most exposed without legal tests. The most important part of my social work role is to be legally challenged and held accountable. That’s how rights are protected and how practice stays honest. But accountability only works when the legal test for a deprivation of liberty is clear and consistent. Right now, it isn’t and people’s safeguards shouldn’t depend on how confidently a practitioner can navigate ambiguity. They should depend on law, we all should and that’s now been called into question. #CopDol #AcidTest

The Supreme Court has abolished the 'acid test'. Here's a short video explainer. youtube.com/watch?v=bojHxNTj…

My new short fictional story, catching up with Joy, a social worker navigating work between MS Teams calls and the moment she unexpectedly meets Marcia in the middle of it all. #socialwork ermate.wordpress.com/2026/05…

"as of today, the sector is not a success story for the government. That is Wes Streeting's legacy" - Good overview from @CommunityCare of Wes Streeting's 22 month tenure as health and social care secretary, and impact on the social care sector. communitycare.co.uk/content/…

My new blog. Local Government Reorganisation. Some reflections so far impacting #socialcare #LGR ermate.wordpress.com/2026/05…

My new short story catching up with Joy, the social worker navigating life between MS Teams calls and pesto pasta in Tupperware and the moment she unexpectedly meets Marcia in the middle of it all. #socialwork #socialcare ermate.wordpress.com/2026/05…

Absolutely can relate to all points in Warren's reflective post. It's everywhere, it's here in Lancashire. But I certainly feel powerless to make a change, we are silenced for challenges from those who are not in front line practice. Budgets! We need to unite!