On 18 February 2012 Dave received a letter, delivered by Royal Mail Special Deliver, from the General Social Care Council.  It was a strange letter on numerous accounts.  To begin with Dave thought it was a little thin for a 'report' and duly opened it.  Inside he found another envelope.  This was looking suspiciously like a game of 'pass the parcel'.

Exhibit 1		Exhibit 2		Exhibit 3
The envelope as it arrived via Special Delivery from the GSCC on 17 February 2012.		Inside the envelope was another envelope the same size and, all but the postage, stamped "PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL" and ready to send.  This picture shows it partly removed from the containing envelope.		This is the back view of Exhibit 2 and shows the inner envelope had been sealed (albeit with sticky tape because the envelope glue had dried to useless it was so old) and a return address label had been applied.

On closer inspection the inner envelope seemed perfectly ready to send and it is a mystery why it was squeezed inside another identical envelope in order to post it.  But, keen to find out what they had to say, Dave opened the second envelope.  Inside was one single sheet of unfolded A4 paper.  Unlike the previous nicely coloured letter headed communication from the GSCC this one was clearly a photocopy in monochrome - all part of the austerity measures no doubt;  Except that they have used two expensive envelopes and two expensive return address stickers - but who's counting.

The communication was satisfactory in that it stated that the matter in hand warranted further consideration.  That was satisfactory because it indicates that at this stage they are not dismissing the complaint.  It strongly suggests they acknowledge there is significant evidence of malpractice.  But there is a problem.  Dave originally sent them the complaint on 25 July 2011 (seven months earlier).  He heard nothing for more than two months, not even an acknowledgement of receipt, and wrote on 3 October 2011 asking for some information about progress.  The GSCC replied on 13 October 2011 explaining that the "Suitability Assessment Officer" was "currently gathering information" and would be in touch "in due course."  Presumably the "due course" is this letter - over four months later.  But this letter simply says that the allegations "warrant further consideration".  So what, exactly, have they been doing for seven months?

At this rate Dave will be dead, Helen will be drawing her pension (if such things exist then) and the SS workers will all be long gone before the professional standards organisation (the GSCC) actually acknowledge any malpractice.  So what, exactly, is the point?  The evidence suggests the GSCC is as much in the game of defending the profession from criticism as the Council's complaints department are out to protect their own jobs irrespective of the harm they perpetrate.

It is all a totally unacceptable state of affairs.

16 February 2012 General Social Care Council Private and Confidential Mr Dave Hook 80 Haslet Road Biston Sumshire AZ1 1ZA From:  Direct line:  Email:  Reference:  21 Bloomsbury Street London WC1B 3HF Telephone: 020 7397 5100 Stella Bartlett 0207 397 5126 Stella.bartlett@gscc.org.uk Linked cases Brookson, Mahjong Markham Dear Mr Hook, CONDUCT REFERRAL TO THE GENERAL SOCIAL CARE COUNCIL RE: Damon Markham Obelix Mahjong Petra Brookson SCR: 0123456 SCR: 0123456 SCR: 0123456 I write to inform you that the General Social Care Council (GSCC) has decided that the allegations regarding the Registrants named above warrant further consideration at this stage. I am the Investigating Officer who has been allocated to make further enquires and carry out a more in depth assessment. I will contact you again in due course to update you on the progress of this. If you have any queries regarding the contents of this letter, please contact me on the details above. Yours sincerely Stella Bartlett Investigating Officer