'I was not allowed to investigate serious allegations' Dear Sir,
I would be grateful if this could be published on your Letters page.
I am the former Team Leader, Adult Services, Social Services Agency, and held overall management responsibility for the Social Work Service for Adults, the Probation Service and the Day and Residential Services for People with Disabilities, including the Dr. Giraldi Home, until I resigned from this post in January 2004.
I am writing regarding the Press Release issued by the Government of Gibraltar, Ministry of Family, Youth and Community Affairs, dated 12 December 2007 (No. 175/2007), specifically the third paragraph of this statement, in which the following is stated:-
“The Social Services Agency repeats, yet again, that it has always acted swiftly and responsibly whenever allegations of neglect or abuse have been made. All cases have been properly investigated…”.
This statement is untrue and the public have the right to know this.
I resigned from this post in January 2004 for the reason that I – the manager charged with the overall management of the Dr Giraldi residential service – was prevented from ensuring that full and proper investigations were conducted into serious allegations made against several members of staff by a number of residents.
The instruction that the necessary disciplinary procedures were not to be followed was conveyed to me by the then Chief Executive Officer of the Social Services Agency. He advised me that this instruction had come from the ‘highest level’ outside of the Social Services Agency without reference even to the then Minister for Social Affairs. In reply to my request for this instruction to be recorded in writing, I was advised that this would not be forthcoming. This placed me in the position of, on the one hand, being unable to discharge the professional duty of care owed to both the service users and staff of Dr Giraldi concerned in this regard while, on the other hand, remaining managerially responsible and accountable for this state of affairs.
I did not enter a care profession to set aside the rights and well-being of service users and others working in the care sector. My position was, therefore, untenable and I resigned it, this because full and proper investigations of serious allegations were prevented, thus placing both staff and service users at potential risks that were being disregarded.
The public should be aware, therefore, that the above statement from paragraph three of the Press Release issued by the Government of Gibraltar, Ministry of Family, Youth and Community Affairs, on 12 December 2007 (No. 175/2007) is, quite simply and sadly, untrue.
I have no idea why this untruth has been issued in a Press Release. Needless to say, however, it does give me some considerable anxiety as to what the truth actually is and I must, therefore, join the calls that have already been made for a full and independent public enquiry into the workings of the Social Services Agency. The rights and well-being of some of Gibraltar’s most vulnerable people are at stake here, together with the integrity of those engaged in the difficult work of delivering the best possible quality of care.
Yours faithfully,
Duncan S. Jones BA (Hons.), MSc., Dip. In Law, CQSW,
Cert. in Management (CMI), Cert. in TESOL
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