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Care Opinion

Not happy with the service

Posted By Alphivcarty

"Not happy with the service"

About: Community Links

(as a service user),

I have been a client of this so called "support" service for just over a year... the reason I was accepted by this organisation was to help me deal with what appear to be ongoing issues ranging from false allegations made against myself from certain neighbours both past and present, also to help me deal with what I feel to be gross negligence suffered at the hands of certain people working for Police, Leeds city council as well as the NHS.

I was allocated a support worker whom at first I started seeing at least once a week, this was for around the first 2 month.

Then slowly over a period of time I got to see them less and less from twice a week to once a fortnight... In the last 4/5 months I was lucky to see them once a month despite the fact I was and still being harassed and falsely accused by current neighbours.

It suddenly dawned on me It seemed that when I had serious problems/issues with these neighbors all of a sudden this support worker would suddenly be going on leave for 2 week even though I had not seen them for the last 2 week leading up to this... or they were suddenly tied up with something else. which left me isolated and felt like I was being ignored deliberately.

The way these sudden mishaps happened It made me wonder if whoever Authorised the leave or had taken their time up by sending them elsewhere was connected to the people I was complaining about, it just seemed so strange every time I had serious issues to deal with my worker just couldn't make it... it makes me wonder as I said if somebody working for community links are linked to these neighbours which is therefore causing conflict of interest... this is far from the help and support I expected,

On the most recent visit I got it was plain with this support workers attitude was that they were NOT listening to me or taking me seriously but tried to make me feel like I was in the wrong and that I was causing the problems with these neighbours, one of whom threatened to DO ME IN in the summer and that's just one incident...

It is a sad state of affairs to know I am being made to feel I am in the wrong in order to cover up for who I feel to be the real troublemakers.

Because of the way the worker treated me recently along with a doctor from anti-social behaviour, I felt it was quite clear they were both trying to convince me that I was in the wrong which made me feel very uncomfortable... It is for this reason I could never trust the worker again...

If this is the kind of support they give their users I would rather not see them again... and yes I do suspect the Manager authorises the leave or sends the worker elsewhere because the manager is connected to either these neighbors or somebody they know is related to them... otherwise why would they ignore me for so long?

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Responses

Response from Andrea Whitney, Acting Operations Director, Community Links 9 years ago
Andrea Whitney
Acting Operations Director,
Community Links

Submitted on 11/02/2015 at 17:03
Published on Care Opinion at 17:04

We are sorry to hear that you did not feel you received the support you required from a Community Links service. We endeavour to provide support of the highest standard to all our service users, without exception. It is difficult to respond to the specific allegations made without knowing to which of our services the complaint relates.

However, in relation to the claims that leave may have been authorised specifically to coincide with times of greatest need, I can confirm that we have robust procedures in place around staff leave arrangements. Within these there is provision to ensure that annual leave is requested and authorised on a planned basis and that, during periods of staff leave or sickness, adequate alternative cover is offered to all clients.

In relation to your concern that Community Links staff might be in some way connected to your neighbours, our use of the organisational Boundaries Policy ensures that, where any conflict of interest exists, we can ensure that this is addressed at the first opportunity e.g. by offering a different worker or, if deemed appropriate, with referral to an alternative provider.

Across many of our services we have adopted a system whereby the number and type of support visits is dictated by service user need rather than sticking rigidly to a specific weekly regime so it is concerning to hear that you felt you did not receive support at the times when your needs were greatest.

We do welcome any feedback from our service users, good or bad, as this enables us to constantly review and enhance the quality of provision. As such we would strongly encourage that you to approach us directly to enable us to fully investigate and address your concerns.

You can e mail me on andrea.whitney@commlinks.co.uk or ring me on 0113 2739660

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Update posted by Alphivcarty (a service user)

firstly I would like to stress I did not realise I put Doctor in my last story he was in fact an officer from the Anti social behaviour time... please forgive me for that error... and yes I understand the support workers are entitled to Annual leave and I also understand they're only Human and can take poorly sometimes too, however in my case it always seemed to be when I had very serious Issues to deal with.

Then I get told to forget what happened to me over so many years and look to the future when this is totally impossible when staff are still acting in a bias discriminative manner towards me personally...

I would really appreciate it if I could at least speak to somebody in person preferably yourself Mrs Whitney .. only then would you have an understanding of why I feel I have been singled out for whatever reasons... Thank you for your response it is very much appreciated and Iook forward to at least speaking with you soon.

Yours Sincerely.

Response from Andrea Whitney, Acting Operations Director, Community Links 9 years ago
Andrea Whitney
Acting Operations Director,
Community Links

Submitted on 13/02/2015 at 12:40
Published on Care Opinion on 15/02/2015 at 08:13

Unfortunately I am unable to contact you directly as your name and contact information is confidential to the facilitators of this website.

But please do contact me on the number or e mail provided above and I will be very happy to call or e mail you back at your convenience.

Kind Regards

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