So my job is to be a very local encyclopedia of services so people can call or email me and go "how do I get on the housing register" and I tell them how to apply or "I've got no money or food" and I say "here's some free food places near you and a referral to the food bank" or "I'm stuck at home and I'm really lonely" in which case I'll chat with them for an hour and point them at services that can visit them weekly, etc.
And not to toot my own horn but I am bloody good at it. Need to consider 16 things at once and how they interact and what cancels out another thing? ADHD person. Got it covered.
But I have also been raising the point that we are getting more referrals a month and they are more complex. I've been saying this since last April when the local council cut the Adult Social Care budget. So now we're getting social workers making one referral to us for six different things rather than doing the six things themselves.
And I am FRIED.
Some of the referrals we make take 45 minutes to type, let alone the conversation to get the info and the recording.
There are two of us working 40 hours a week between us dealing with 50 queries in that time.
And we got a new contract from the council but I haven't been told if there's more hours for staff in it and I lost my shit at my manager.
I've worked adjacent to statutory services for 12 years and this is the most bullshit I've ever seen