The Age of the Inquiry: Learning and Blaming in Health and Social Care

The plethora of inquiry reports published in the fields of health and welfare in the 1990s covered the full range of user groups, individuals and institutions. What similarities or differences were there between these inquiries? How effective were they in bringing about change? Whose interest did they best serve? These are some of the questions The Age of the Inquiry explores in detail, bringing together distinguished contributors with personal experience of chairing or providing evidence to inquiries to consider: the participant's view of inquiries the purpose of inquiries the impact of inquiries on health and social policy inquiries into: child abuse and death; homicides by mental health service users; the abuse of adults with learning disabilities; the abuse of older people. Wide-ranging in scope, The Age of the Inquiry focuses on service and policy development. It provides an invaluable text for students, teachers and professionals from a wide range of disciplines and professional groups.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The inquiry as Janus, Nicky Stanley and Jill Manthorpe Part 1: Participating in inquiries 1. Mental health inquiries – `Cui Bono?’, Herschel Prins 2. The family’s perspective, Paul and Audrey Edwards 3. Staff and patient perspectives on the Fallon Inquiry into the Personality Disorder Service at Ashworth High Secure Hospital, Pete Melia Part 2: Inquiries into child abuse and deaths 4. The impact of child abuse inquiries since 1990, Eileen Munro 5. From Cornwall to Climbé: Inquiring into fatal child abuse, Peter Reder and Sylvia Duncan 6. The costs and benefits of the North Wales Tribunal Inquiry, Brian Corby Part 3: Inquiries into mental health homicides 7. Mental health inquiries, assertive outreach and compliance: Is there a relationship, Andrew McCulloch and Camilla Parker 8. Women and mental health inquiries, Nicky Stanley 9. Mental health inquiries 1985-2003, Dave Sheppard Part 4: Inquiries into the abuse of people with learning disabilities 10. Learning disability, abuse and inquiry, Rachel Fyson, Deborah Kitson and Alan Corbett 11. Abuse inquiries as learning tools for social care organisations, Paul Cambridge Part 5: Inquiries into the abuse and neglect of older people 12. Older people, institutional abuse and inquiries, Bridget Penhale and Jill Manthorpe 13. Inspections and inquiries, Roger Clough and Jill Manthorpe

Review :
'The Age of the Inquiry provides an excellent source of material for many readers. It is a useful text for social work students at undergraduate and post graduate level and for researchers. The Sheer volume of detail could be daunting for the reader looking for broad themes. For other readers this may be a strength, especially for researchers and those for whom conducting reviews of practice is a frequent duty.' - Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland