Moral Dilemma - what would you do???

wherediditallgo

Sophiesmum, I don't think this is a good idea, because it's an administrative minefield. I work in the NHS & we deal with several mental health hostels, & there's no way they'd allow this scheme to be set up because of the possibility of allegations that advantage was being taken of the vulnerable. Even if they signed an agreement saying that they knew the terms & conditions, you only need one person (be that a resident or one of their family/friends) to make a complaint for a stream of investigations to take place & your name to be tainted even after you've been found totally innocent.

Does the organisation you work for already have such a scheme in place at other sites? If so, or if you can contact other housing organisations who might offer this, I think it would be worth asking them for advice. While being first to set up something can be a very good thing if it works, it would be worth finding out what problems they've had & having an idea of possible pitfalls ahead. If you have a main organisation that you work for, it's definitely worth speaking to them first since they are very particular when it comes to how money belonging to residents is handled by staff.

I understand why you'd want to help the residents, and if you were living as a resident in a small block of flats which happened to have some elderly residents who'd asked for the help, then I'd say it's a great idea provided you get things down on paper & everyone knows what's what. I'm not sure I'd want the hassle to be honest - it's not just the ordering, it's dealing with products that are incorrectly supplied & they want returning. If it's a group delivery to one address rather than individual orders to their own flat, it's making sure that you can explain to them that they've got the appropriate discounts (they won't have individual receipts), organising the sharing-out once the delivery's been made etc. However, assuming you're more focused than I am about these things , it would be a good idea for you in that situation. When you're talking about residents who have an element of vulnerability about them, I think you could be asking for trouble. I really don't think you should go ahead with it, though there's clearly a need/demand for the shopping help.

Setting up your own business offering such a service is a good idea, as there must be quite a lot of people in a similar situation. I would suggest though that you don't offer the service to anyone connected with your own organisation, so that you don't later get accused of using information you've gleaned about them through your employment to your own advantage.

pania

HI there. WHy not use tesco vouchers? Each client gives you £20 or £30 or however much they need and you give them a receipt, always witnessed of course. You then nip to tesco and get them a gift card which i believe can hold up to £500 at a time, they then use that for their on line shopping, with their own clubcard for birthdays etc.

I think it is so sad that in todays day and age we are so often wary of doing a good deed for fear of recrimination. It really shouldn't be that way, but i think maybe the vouchers or their own account should leave you impartial.
Good luck!

duchy

I'd go the prepaid creditcard route. Something like CashPlus is £3.99 a month for unlimited transactions and the vouchers should morally (in my mind) be used for a Christmas party-or better still an outing for the residents (getting the better value with the vouchers).
Quite a lot of paperwork involved in keeping on top of it all and it'd probably need to be audited at least informally by management but it could also come under the life skills banner so if broached right could be a big plus for you for introducing something valuable to the residents.

lightatendoftunnel?

I would stress you would have to very very careful. You would need to keep all reciepts, I would suggest getting them to sign the amount they have given you. I think you are opening up a massive can of worms. Its awful but its the way of the world today. A simply task to help someone can have so many implications. I would suggest you telephoned your supermarket and explained your dilemma. Explain how many residents there are and i would be very surprised if they did not suggest something for the business. If you got no joy from the shop, e mail the customer service department.

sophiesmum_2

Thanks everyone for your replies.I have been thinking of all ways to get around this situation and I am not comfortable with any of them, think I always felt that way but just wanted others to talk through the situation with me so to speak before I turned down the residents.

Anyway I came up with a sort of solution. This morning I have been in touch with a local community transport initiative and a volunteer service and think I may have sorted the problem.;)

The transport service has agreed to take a group of 8 residents to tesco in a minibus each week at reduced cost of 50p per person each way:D- its a 14 mile round trip, and I have recruited two volunteers who have offered to assist them with packing,carrying etc and travel with them.:D I think th residents will be happy with that and I won't need to get financially involved:D :T

Thanks everyone for your help

chmmy

Sounds perfect, well done you:T

wherediditallgo

pania wrote: »

I think it is so sad that in todays day and age we are so often wary of doing a good deed for fear of recrimination.....
Good luck!

I agree. We have a social worker who wanted to offer mentoring help in his own time free of charge to the teenage children of adults he had on his caseload, as he felt they often got overlooked at a very difficult time of their lives. However, he was put off doing it because of possible conflicts with his existing role & his manager's concern that others might put another spin on it, leaving him open to accusations if one complaint was made that could seriously damage his career. He was therefore forced to refer them to services he knew they were unlikely to make good use of, even if they could get to the top of the already long waiting list.

wherediditallgo

sophiesmum wrote: »

Anyway I came up with a sort of solution. This morning I have been in touch with a local community transport initiative and a volunteer service and think I may have sorted the problem.;)

The transport service has agreed to take a group of 8 residents to tesco in a minibus each week at reduced cost of 50p per person each way:D- its a 14 mile round trip, and I have recruited two volunteers who have offered to assist them with packing,carrying etc and travel with them.:D I think th residents will be happy with that and I won't need to get financially involved:D :T

Thanks everyone for your help

Oh well done! That's a much better idea - you can offer help with the physical side if necessary, & you're not connected with their money at all. The residents will still get their shopping, & still have their independence. I hope one of them lets your employer know what a great employee they have.

Snaggles

Brilliant idea, well done! :T :T

lemma1968

You are a credit to them. I hope the management appreciates you!:T :rotfl: