20 June (Part 5) - Toxic atmosphere
Today I had planned to provide a little insight into the sort
of things that go on within Bexley council under one of the most expensive
local authority management teams in the country, but there have been distractions.
From several independent sources extending back almost exactly two years I have been
made aware of two employees who didn’t fit into Bexley’s cultures. Their
names have popped up again in the context of BELL and
Mrs. Baker’s death in April 2012. They
were both brought in from other authorities to the CCTV/BELL operation, one
report says one was via another Bexley department, and both left well before the BELL operator
failed to answer their client’s emergency call. Some reports paint them as heroes
and others as villains. I do not know the truth of it but drawing from
my own work experience
I would guess that they had high hopes of improving procedures but found themselves at loggerheads with the Luddites.
Neither can have contributed to Mrs. Baker’s death unless you consider failing
to persuade their bosses to change tack makes them guilty so I am not going to name the innocent,
but maybe some people will recognise the initials J. McL. and K.A.
According to several reports both were dismissed for their failure to adopt Bexley’s
values, their criticism of the understaffing of BELL being specifically
mentioned. K.A. in particular is said by the same people to have been told to
pack his bags and was frog-marched to the door. No one
seems to know why but he has done pretty well for himself since. When I Google
his name it is found on page after page. He must thank his lucky stars that
Bexley kicked him out of his job.
Another complaint that has come up more than once over a long period is that people
scheduled to attend training courses are disciplined for not turning up for
their day job, or being late on shift if it was a night job. As a one off
mistake it might be understandable, but several times to different people? Are
there no competent managers at Bexley council?
The bitchiness between staff exceeds anything I ever saw in my own working life.
I have a written report that when one employee fell out with another, one lady,
if that is a word that can be used here, was discovered defecating on the
doorstep of the other and when disturbed ran away as best she could with her drawers around her
knees. I cannot be sure if there are people at the Civic Centre prepared to do that
but there is another one prepared to put the claim in writing. Either way
Tuckley and Co. are running a pretty lousy ship.
There is more…