Leading Good Care: The Task, Heart and Art of Managing Social Care

Abstract

John Burton's latest book begins with an entire chapter dedicated to the role of the driver of the number 109 bus on its journey from Croydon to Brixton and how this compares to the task of managing social care. I was initially unconvinced of the relevance of this and found it hard to believe how such a comparison could occupy such a prominent position in the text … but I was proved wrong. Not only did I learn a great deal about the complex and multi-faceted role of a bus driver in Central London, but also how similar it could be to that of a manager in contemporary social care practice—and, as a consequence of this, my admiration for both post holders grew. People's stories populate the text of Burton's book—stories of service users and service providers as they move through services and into different levels of management. We meet these characters at various stages of their journeys/careers as they face the challenges of social care practice. Burton does not shy away from difficult situations—even including discussion of how people deal with emotions in team meetings—and we feel empathy for the main characters, the care managers, as they encounter the complexities of ‘real’ work with service users, deal with inappropriate complaints, recruit and select staff, and so on. Burton suggests that these stories can act as a starting point for discussion and unlock the reader's own memories of real-life encounters: ‘Reading the stories may give you access to your stories’ (p. 23).