Friday 6 November 2015

Transforming learning disability care means valuing all citizens

Transforming learning disability care means valuing all citizens A new national plan to improve learning disability services is right, but we’ve heard it all before – it’s time for real change and it won’t be cheap.

The publication of a national plan to transform learning disability services, and particularly for people with a learning disability and/or autism whose behaviour challenges, is welcome, overdue and ambitious.

The background to the latest plan is familiar, particularly with the scandal of Winterbourne View uncovered by BBC’s Panorama in 2011, which highlighted both individual abuse and neglect, and raised awareness of the much wider issue of long-term hospitalisation. But the need to commission appropriate services has long been recognised, and is a particular concern for young people with learning disabilities and complex needs when transitioning to adult services. This is when out-of-area placements often occur due to a lack of alternative local provision.

Children, young people and adults with a learning disability and/or autism have the right to the same opportunities as anyone else to live satisfying and valued lives, and to be treated with dignity and respect. They should have a home within their community, be able to develop and maintain relationships, and get the support they need to live healthy, safe and rewarding lives.

Developing good local services will not be cheaper, overall, than institutional care, but it will be more efficient because it will achieve more. If local services are not developed, then a trickle of out-of-area placements will become a rush as more people are excluded from mainstream community services by being defined as unmanageable in the community. Large amounts of money will be tied up in buying less good services. The policy of community care will be said to have failed.

Some will have a mental health problems which may result in them displaying behaviour that challenges. Some, often with severe learning disabilities, will display self-injurious or aggressive behaviour unrelated to any mental health condition. Some will display behaviour which can lead to contact with the criminal justice system. Some will have been in hospital for many years, not having been discharged when NHS campuses or long-stay hospitals were closed. The new services and support we put in place to support them in the community will need to reflect that diversity. Continue reading... The Guardian

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