Earlier this year, a national event organised by and for people with learning disabilities looked at the closure of long stay institutions. Here we reflect on the proceedings and the positive and constructive proposals that emerged.
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Living your own life in your own home is something most of take for granted. It’s just something you do. We don’t tend to think about community, or independent living, or planning, we get on with it. This is not always the case for people with learning disabilities. In this post, we wanted to link [read the full story…]
Following the uncovering of abuse at Winterbourne View by the BBC’s Panorama team, the Government committed to a programme of action to address what were recognised as system wide failures in the care and support of adults with learning disabilities described as having complex challenging behaviours. (Transforming Care) The Transforming Care document set out a [read the full story…]
Background Personalised or individualised supports are those which respond to unique needs of an individual, which focus on their personal assets and abilities; accentuate choice and control and are delivered in the community alongside other citizens. In recent years in the Republic of Ireland, there has been an increasing focus in public policy on personalisation [read the full story…]
De-institutionalisation, the advent of community care and development of psychotropic medicines are implicated in the reduction in hospital bed numbers and mean length of stay. There remains a huge variance in length of stay and outcomes across the UK and beyond (NHS Confederation, 2011). Figures on length of stay and service configuration are difficult to [read the full story…]
Winterbourne View Progress Report Published At the end of last week, the Government published it progress report on the joint improvement programme set in train following the Winterbourne View scandal. The report sets out the progress made, but also recognises the scale of the task still ahead. There were forty eight people resident in Winterbourne [read the full story…]
Lumos, the children’s charity and Change a national human rights organisation led by disabled people have been working together on a project to help close institutions for disabled people across central and eastern Europe. The latest publication from the project was the result of a visit to institutions in central and eastern Europe by the [read the full story…]
This is a very important document, particularly for commissioners, prison health professionals, and prison workers because it is trying to overcome the vicious circle that faces offenders when they leave prison, which is finding housing and employment while maintaining their health and re-integrating back into society. Alcohol, drug misuse, other addictions, and mental health issues are [read the full story…]
Following the signing of the concordat on Winterbourne View, there was a commitment to producing a report on progress against the agreements made by the signatories of that document . This report was published earlier this month and reports the findings from a questionnaire administered to all the 152 health and well-being board areas. The [read the full story…]
The events at Winterbourne View assessment and treatment service, where the BBC Panorama programme uncovered systematic abuse of people with learning disabilities, has led to a serious case review written by Margaret Flynn and Vic Citarella. The review concluded that the services provided at Winterbourne View were not based on an understanding of the needs of the [read the full story…]
