Will the RAS ever be fit for purpose?

One of the aims of Personalisation within the social care field was to make decision making more transparent and to allow users and carers to understand the process better. It was hoped that by each local authority adopting a resource allocation system (RAS), users would be able to find out what their ‘indicative budget’ was likely to be. By being upfront about how much ‘indicative budget’ a user was likely to receive for their social care needs, it would help the user with support to draw up a support plan that fitted the budget.

All well and good you may think, however trying to design a resource allocation system that is ‘fit for purpose’ seems to have foiled most local authorities. While most local authorities may claim to be using a resource allocation system, they are also using a system of ‘moderation’ to change the indicative budget after going through the RAS to ensure its accuracy.

This process of moderation is done by either the care manager / social worker or by a panel. Which then begs the question about what are we actually achieving in using a RAS.

I am not claiming that coming up with an indicative budget is easy but if we are going to treat people as individuals which their own personal hopes, fears, desires, and needs, it feels counter intuitive that feeding a few dozen scores into a computer system is ever going to come out with a realistic answer that works for everyone.

I was prompted to write this article after reading The Small Places blog which discussed the state of RAS across the country. I was particularly disturbed that 2 local authorities refused to give details of their RAS but for 2 different reasons.

The first local authority, Croydon, was worried that the information could be used by people to manipulate the system. But surely we want a transparent system that everyone can understand and buy into. If users can’t work out how the RAS has come up with the indicative budget, the social care system will lack the much needed credibility it requires.

The second local authority, Hackney, used a private organisation to develop the RAS and therefore the information was seen as commercially sensitive. As a service user myself, I find this reason even more disturbing. If the RAS has been developed with taxpayers’ money, we have a right to understand how it works. Why should the aim of transparency be thwarted by the private interests of a commercial company?

Overall, whilst I agree with the concept of Personalisation, I am worried that a lot of time, effort and money has been spent on developing RAS systems across the country which aren’t really improving things for service users and more importantly, not making the system any easier to understand.

How To Be A Good Boss – Training for Personal Assistant Employers

Over the last few years, thousands of Disabled People have used their Direct Payments / Personal Budgets to employ their own Personal Assistants. This has given them choice and control over how they receive the support they require, and by whom.

However with that choice and control has also come responsibilities. Most Disabled People we come into contact with want to be good employers. They want to treat their staff fairly, they want to keep good employment records and they want to act legally but in this ever changing world of employment rights and legislation, it is often hard to keep up to date with best practice in this area.

Well now SCIL may have the answer. We have been given some funding from Skills for Care to run a series of employment training sessions aimed specifically at Personal Assistants’ employers. Topics that we will covering include:

• How to safely recruit Personal Assistants?

• How to manage staff on a day to day basis?

• What to do if there are performance issues with staff?

• How can I get further support to be a good employer?

These sessions will be lively, fun and everyone who attends will receive a FREE handbook full of advice and tips to help them be a good boss. It will also give you a chance to meet other Disabled People who employ Personal Assistants too.

These sessions are free of charge however we will be asking  participants if they would be willing to provide some anonymous information about the Personal Assistants they employ. This will help Skills for Care in developing opportunities for people who work in social care in the future. We will be letting participants know more about what information Skills for Care need and how the information will be used during the sessions.

This is a really exciting project and we hope lots of Disabled People will want to get involved. We will be confirming dates shortly but if you want to know more about the project, get in touch with Jeremy at SCIL on 023 8033 0982 or email Jeremy@southamptoncil.co.uk

Get involved with the PEP…..from your own home

We often hear from Disabled People and Carers who would like to get involved in the Hampshire Personalisation Expert Panel but would find it difficult to attend our meetings. This is for a variety of reasons such as inaccessible public transport, other caring responsibilities or not having a Personal Assistant available to support them.

With this in mind, the PEP are planning to do more work online over the next year. As well as holding online meetings on the Web, you can also keep up to date with the PEP through our new Facebook page. We will also be live tweeting our meetings from April 2012 onwards. Just click on the Twitter button below. 

Follow @HantsPEP

#Remploy changes and #DPULO: the £1.5m Community Support Fund

Reblogged from arbitrary constant:

The week before last, the Government made an announcement that disability employment support services will be focused on individuals rather than institutions.  This was in response to the Sayce Review and how the £320m protected budget for disability employment could be used more effectively to support thousands more disabled people into work.

As part of the announcement, the Government guaranteed an £8m package of tailored support for up to 18 months to support all disabled Remploy staff affected by the changes.

Read more… 442 more words

SCIL will be watching how this fund is administered very carefully. We believe Disabled People are in an ideal place to support other Disabled People into work. Work does not necessarily mean full time paid work. Part time work, Voluntary work, and even work experience placements all have a role in enabling Disabled People to develop skills, build confidence, and feel like they are a valued member of their community.

SCIL says: “Good on you Maria Miller” – Minister for Disabled People gets it Right

Written by Ian Loynes – SCIL’s Chief Executive

This might not be a headline you would expect to see in an SCIL newsletter; but on this occasion SCIL welcomes Maria Miller’s decision to close most of Remploy’s factories, including the one in Southampton.

So, why is SCIL supportive of the Minister’s Decision?

Remploy, along with many other institutions, were set up to provide employment or care to wounded soldiers returning from wars. Over the years, these institutions evolved to the point where all that most Disabled People had to look forward to was to be passed from one institution to another, steadily becoming more excluded from society; becoming more and more dependent on a vast army of non-disabled staff and managers, all doing very well from the disempowerment that their work caused.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s Disabled People started to challenge these institutions, Disabled People like Paul Hunt (Who helped start the CIL Movement in the UK) stated that “Institutions were not solutions”. They said that Disabled People should live and work in the community; just like everyone else. SCIL was born from these basic principles.

Moving forward to 2012, Disabled People have shown that living and working in the community enables us to have quality lives, and contribute to society just as much as non-disabled people.

Remploy, and many similar institutions, however, have continued to provide disempowering, non-progressive, segregated employment to Disabled People. In the 21^st Century, these places are now seen by many (including SCIL) as obsolete dinosaurs in the modern world where Disabled People demand to be employed in mainstream businesses.

The facts speak for themselves, Remploy’s factories employ just 2,000 Disabled People, almost all lose money and the ‘business’ as a whole lost £68 million last year (funded by the tax payer).

A report was recently written by Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of Disability Rights UK (which includes the National CIL) called “Disability employment support fit for the future”. This report called on the Government to do more to improve the Access to Work (ATW) scheme which helps Disabled People to work in the mainstream; and to end segregated employment, including Remploy. The report highlighted that Remploy cost vast sums of money and did very little to provide ‘real’ employment opportunities for Disabled People.

In fact, every Remploy place currently costs £25,000 a year, compared with £2,700 per person under the ATW scheme. The report calculated that for every £1 invested into ATW, £1.48 was returned to the economy.

Download this report from: www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/sayce-report.pdf

On the 6^th March, the Minister for Disabled People accepted all the recommendations of the report, and agreed to channel all the money saved into ATW which will enable many more Disabled People to be employed in ‘proper’ jobs.

SCIL says: “Good on you Maria Miller”

Phil Friend, Vice Chair of Disability Rights UK, said: ‘Organisations led by disabled people have campaigned long and hard for employment support on our own terms, so we can work in every type of job and every part of the economy. That is the right model for the future. Disabled people are tired of being painted in the headlines as ‘scroungers’ and just ask for the individual support we need to have a fair opportunity to work alongside everyone else’

SCIL is saddened that those working in Remploy may end up out of work, but we do have to look at bigger picture. Keeping these people disempowered is just wasting their potential and wasting their lives; as well as perpetuating negative stereotypes about Disabled People.

So, a real victory for Disabled People, however, there are many more institutions left that still disempower us. Which stall we tackle next?

SCIL’s December 2011 Newsletter Now Online

Yes Folks, Advent is here, the shops are filling up and our bank accounts and wallets are fast emptying.

So, why don’t you take a well earned break from all the preparations of the festive season and read our latest newsletter that is now online.

SCIL Newsletter December 2011

24 pages of jam packed full articles chronicling the high and lows of the last few months. We got news of babies and weddings and hopes for the future, but also less welcome news of departures and goodbyes.

We hope you enjoy the newsletter and if you would be interested in writing an article for the newsletter or the blog, then please let us know.

Travelling in Southampton: Local options – (1) Taxis

From the “Diary of a public transport virgin”

All of my blogs so far have been about my far-flung travels. However, like most people most of my travelling needs are local. I live in Eastleigh, work in Southampton, and usually shop in Southampton as well. This blog is the first of several which detail my experiences of local public transport.

I am well versed with travelling by train or taxi. As I have said before, taxis in London are great – because all of them are accessible. However, my experiences with using taxis in Southampton are mixed to say the least.

I travel to work via taxi, on a pre-arranged private hire basis, and this works well. There are a number of wheelchair accessible taxis in Southampton; but sadly nowhere near enough. You see unless there is a critical mass of accessible taxis then it is impossible to be spontaneous or to have any confidence that you will be able to find an accessible taxi when you need one. For instance I might be able to get a taxi into town, but what if I could not get an accessible taxi home?

In Southampton this situation is the reality and whilst the City Council could (and should) ensure that all licensed taxis are wheelchair accessible; they don’t. Other towns do; but Southampton doesn’t. You see, unless all taxis are accessible, Disabled People won’t risk them through fear of being let down or stranded. It is a real shame as I believe that if they were all accessible, then Disabled People would be far more likely to use them and therefore generate more income to the taxi trade – a win-win as they say.

This daytime situation in Southampton is difficult enough; but it gets much more difficult at night, Bank Holidays and weekends. Many’s the time that I have rung half a dozen of the main taxi companies only to be told that none of the accessible taxis are on the road at that time. No one else has to book in advance, so why should I?

Even trying to book in advance is very difficult as some companies won’t take bookings for accessible taxis in advance because they say they don’t know if any will be available (presumably the drivers of these accessible taxis decide when they want to work, and the company cannot predict this in advance).

There are a number of specialist private hire taxi companies who run accessible taxis – so you can pre-book these, but not in any way spontaneously.

The worst problem in Southampton though is trying to get an accessible taxi during ‘school run’ times – all the accessible taxis are on ‘contract’ to transport students to school/college and it is virtually impossible to get a taxi during these times.

So, in Southampton, taxis are hit-and-miss to say the least. We have a stalemate situation – not enough accessible taxis for Disabled People to be confident enough to use spontaneously, and therefore to prove there is a demand; and until the powers-that-be can prove the demand there is not enough evidence to prove ‘the business case’.

But hang on, shouldn’t this be about rights? Until Southampton City Council decides that Disabled People should have the same rights to use taxis as everyone else; things will not improve, Disabled People will not travel via taxi and the taxi trade will not get our business – everyone is a looser.

It is a real shame as it could be completely different. Southampton City Council should look at those cities who have made the move to fully accessible taxi fleets. The city of Southampton is a generally very accessible city – but if you cannot get to it….. what is the point!

So, sadly I am almost never inclined to try using taxis in Southampton.

My equality score: 1 point.

Southampton to Worthing: Cars need not apply

The next thrilling instalment of Ian’s ‘Diary of A Public Transport Virgin’:

A while ago I was asked to speak at the AGM of the Independent Living Association (ILA), a ULO that is based in Worthing and covers West Sussex. As a founding member of SENPDO, SCIL is very keen to support other ULO’s in the South East, and in the process enable SCIL to learn from what they are doing.

I therefore accepted the invitation; the issue of how I might actually get there only cropped up in my mind closer to the actual event.

Remember – I can’t drive at the moment, and Worthing is far too far to ask someone to drive me to as a favour – so cars could not feature in how I might get to Worthing.

Now getting to Worthing isn’t difficult, I thought, I’ll just get the train. However, whilst the train is a safe bet, the issue is always how to actually get to the venue from the train station; not a problem in London where accessible taxis are the norm, but in an unfamiliar town, I have learnt from past experiences never to take the availability of accessible taxis for granted.

Two week before the event I read the email invite; the AGM venue was Worthing Leisure Centre sure enough, but I discovered that it wasn’t in Worthing as I had assumed (Hint: never assume anything!). The venue was in Durrington-on-Sea; no, I’ve never heard of it before either!

If I hadn’t heard of this place before, the chances were that getting to it via train might be a problem, and the prospect of accessible taxis would be an improbable dream – especially as I only had a few days to go before the AGM, so not much time to research availability, or come up with a plan B.

Just as I thought I’d got a real problem on my hands, I got lucky – very lucky; it turned out that Durrington-on-Sea did have an accessible train station, and the leisure centre was only about 400 metres from the train station – I would be able to get there from the train station in my wheelchair. How lucky am I!

I have one of these smart phones; one of the very few ‘apps’ that I find useful is “TheTrainline”. The App is much easier to use than their website, and it allows me to very easily find out the best way of getting a train from A to B, and with the least amount of train changes (I hate having to change trains and avoid the stress whenever possible). I normally use the App just to find out train times and the optimal route; however, you can also use TheTrainline App to book and pay for tickets. If you book ahead you can get some great discounts. Sadly at the moment you cannot use the App to book assistance onto the train, but you can input your Disabled Person’s Railcard number to get your discount.

For the first time I plucked up the courage to book my ticket via TheTrainline App; amazingly even though I only booked it about 10 days before the actual day, I managed to get a return ticket for just £9! – £9 for a journey from Southampton to Worthing (well, almost). After I had booked and paid for the ticket, all I had to do, it said, was to get the tickets from one of the automatic ticket machines at the train station.

So I turned up on the day at Southampton Central train station, to get my tickets from the machine, arrange assistance onto the train, and catch the Southern Railways train to Durrington-on-Sea.

I have never used an automatic ticket machine before, I always worry about getting my fingers into the little slots to get my credit card in and the train tickets out. It would be OK if I was travelling with a PA, but today I wasn’t. Anyway, low-and-behold, I couldn’t get my fingers into the slots, so I found a very helpful member of staff to help me, and it was actually very easy and she was not at all patronising as they sometimes are.

So with tickets in my hand, I went to platform 2, about 15 minutes before the train departed and booked the assistance there and then without any bother. Train companies say you should book assistance at least 24 hours in advance; which I almost never do for 2 reasons: ((1): Why should I? non-disabled passengers can just spontaneously jump on the train whenever they like – why should it be different for Disabled People?, and (2): I find it hard to be organised enough, let alone having to visit the train station a day in advance or ring them up). I find that most of the stations I use don’t get ‘jobs-worthy’ if you just turn up; they just put you on without a fuss – the way it should be.

The journey was fine, the accessible part of the carriage was OK, but a bit cramped if you were travelling with a PA or friends. And when it arrived at Durrington-on-Sea there was a man with a ramp waiting for me. (Even now I get nervous about whether or not someone will be there, even though 9 times out of 10 it is not problem – In fact I always ask the ticket guard to either ring ahead to check, or come to me when I need to get off, just in case!) .

So, I’d made it to Durrington-on-Sea without a hitch, in enough time to find a cafe and have a late breakfast before going onto the Worthing Leisure Centre for the AGM. WHAT A DUMP! Not an electric door to be seen, accessible toilets too small; the whole place badly needs a refurbishment (or a bulldozer!).ugh time to find a cafe and have a late breakfast before going onto the Worthing Leisure Cen

The ILA AGM was great, very user-led and, as I hoped, gave me several ideas for SCIL. I hope I also gave them a though provoking presentation.

The trains from Durrington-on-Sea to Southampton left only every 60 minutes, and as always at these events, it is hard to get away at the end, always lots to talk about to lots of people to talk to.

So inevitably I left it too late before I said my goodbyes and left. – In fact just 10 minutes before the train left, and remember, I had not booked assistance! (How on earth can I be expected to predict the return train when I don’t know which one I might need to catch?).

Now, Durrington-on-Sea is a small station, and whilst access to the station side was fine on the way in, the other platform was not accessible via road or via lift access. I was informed that I had to go up this narrow private walkway to get to it. This seemed easy when I was told, but with less than 10 minutes before the train left, this was not a good time to try and find the walkway for the first time, especially as there seemed to be no signage at all! – not one.

When I eventually found it, I only had 3 minutes to one, it was a long walkway and I resigned myself to missing this train and having to wait an hour for the next one.

Literally, just as I rounded the corner onto the platform, the train was coming to a halt. I felt it highly unlikely they would be able to put me on at zero notice (even I would have accepted this was not a reasonable request!).

However, as the train doors opened, the guard stepped onto the platform, I asked if there was any chance; and without a single complaint, or even a huff or a puff, he just got the ramp and put me on. He was fantastic, the train was packed, and yet he gently got everyone to move so I could get to the wheelchair space. I felt guilty at expecting him to do this at zero notice, but was so grateful that he took it all in his stride.

And that was it really, the same guard got me off at Southampton Central and I just had to get a taxi home from there.

For those that don’t know, Southampton’s accessible taxi policy is hit and miss to say the least, and it can be very difficult to try and spontaneously book a taxi; but the rank at Southampton Central normally has at least one accessible white cab taxi on it (during office hours anyway).

So there we are; the journey from Southampton to Durrington-on-Sea went (almost) without a hitch; and the customer service at both ends was second to none. Highly recommended (oh, but take my advice – give the leisure centre a miss!)

My equality score: 5 points

DAN – Disabled People’s Direct Action Network

Written by Ian Loynes

Whilst there are still significant shortcomings (particularly on the Tube), London is generally a great example of how a public transport system can meet the access needs of most people, including most Disabled People. However, this has not always been the case.

For this we, as Disabled People, should be very grateful indeed, I believe, to DAN (Disabled People’s Direct Action Network) who I referred to in my last blog entry.

It was DAN in the 1990’s who were prepared to undertake risky ‘actions’ to highlight just how inaccessible public transport was – particularly in our Capital City. Many people were uncertain at the wisdom of Disabled People handcuffing themselves to buses and trains and laying under wheels. Apart from the obvious risks, there was concern that by inconveniencing the general public we might lose their support. (DAN often ensured the public could not use the bus/train, saying ‘Now you know what it feels like’ – wearing T-Shirts saying “To boldly go where all others have gone before”!).

However, these high profile actions attracted the media like flies around a honey-pot. I believe that the work of DAN directly led to a political understanding that public transport SHOULD be accessible to Disabled People; an acceptance that we could not be fobbed off with segregated and often patronising, Dial-a-Ride schemes any more.

I went to one of their London actions in the 1990’s, it was a great and empowering experience, sadly on the way home I crashed my car, one of three crashes in three weeks! – but that really IS another story!

The fact that all London taxis and London buses are now wheelchair accessible is, I believe, a direct result for the work of DAN and similar groups. Of cause, the politicians and transport providers will say that these campaigns and actions had no effect, but I think we know different! DAN was never a massive organisation; it just goes to show that campaigns can be successful with relatively small groups of people. DAN showed that a well informed, media savvy campaign can achieve amazing successes.

London Underground still has a long way to go, before all their stations are wheelchair accessible. Some are, but many are still not. It is getting better, but in my opinion, being a little bit accessible is no good, and makes it difficult to see the underground as something I would use routinely through fear of going somewhere only to arrive at an inaccessible destination.

DAN did much, not just in London and not just about public transport.

I believe Disabled People owe a debt of thanks to DAN.

Bank Holiday fun in London: Taxi 0, Tube/DLR 1

‘Diary of A Public Transport Virgin’ continues…. written by Ian Loynes

You know what it’s like when something happens to you, which initially doesn’t seem a big deal; then after a while it dawns on you just how massive the implications are?

Well I had several of those in the immediate aftermath of my seizure, especially being told that driving was off the menu.  However, after a while the penny dropped on another biggie – I wouldn’t be able to drive up to Norfolk to see my friends and family; my heart sank, particularly as I was desperate to get up there to see one of my closest friends.

We’ve known each other for over 30 years, both having been through a lot of life, you know the story; things you shouldn’t have to experience. We were close friends when I lived in Norfolk, and have managed to pull off the fantastic trick of staying close when I moved to Southampton and we were living 200 miles apart.

Anyway, to get back to the point; we had a dilemma, wanting to see each other, but neither of us able to drive a car. We agreed that the best way we could actually get to see each other by each getting a train and meeting in the middle, London.

The date was set: Bank holiday Monday, and venue: the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. I was pleased because I’d never been there before and I am very interested in astronomy.

(Let’s be clear here though, my interest is in the science of astronomy, not in looking through binoculars at seemingly identical spots of light or patterns of stars. I love watching Patrick Moore and ‘The Sky at Night’ – he is a fabulously eccentric character. The show is really good at making astronomy easy to understand yet without ‘dumbing down’ (which really aggravates me [Step forward ‘Horizon’, a once amazing science programme, now an absolutely patronising travesty]).  However, in my opinion, ‘The Sky at Night’ is half great, half a yawn – as they always spend half the show going on about this or that constellation which is now visible in the night sky, and how to find it. It’s such a waste to me, especially with the show only being 20 minutes long to start with!)

Sorry, again; to get back to my blog: (by the minute, sounding more and more like a Ronnie Corbett Monologue!)

So, we’d agreed to meet at Greenwich, how should I get there?

Getting to London is easy, something I do regularly for work.

The train company is: South West Trains, travelling from Southampton Parkway Station to London Waterloo station.

All train companies expect passengers to book 24 hours in advance if they need assistance onto the train. I almost never do this, as I find it hard to plan my life so precisely in advance (and anyway, everyone else can just turn up and get on a train without notice, so why should it be different for a wheelchair user? – I like to be spontaneous and often it just is not possible to know what time you will be coming home). Nine times out of ten, I just turn up at the station and ask for assistance on to the next available train. The stations I use (Southampton Central, Southampton Parkway and London Waterloo) are very good about this and cope with my turning up unannounced. The process for getting on the train for wheelchair users is very easy, the assistant just takes you to the right point on the platform (there are several designated wheelchair spaces on every South West Train), puts down a portable ramp and, up you go into one of the wheelchair spaces. When you get to your destination, the person who put you on will have radioed ahead so that an assistant is ready to ramp you off when you get there. This system is not foolproof, and I prefer to travel with someone just in case no ramp is ready when I get to my destination.

Whilst not perfect, South West Trains are in my experience the best when it comes to wheelchair access, there being space for two wheelchair users to sit next to each other, and seats for a PA/friends to be with you as well. This cannot be said for all train companies. The only downside is that there are no wheelchair user spaces in First Class!

NB: I will post a separate blog soon with more information about booking assistance onto trains; and some of the issues to be careful about. I will also post a separate blog about the pros and cons of a Disabled Person’s Railcard and the separate scheme for Personal Assistants to travel at reduced cost.

Once you get to London, there are various ways to get from Waterloo to Greenwich; London Taxi, London Bus or Tube/DLR (Docklands Light Railway). All these should be accessible to me and my wheelchair. I use London taxis all the time whilst at work, and have used the Underground/DLR and London bus once. Which one should I choose?

London Taxi is a safe option – all London Taxis have to be wheelchair accessible, newer ones have fold out ramps with extensions for steep angles. Older taxis have gutter ramps which are kept in the boot. Now-a-days, I never have a problem with London Taxis, except for some drivers who don’t seems to understand that wheelchairs don’t cope well if the ramp angle is too steep. I always ask the driver to stop alongside a kerb to reduce the ramps angle.

London Buses are a bit of an unknown quantity to me. I believe that all London buses have to be wheelchair accessible these days. I have only used them once, last year. Sadly I don’t know the routes very well; I suspected that getting from Waterloo to Greenwich would involve changing buses along the way. I’d welcome comments from readers about London buses and how a visitor to London can get the best out of them.

Tube/DLR is also mostly an unknown quantity to me. I have used the Tube before, when I was walking and could use escalators. Once I sussed out the maps, the Tube was fairly easy; but as I said, I was walking then. Since I started using a wheelchair, I have only used the Tube once, to get from Waterloo to the Millennium Dome (now the O2 arena). From what I understand, some of the Tube is wheelchair accessible; some is not. Albeit the situation is improving as time goes on. I looked on the Internet for help on access and found the following link useful:   http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/14091.aspx. From my research it was possible to get from Waterloo to Greenwich, by catching the Tube at Waterloo and swapping to the DLR at Canary Wharf. (So far as I know, the whole of the DLR is wheelchair accessible throughout – readers comments would be helpful here too)

So, which public transport option did I take? Basically, I wimped out and got a taxi to Greenwich. I wish though I hadn’t; it was easy and stress free, until I saw the cost: £26! (Bank Holiday supplement didn’t help).

My friend met me at the Observatory, after a slight mix up where she went to Waterloo to pick me up, only to find I’d left in the taxi before she got there!

I had a lovely day at Greenwich Observatory, a great day out, good for children especially as it is fun as well as educational. From the top of the hill we could see the site of the 2012 Olympics and Canary Wharf amongst other attractions. (Bear in mind though, it is a steep hill and a long hill – my battery was not happy when I got to the top, and my friends legs were knackered – good excuse for a tea and hot dog!). Greenwich Park is a lovely place; tranquillity in a massive metropolis. Afterwards we went to see the Cutty Sark, but couldn’t see anything as it was all boarded up after the horrible fire which did so much damage in 2007.

When it was time to head off home, I had a dilemma; I wasn’t keen on a £26 taxi trip back (didn’t have that much cash apart from anything!); but whilst I knew the DLR/Tube should be OK, I wasn’t keen on going on my own. Good on my friend, we agreed to get the DLR together to Canary Wharf, and she would see me off the DLR and on to the Tube, before going her own way to Liverpool Street and back to Norfolk.

Now, here’s the rub, the ticket from Greenwich to Waterloo was £2.50!  I’d paid 10 times more than necessary, simply because I wimped out and jumped in a taxi.

The DLR was fine for access, just had to be a little careful to ensure my front wheels didn’t get jammed in the small gap between platform and train. Wheelchair users do end up by the door, as there are no wheelchair spaces, but not too much of a problem.

When we got to Canary Wharf there is a short walk from the DLR to the Tube station, and once again the access was fine, just go to the right platform, wait for the train, and, of course MIND THE GAP!

When I arrived at Waterloo Tube station,again just a short walk to get to the mainline station. All very easy really, my wimpiness was completely unjustified and I do recommend the Tube/DLR (but just be careful about which stations are accessible and bear in mind slight height differences between some trains and some platforms ).

When I got back to Waterloo, I just went to the Information Kiosk on the main platform and asked for assistance onto the next train to Southampton, and as usual, had easy and practical assistance onto the train. One hour and 10 minutes later, the train arrives back at Southampton Parkway station, and after the usual nerves I always have in case no ramp is ready when the train stops, the assistant was there with his ramp to get me off the train.

So, my experience of getting to and from London, and around and about in London was good. Transport for London (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/  – Full of information about public transport in London ) should be praised for the immense progress they have made since the mid 1990’s when Disabled People had to resort to handcuffing themselves to buses to highlight just how excluded they were from London’s transport system.

See my separate blog shortly about DAN –Disabled People’s Direct Action Network

London is our Capital City, and therefore should set the standard for accessibility, and generally it does. Almost every other city in the UK has much to learn from London. Just getting an accessible taxi or bus can be a major undertaking in some cities.

Whilst there are still significant shortcomings (particularly on the Tube), I think London is generally a great example of how a public transport system can meet the access needs of most people, including most Disabled People.

So, a long and lovely Bank Holiday came to an end without any real access problems at all. I was just £23.50 worse off than I needed to be!

My equality score: 4 stars