Mixed Feedback to HCC Personalisation Commission

Ian Loynes and Robert Droy from SCIL recently attended the first session of the Hampshire Personalisation Commission. Throughout the day, we discussed with members of the audience how they felt about the Commission and their observations of the first session.

 

Firstly without wishing to be overly negative, the format and acoustics of the venue was not particularly accessible for many of the participants. There was no sign language interpreter at the session but we presume this would have been provided if an participant had requested it. We were also disappointed with the lack of diversity amongst both the commissioners, witnesses, and the audience in general. ‘White, middle aged, and middle class’ was one comment we heard.

 

Despite the session being entitled ‘People and Carers’, out of the 7 people who gave evidence, 3 people were actually ‘professionals’ who gave lengthy presentations which were followed up by questions. Their evidence, whilst useful, may have been better suited to a later session.

 

In contrast, the ‘people’ and ‘carers’ were asked to give very brief presentations with no opportunity for the commissioners to question them further. We feel this was a missed opportunity to really capture from the ‘users’ themselves why personalisation was so important. This part of the evidence was summed up by the Commission Chair as ‘moving’ and ‘uplifting’. Whilst these comments were well meaning, they were construed by many as slightly patronising and not viewing the evidence on an equal level as the evidence given by the other witnesses.

 

The round table discussions in the afternoon were found to be much more successful but unfortunately were only open to a ‘select’ group of invited guests. Some of the common themes have however been summarised in a document on the Hampshire Personalisation Commission website, along with much of the other evidence and presentations at each session.

 

The next session is on June 12 and you can apply for tickets for that session until May 20 by visiting the website or by calling 01962 833 040. Leave your name, telephone number and address and they will post an application form to you

 

Mental Health Experts By Experience

NCIL are looking to recruit Mental Health Experts by Experience for  the next stage of this exciting project. This project is funded through the Commission for Social Care Inspection. The Commission is the body that inspects and regulates social care provision for England. The project is working with a range of Centres for Independent Living and user led organisations in order to develop a diverse pool of Experts.

 

We are particularly looking for people who use Mental Health Services, across the following regions in England which will support the Commission’s inspection processes.

 

·         South East

·         South West

·         London

·         Eastern

·         East Midlands

·         West Midlands

·         Yorkshire & Humberside

·         North West

·         North East

 

As a Mental Health Expert you will be linked to a Centre for Independent Living or user led organisation in one of the above regions, you will be provided with training and support to develop your skills for this role and you will be paid an hourly fee of £15.00.  The amount of hours will vary.  All other associated costs will be met, including travel, access costs and personal assistance costs.

  

Experts by Experience will be part of the Inspection process and will be required to undertake inspections in different regions.

 

You will need to be a person who uses services, or has used services or is likely to use services, you will need to be willing to travel across your particular region and occasionally into other regions, and you will need to be willing to attend training and briefing days in your region.

  

The closing date for this role is Friday 2 May 2008

  

If you would like to have an informal discussion please contact Sandy Marshall, Projects Manager at NCIL offices.

 

For an application pack please contact: Karen Earl at

The National Centre for Independent Living

Fourth Floor, Hampton House

20 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TJ

Telephone 020 7587 1663     Fax:  020 7582 2469

Minicom: 020 7587 1177

e-mail:  projectassistant@ncil.org.uk

 

 

 

Challenging Charges For Social Care Services

Thanks to NCIL for passing on this information.

 

The Coalition on Charging is a group of organisations chaired by the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL). The coalition was established to campaign against the current system of charging for community care services.

 

The Coalition members include: NCIL, Age Concern, Scope, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Disability Alliance, Alzheimer’s Society, People First, Mind, Radar, the Alliance for Inclusive Education, Counsel and Care, United Kingdom Disabled Peoples Council (UKDPC), Action for Blind People, Royal National Institute for the Deaf, Arthritis Care, British Polio Fellowship, Carers UK, Equalities, Help the Aged, the Parkinson’s Disease Society, Mencap.

 

The Coalition is writing an up to date report, highlighting the current situation with charging for care, to ensure that the issue is on the government’s agenda when looking at the future of social care.

 

Our survey:

 

As part of the report we want to include feedback from people who are affected by charging. We have developed a survey that will be used to help the Coalition on Charging produce good information.

 

The report is aimed at the Department of Health and Government. A Government consultation (‘green’) paper on reform is due out sometime in 2008.  The Government has said that it ‘believes that there are real opportunities for reform within a system that shares the cost between the individual and the state’.

 

However, in our view, it is very important that they look at the effects on people of the current charging system and hear the views of people who are currently being charged for their support.

 

In order that we can include your views please can you respond to this survey by May 1 2008.

 

Please fill in the question on personal details. It is important for us to know your age as adult services are often provided for ‘adults’ and ‘older people’. We will not pass on any personal information and will make all responses anonymous in the report.

 

The Coalition has one set of survey questions for individual people who need support and their carers. There is a separate set of survey questions for organisations representing people who need support and representing carers. Please fill in the right survey.

 

You can download them here:

 

charging-survey-for-individuals

 

charging-survey-for-organisations

 

If you are involved in a forum or network, if you were able to discuss this issue that would be very useful.

 

The survey is for all adults in England who use (or have used) local authority social services for support in their own home. This includes people who use (or have used) direct payments. It does not include people who use residential care services.

 

This survey is aimed at all disabled and older people who use community care services.

 

We apologise for the short amount of time given to return the survey but we hope you will be able to give us your views.

 

Please send your completed survey by May 1 2008 to NCIL,  Fourth Floor, Hampton House, 20 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TJ or to policy@ncil.org.uk or fax to 0207 587 1663

 

 

Race, Disability and Human Rights

ThIs post was written by Berni Vincent.

The new Equality and Human Rights Commission was launched on October 1 2007 resulting in the merger of the Disability Rights Commission, Commission for Racial Equality and Equal Opportunities Commission.

One of the last events that the Disability Rights Commission held jointly with Equalities National Council was a conference looking at Race, Disability and Human Rights on September 12. The event from my point of view was about raising awareness, listening to others and gaining some understanding of the multi oppression that my fellow Disabled people experience.

It was good to see so many Disabled people from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities (BME) coming together to share common experiences and address ways of breaking down barriers of multi oppression and exclusion. 

BME communities are more likely to experience poverty and isolation.  For example among families that include a Disabled adult the risk of poverty is 36 per cent in white families, 52 percent in Indian families, 63 percent in Pakistani families and 83 per cent in Bangladesh families.

With regard to family members providing unpaid support; assumptions are often made that BME Disabled people’s support will be met by a close family member, with little consideration to the disempowering impact this will have on family relationships or individual family members’ right to develop their own potential and aspirations. Further more the meaning of Independent Living and the Social Model of Disability has yet to be fully understood in BME communities generally.

In a workshop led by the ‘Black Men Moving forward project’ that provides advocacy support across the Criminal Justice System, mental health service users gave personal testimony of surviving the institutional racism and neglect across the Criminal Justice system.  Disabled People generally do not have their needs met within the judicial system, and a high majority of people with mental health impairments receive no support or medical treatment. There were examples quoted of medical records not being transported to prison resulting in lack of vital medication or medical intervention at point of entry on release from the prison service.   

So what needs to happen if things are to change; the starting point has to be ensuring that public bodies grasp their responsibility to ensure BME Disabled People enjoy the same freedom, respect and equality as everyone else.  Time and investment needs to be made to adequately fund peer support organisations that can continue to lead the way offer support and influence policy design.  

The responsibility lies with us all – public bodies, service providers, and the voluntary sector. We must work together to break down barriers of isolation and mistrust and find ways to listen and understand each other issues and experiences. We must believe It is possible to break the oppressive chains that isolate multi oppressed groups in BME communities.  We need to actively work together to bring the barriers down. 

Hampshire’s Consultation on Direct Payments

As previously reported, Hampshire Adult Services with the support of Children’s Services is undertaking a review of Direct Payments. Hampshire state the the purpose of the review is to ‘make it easier for people to obtain and use Direct Payments, while at the same time making sure that Hampshire County Council meets its duty of care for individuals and its legal obligation to account for the way in which public money (Direct Payments) is used.’

Hampshire believe that the proposed changes presented in the consultation document are the best way of improving Direct Payments.These proposed changes relate to Self Assessment, Direct Payments Risk Assessment, Support Agency Role and Outcome based care planning. 

The full consultation document and questionnaire can be found here. 

Following a number of concerns raised by SCIL, HCIL and Carers Together regarding the accessibility of the document and questionnaire, Hampshire have organised 3 workshops around Hampshire for users to give their views.

According to the website, ‘The workshops will provide people with information about the proposals and an opportunity to discuss them in small working groups. The information will be explained and people will be able to ask questions so that that can get a clear understanding of the proposals. People will also have time to talk about their personal views during small group sessions and be able to put these forward via the group or by completing the questionnaire.’

The workshops are from 10am to 1pm on the following days:

Tuesday 16 October at Horndean Centre (Horndean Technology College)

Wednesday 17 October at The Maltings Centre – Centennial Room in Alton

Friday 18 October at Wells Place Centre in Eastleigh

Places are limited to 60 people per venue so you must book in advance by emailing the Adult Services Department or contacting the Direct Payments telephone helpline 01962 833039 

HCIL and HCODP are also hoping to host a joint meeting regarding the consultation in early November – details to be confirmed.

The consultation runs until Friday 14 December.

SCIL’s Annual Report 2006 – 2007

With SCIL’s AGM just around the corner, SCIL are pleased to release their annual report for 2006/2007. As you will see, it has been yet another rollercoaster of a year with some low points but also some real signs of optimism for the future.

We are just about to start phase 2 of our redevelopment of Unity 12. Once completed, we will have fully accessible conference room facilities, in addition to extra office space that will be let to like-minded organisations.

Anyway, I don’t want to reveal all the hidden gems you will find in the annual report. Give it a read, you might find it more interesting than you thought – just click the link below.

SCIL’s Annual Report 2006 - 2007

The above file is a PDF file so you will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer and it may take a few seconds to download.

Disability Agenda Sets Worthy Goals

On February 14, the Disability Rights Commission launched what will probably be its last major inititative before it is merged into the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights in October 2007.

The Disability Agenda sets out what the DRC consider to be the major public policy challenges that Britain is facing and the action required to meet them.  These include promoting a culture of human rights and equality, bringing an end to child poverty, increasing life chances through learning and skills, ending poverty and widening employment opportunity, increasing participation in public, civic and community life, developing a social care system fit for the future, tackling health inequality, meeting the future housing challenge and building stronger safer communities. 

All very worthy aims and remarkably similar to the 12 basic rights that SCIL adopted 20 years ago. Although at first glance, the agenda just looked like a bunch of worthy aims but with no substance, the DRC has drawn up a list of recommendations for each aim, which hopefully both central and local government as well as others will consider when drawing up their future strategic plans.

It is still unclear how much attention the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights will give to disability issues but hopefully the Disability Agenda will be adopted by the new Commission and others in an effort to effect change over the next 10 years.

Mental Health is Everybody’s Business

October the 10th is World Mental Health Day and it is a shocking fact that someone somewhere in the world will take their life every 40 seconds.

Rethink is tying ribbons to the Itchen Bridge in Southampton today to represent everyone of these lives, as well as handing out 20,000 postcards to focus on todays event.  

Poor mental health is one of the biggest social issues in the UK. At any one time, one in six people or one in four (depending on which set of statistics you look at) experience mental health problems. This has high costs for individuals and their families and a significant impact on national prosperity and wellbeing. Poor mental health is inextricably linked to poverty and exclusion, worklessness, crime, chronic illness, low educational attainment, antisocial behaviour and lack of social cohesion. 

Mental health should not just be regarded as the special concern of the health service, or as a subject which is only relevant to a minority.  Instead it is an issue that is everybody’s business.   I welcome the day when although mental health problems will not  have disappeared, admitting to them will no longer be a source of social stigma. 

In “Mental Health in the Mainstream” (ippr, 2005) Jennifer Rankin has outlined a blueprint for how this could be achieved. In 2025 there will be no stigma – and mental health will be regarded on the same level as physical health.  We will all be encouraged to take as much care and responsibility for our mental health as we do with our physical health.

There will need to be initiatives in the following areas:

• Advice and support
• Facilitating access to specialist services
• Advising employers on promoting mental health at work and applying the law on “reasonable adjustments” for disabled people
• Offering social prescriptions
• Providing connections to community support groups
• Providing courses and information on living with a long term condition
• Giving information and support to carers 

Today (October 10) the government is launching an initiative urging employers to improve conditions for people with a mental health problem.   Just 20% of those with severe mental health problems have jobs, compared with 65% who have physical problems.  We need to find ways of promoting social inclusion and challenging discrimination in the workplace.  We need to focus on the vision of 2025 where mental illness will not be stigmatised and everyone takes responsibility and makes it their business to protect their own and everybody’s mental health.