This Guardian comment by me was picked on Live Q&A: Delivering services for vulnerable people, 4 September.31 Aug 2012 12:01pm 3
The formost challenge at the moment is the devastating effect that this Government and their morally corrupt policies are having on disabled people. The cuts are undermining all Services and hitting disabled people disproportionally. Far from including vulnerable people in their Policy and Planning they are cutting disabled people adrift from State support because, especially the Tories, do not feel that this is a worthy cause and that disabled people should be supported by other means such as Charities, the Church and donations by the public.
The second challenge is the emergence of person centred planning, a wonderful idea that was originally designed to empower disabled people. Unfortunately this is now being used to justify the closure of Council run day services to save money with the reason given that people want inclusion and their own budget with which to choose their own services and support. What Disabled people want is continuing choice and PCP is actually reducing choice as more Council services are cut and Charity funding cut to the bone. In essence they are not only transferring the budget to the individual but trying to offload their responsibility as well.
Further, the policy of giving people more control and ‘independence’ is even undermining safeguarding as more and more people, including the elderly, end up stuck in their own homes because there are little or no joined-up Care and support services to ‘buy’ into. As a result we will see more and more abuse by untrained ‘Carers’ who are employed by shoddy Companies who pay as little as possible, going into people’s homes one on one with a vulnerable person offering a range of services such as befriending/Caring or cleaning and can do as little as they want or carry out a range of abuse with no protection or oversight at all.
Safeguarding therefore has to be a major issue for all Charities to promote both with their own services and to highlight the standards that are expected from Private Care providers. Maybe a code of practice or minimal exceptable standard of Care would make Private providers improve their Safeguarding procedures.
Charities also need to lobby hard for improved funding from the Government and Local Councils to enable them to tackle the increasing responsibilities that are being placed upon them as the result of Government action. I feel that they need to engage with the media in a big way to shame the Government into reigning-in their shameful and hateful attackes on the funding and support of disabled people.
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