13 November 2009

"Don't cut us out" of social care Mencap tells government

Mencap delivers its submission to the Department of Health today, in response to the proposed social care green paper, ‘Shaping the Future of Care Together'. The learning disability charity says to Government: "Don't cut us out" after its consultation with more than 1,200 people including people with a learning disability and their families and carers.

Mencap initially welcomed the social care green paper and its proposal to create a National Care Service. However, the charity now says this service must be designed to promote and protect the human rights of people with a learning disability, using personalisation to enable individuals to have independent, healthy and happy lives.

The main findings of Mencap's consultation found:

• The green paper does not address the future funding crisis for services for people with a learning disability.
• The system is under great pressure and people are unable to live the life that they want to life. In some cases, people with a learning disability have become forgotten victims.

Mencap is calling for:

• Personalisation to be the core principle for the National Care Service
• An end to the unfair current postcode lottery of eligibility, personalisation and services in adult social care
• Further clarity on the funding gap which currently exists in social care for disabled adults of working age, including people with a learning disability.

Mark Goldring, Mencap chief executive said: "We fully support the Government's action to improve social care but they need to act on what they are being told by the people who it is intended to support. This cannot be another listening-only exercise.

"People with a learning disability and their families and carers have told us overwhelmingly that the choice of services in their areas is poor and differs from one to the other. They have also said that too many people within the social care workforce are not able to communicate with people with a learning disability. These failures are a clear violation of an individual's human rights."

Leroy Binns, who has a learning disability and contributed to the consultation, said: "People with a learning disability need the right support so that they can be as independent as possible. I am a peer advocate for two people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and I have seen what good support can do.

"It makes me angry to think that people with a learning disability are not getting the support they need to be independent."

One carer commented in his submission: "The Government needs to act now. Social care is basic right and not a gift from the state. Every year, it's too late for people with a learning disability and for their families and carers."

Some of the findings also include:

• 70 per cent of people were worried about losing their current care package if they moved house - regardless of how lacking it was.
• 75 percent of people found it difficult to access adult social care in the transition for children's to adult's social services.

To find out more about Mencap's submission to social care green paper, visit the website http://www.mencap.org.uk/

-ENDS-

For further information, photographs or to arrange an interview contact Anil Ranchod on 020 7696 5414 or 07770 656 659.

Notes to Editors

• About Mencap

Mencap supports the 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK and their families and carers. Mencap fights to change laws and improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities, supporting thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.

Mencap is also the largest service provider of services, information and advice for people with a learning disability across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

See http://www.mencap.org.uk/ for more information.

• About learning disability

A learning disability is caused by the way the brain develops before, during or shortly after birth. It is lifelong and affects someone's intellectual and social development. It used to be called mental handicap but this term is outdated and offensive. Learning disability is NOT a mental illness.