Mencap and The
Challenging Behaviour
Challenging behaviour can be when someone hurts themselves, hits or pinches someone else, or breaks something. Some people might behave like this because they are upset or because people do not understand them.
Foundation (CBF) respond to today’s (29 January 2015) publication of ‘Learning Disability Census 2014’ and ‘Transforming Care for People with Learning Disabilities -- Next Step’.
The Census was commissioned in the wake of physical and psychological
abuse
Abuse is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared.
suffered by people with a learning disability at Winterbourne View Hospital exposed by a Panorama investigation broadcast in 2011. The Learning Disability Census 2014 reveals
- 3,230patients receiving inpatient care. Almost no change since last year (3,250)
- Average length of stay in an institution is 5.4 years
- 1 year or more - 1,915 patients
- 10 years or more - 175 patients
- 1,055 do not need inpatient care according to care plan
- 2,345 patients (73%) had received antipsychotic medication either regularly or as needed in the 28 days prior to the census collection. Use of antipsychotic medication has increased between 2013 and 2014 .
- 1,780 patients (55%) had one or more incidents (self-harm, accidents, physical assault, restraint or seclusion) in the three months prior to census day.
After the failure of
the Government
The Government are the people who run the country. The Government decide how much
tax
Tax is the money that pays for things like schools, hospitals and the police. There are different types of taxes like
income tax
Income tax is the money that is taken out of the money you earn every month. It helps to pay for things we all need like hospitals and schools.
,
VAT
VAT is also called Value Added Tax. VAT is the extra money you pay when you buy things. The money goes to the government to pay for things like schools and hospitals.
and
council tax
Council
A council is also called a
local authority
A local authority is also called a council. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools,
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
(support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
Tax is the money that people pay to the
council
A council is also called a
local authority
A local authority is also called a council. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools,
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
(support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. It helps to pay for things like social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
.
people should pay and how things like the National Health Service (NHS) should work.
to honour their June 2014 commitment to ensure that people with a learning disability were supported to return to their communities from units like Winterbourne View and get the right support and services they needed in their local areas, NHS England commissioned Sir Stephen Bubb to produce a report on how to accelerate the transformation that people with learning disabilities and their families are looking for.
Following Sir Stephen Bubb’s report, NHS England, the Department of Health, the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care, the Care Quality Commission and Health
Education
Education is when you learn things. When you fill in a form to get a job, education means you write where you went to school, college or university.
England today responded to the recommendations.
Jan Tregelles, Chief Executive at Mencap, and Viv Cooper, Chief Executive at the Challenging Behaviour Foundation said:
Today’s publication by NHS England and its partners is the first recognition that collectively they understand the scale of the problem but does not do enough to take us nearer to delivering the key recommendations from the Bubb report. There needs to be a clear, timetabled nationwide closure programme and investment in and development of local services, so thousands of people can be brought out of inappropriate settings and returned to their local community
A community is the people and places in an area. with good support. It will disappoint thousands of people with a learning disability and their families, who have been fighting for their right to be supported in the community, and for changes to the way support is provided for people with a learning disability and behaviour described as challenging.
After the scandal of abuse and neglect
Neglect is when you are not being cared for or supported. at Winterbourne View, the government promised change. Following the failure to meet the June 2014 deadline to move people out of institutions, NHS England took a lead in driving forward urgent changes. They commissioned Sir Stephen Bubb’s November 2014 report, which set out clear recommendations. Bubb called for closure of units providing inappropriate care, the development of local housing and support services, and new training initiatives to develop the right skills and expertise to commission and deliver better care and support. Today, these recommendations have not been adequately addressed, leaving thousands of families whose loved ones are stuck in units still wondering when change will happen.
Alarmingly, we know more people are still going in than coming out of units, while many people have been in them for years. We need to see a systematic change to commissioning practices across health and social care, and joint working to create local services to both prevent in-patient admissions and enable people to return to their communities.
The Learning Disability Census shows that things are not getting any better despite over two years worth of work on this area. The commitments made in ’Transforming Care for People with Learning Disabilities -- Next Steps’ need to bring about urgent change on the ground to convince people with a learning disability and their families that this failure is not just going to be repeated.
-ENDS-
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk.
Notes to editors
About The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF) is an independent charity providing information, support and workshops around challenging behaviour associated with severe learning disabilities to families and professionals. The CBF leads the ‘Challenging Behaviour National
Strategy
A strategy is a plan to show what an
organisation
An organisation are a group of people who work together.
, or a person, wants to do and how they are going to do it.
Group’ which seeks to influence policy and practice nationally and has developed the Challenging Behaviour
Charter
A charter is a piece of paper that says how things should be done.
.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation was founded in 1997 by Vivien Cooper, parent of a son with severe learning disabilities who displays behaviour described as challenging. Today the Challenging Behaviour Foundation is in regular contact with over 5000 families and professionals across the UK. There are an estimated 30,000 individuals in England with severe learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging.
About Royal Mencap Society
There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Independent charity Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to education,
employment
Employment means having a job.
and
leisure
Leisure is when you have time to do things you enjoy like playing sports or going to the pub.
facilities. Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.