Target to close NHS campuses will be missed

The government will miss its target to close NHS campuses for people with learning disabilities by the end of 2010, a Department of Health report has revealed.

Its...

The government will miss its target to close NHS campuses for people with learning disabilities by the end of 2010, a Department of Health report has revealed.

Its 2010-11 delivery plan for the Valuing People Now strategy said that plans would be in place to find new housing for campus residents. But not all existing institutions would have closed by the target date.

The report said there were about 900 people left living in NHS campuses, or still in the process of moving, as of October last year.

Campuses are group homes for former long-stay hospital residents, where learning disabled people have been found to have less choice than in other settings.

David Congdon, head of campaigns and policy at Mencap, said while it was important to move people out of campuses quickly “it’s important to get it right”.

The delivery plan also raised concerns about an expansion in the use of private hospitals to house people with learning disabilities and rising levels of spending on residential care provision for them.

The DH, which wants more people with learning disabilities to move into supported living, said the continued use of residential care would place major funding pressures on councils, and announced a target to cut numbers by 5% in 2010-11.

The DH said ordinary residence rules were a barrier to people moving from residential care to supported living. Those placed in residential care outside their local authority may find it difficult to move into local housing because their new local authority will take on responsibility for their care and support.

The DH said had published new guidance on ordinary residence covering this issue and asked the Law Commission to consider it as part of its review of adult social care law.

The report also found some professionals working in health and social care had low expectations of what people with learning disabilities could achieve, despite nearly 10 years of policy to empower this group.

It also found insufficient joint planning between children’s and adult services in areas such as employment.

The top priorities for action remain largely as for the first Valuing People Now delivery plan, published last January. These include increasing housing options for people with learning disabilities and boosting the number in paid work.

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