News

Joan Scott Inspired Services
No! I feel strongly about this. All it is doing is opening another more expensive hospital. It is not giving them the chance to live in their own homes. The idea was to close down long-stay hospitals, not replace them. We must stop authorities from sending people to these private places. They are to blame for this and the government for allowing them to do it. 

Jean Stogdon Grand- parents Plus
Institutional care is sometimes justified if people get the care and attention they need. Baroness Warnock, a very wise woman, has accepted that she was wrong on this issue. But such care should not be provided by the private sector. If it's a business and it is being run commercially, where is the accountability in the system?

Karen Shook Disability equality adviser
Since the early 1990s lots of little "hospitals" have opened to replace the long-stay ones. There will always be people with complex needs who need nursing care. But caring for them in small community settings is seen as an expensive option and private organisations provide cheaper care in large residential settings.

Len Smith Gypsy activist

I'm not too bothered about who provides the care, so long as it is of a good standard and right for the patient. Often, the old long-stay care for people with learning difficulties was inappropriate. Some were confined in "mental hospitals" with obviously detrimental effects. But if this is the way to obtain appropriate care provision, then why not?