Today sees the launch of what should hopefully be another staging post on the road towards equal citizenship for people with learning disabilities: the launch of a newspaper specifically designed for the group. Easy News, which has been launched by support provider United Response, publishes the news in an easy read format that uses visual clues [...]
There’s been a lot of comment in the wake of yesterday’s final Department of Health report into Winterbourne View, which pledged to end inappropriate hospital placements for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour by 2014. From then, the 1200-1500 people currently in assessment and treatment units such as Winterbourne should be down to 300-400, with [...]
With tonight’s BBC Panorama programme set to claim that former residents of Winterbourne View have been assaulted in new homes, Margaret Flynn and Vic Citarella argue that there are still urgent questions that need addressingAs authors of the serious case review on Winterbourne View Hospital, we still need to talk about some key issues:A new [...]
So the verdict on what happened at Winterbourne View has been delivered through the serious case review (SCR) published on Tuesday, alongside separate reviews on the roles of NHS commissioners and the Care Quality Commission. But what were the chief practice lessons for social workers? Where was the social work? Social workers performed two key roles in [...]
Today we await the serious case review (SCR) into the Winterbourne View. The hope among many in social care is that it will provide answers to why the horrendous abuse we saw on our screens last May took place and thereby help prevent it from happening again. However, there is already a consensus across government, [...]
Tributes have been flowing in for Jim Mansell, the country’s leading expert on learning disability and challenging behaviour, who died this week following a long battle against cancer. Mansell, who was emeritus professor of learning disability at Kent University’s Tizard Centre, was one of those rare people who garnered appreciation from service users, fellow academics, [...]
Learning disabled people still face institutional discrimination at the hands of the NHS, Mencap warned today, five years after it laid bare the issue with its Death by Indifference report. This focused on six cases of people the charity had said had died prematurely due to NHS failings, and sparked an independent inquiry into healthcare [...]
We reported yesterday on calls to enhance guidance and training for professionals on best interests decision making under the Mental Capacity Act, but I thought it would be worth trying to pull out some of the key lessons from the study in question.About the researchThe research seems pretty solid and is based on an online [...]
Mencap has alerted me to this nice new video of theirs of some people with learning disabilities talking about their aspirations for 2012.It’s all part of the charity’s New Year New Me campaign, which is designed to inspire people with learning disabilities to pursue their own ambitions.The video’s participants won a competition to be the [...]
The Adult Care blog looks behind the policies, practices and personalities involved in the care of older and disabled people for any hidden truths, helpful tips or humour.
It is written by Community Care’s adults’ services beat editor Mithran Samuel.
Email: Mithran Samuel
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