Parents voice their concerns over adult care proposals

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Vigil against Council's proposed changes to adult care services

Parents and relatives of those affected by the proposed changes to adult care spoke out out about their concerns at a Friends and Family Forum meeting at the Carer's Resource Centre, Oldham Road, Rochdale on Monday (14 November).

One family, who remain anonymous because of confidentiality, raised concerns over their brother, who was moved into residential care from supported living against his will, approximately six weeks ago.

They said: “We haven’t been consulted at all. We’ve had no communication and we feel like outsiders.

“He was taken into hospital after several falls because he has mobility issues. We didn’t even know he was out of hospital until we went to visit him and he wasn’t there.

“He keeps telling us he wants to go home, back to supported living. He didn’t want to move and no-one asked us.

“He’s not happy, he was sat in a corner without his frame last time we saw him. It was three in the afternoon and he was still in his pyjamas, just asking to go home.”

Another family, who also wish to remain anonymous, feared that they would be priced out of supported living as their son’s care cost contributions increased in April this year. Fees are expected to rise again after becoming linked to the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance.

The family was also passed a consultation document from a private source; alleged to be shown to those who expressed interest in moving.

His mother said: “We should be afraid. It’s all very inconsistent and this poorly-produced document seems biased towards residential care. Our son can’t speak, he lacks capacity to understand, and we don’t want him to move, how are we showing interest in moving him?

“It’s been very cleverly worded, there’s no answers. There’s only three points in support of supported living, people have different needs, people should choose where they want to live and ‘we need more options’. There’s no mention that for some people their needs are met well by Supported Living Homes and no suggestion that this will continue.

“The reasons for not going into supported living were very negative points: it’s difficult when someone moves out, sometimes people don't get on, for some people it doesn't meet their needs and some people need more care.

“It’s worrying that it doesn’t say anything about having their own space in the Residential Care Model; it’s all very vague, nothing is clear in this proposal, so they could all potentially be in one room.

“We also found out that we should have had a letter to explain everything and accessing further information to attend workshops. We haven’t received any letter.”

“A letter received from the Local Authority also mentions that Adult Services are to commission a local service for young people with autism and that families have been involved in the service design, commission of a service provider, choosing a site and designing a suitable environment.

“Many family members, who are service users, have autistic behaviours but we haven’t been involved with this. So, when we have a promise from Sheila Downey that no-one will be forced to move, the impact on service users left in the Supported Living houses may make the situation untenable so that promise wouldn't hold as he may be forced to move to a house/service where the residents have been deemed to be 'similar'.

“The consultation period was extended, but the Council hasn’t made any approach to arrange any extra meetings.”

This discussion lead to concerns about their children and relatives’ finances: one family were concerned they didn’t know who oversaw their relative’s finances and were being kept in the dark, despite requesting to be involved.

Another parent wondered: “If supported living is a choice, do they have the choice to switch back from residential if they don’t like it?”

A fourth parent added concerns for safety, as her daughter was previously trapped in a fire at a home. She was saved by two night-shift staff members who carried her and another resident out to safety.

Her mother said: “There’s only one staff member on at night now. With only one staff member, what would happen if that happened again?”

She also voiced her concerns that putting a large number of people like her daughter, who ‘is like a three or four-month-old baby, despite being over 40 years old’ would be a step backwards ‘into the dark ages’.

Community access was another point raised. The mother whose daughter had been in the fire said she regularly receives pictorial updates of her daughter being involved with the community where she lives, such as going to the cinema and out for lunch.

She felt residential care would take aware their community access, and thus highlight their relatives as ‘oddities to make fun of’ on the infrequent occasions when they would be integrating with the community.

A spokesperson for Rochdale Parent Carers Voice expressed concern that the younger adults and children going through their system would be learning skills that would be redundant, should this choice be taken away.

• http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/105865/cuts-to-adult-care-friends-and-family-group-forum-statement