Why are these learning disabled people facing huge cuts to their care? | ITV News скачать в хорошем качестве

Why are these learning disabled people facing huge cuts to their care? | ITV News

Dozens of learning disabled and autistic adults are facing "dangerous" cut backs to their care, ITV News has found. Surrey County Council has been accused of carrying out "illegal" and "immoral" care assessments of vulnerable adults, and excluding their families, in a bid to save money by reducing their support. Care provider Peak15 said 27 learning disabled adults in supported living are facing average cuts of almost 50% to their care hours. In almost all of the cases, vital mental capacity assessments were not carried out to determine whether the reduction in their care hours was safe. A mental capacity assessment establishes whether someone has the ability to make decisions about their own safety and wellbeing, and helps determine what support they may need. It comes as the government is considering changing the law to give families the right to request a mental capacity assessment for a vulnerable loved one, following years of campaigning by Fiona Laskaris who believes this key legislative change could have saved her autistic son, Christopher, who was murdered in his own home. Surrey County Council’s accounts make clear its intention to save £2.2 million on their spending on supported living for those with learning disabilities and autism in 2025/26. Peak15's chairman David Holmes believes Surrey's savings target played a role in the assessment process, which he describes as "flawed" and "negligent". Mental capacity assessments are a "really important step" in that process but they "by and large weren't undertaken", he told ITV News. "And what that meant is that people's families were excluded and that as a care provider we were excluded from that process," David said, adding that 17 of the adults under his care have no family to advocate for them. "It meant that the people that know those individuals well were excluded. "And that's tragic really because it means that this whole bank of knowledge that exists around that individual wasn't accessed as part of that assessment process and as a consequence of that the assessment was necessarily and inevitably flawed." He added: "I think it was negligent on the part of the council and I definitely believe it to be illegal." Apart from helping with the day-to-day basics, Peak15 also takes learning disabled adults to art classes, walking groups and even down to the pub. All of that, along with vital support with showering, cooking and cleaning, will likely disappear under the proposed cuts. "We want to support people to live a life. We want people to be out there in the community, building relationships, getting jobs, finding love," said David. "None of that happens. Everything gets distilled back into the premises. And that's kind of akin to a really old style of care and support. "That's almost going back to long-stay institutions where we're just warehousing people because it's cheap." Sinead Mooney, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said: “We’re absolutely committed to making sure that people get the right support to meet their needs and build their independence - and far from cutting costs, we’re increasing investment in adult social care in Surrey, despite financial pressures facing local councils. We’ve just approved an adult social care budget increase of more than £27million. “Care Act assessments are carried out by qualified professionals in line with our legal duties, with decisions based on evidence rather than targets, and we also consider bringing in others close to the individual. “We won’t comment on individual cases, but if someone feels their assessment doesn’t fully reflect their situation, we encourage them to contact us directly and we’ll urgently consider if a reassessment is needed. “Ensuring the care and support system is equitable and meets people’s assessed needs is essential. We’re working to build a strong and stable care market and have given financial assistance to some providers – including this one – to ensure continuity of care in a difficult climate. “We’re also working to broaden the care and support options available in Surrey and remain committed to engaging with the people we support, their families and providers.” • Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj • Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news Follow ITV News on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@itvnews?lang=en Follow ITV News on Instagram:   / itvnews   Follow ITV News on Facebook:   / itvnews   Follow ITV News on X:   / itvnews