SERVICES - OR LACK OF THEM

This report noted the significant rise in mental health problems of children with ASD, but failed to investigate why this should be. All the evidence that I have collated points to inappropriate educational provision as the prime cause of these problems.

http://www.wellscotland.info/uploads/file.php?serve=1133631409-needs-assessment-report-2003.pdf&action=download

- this is a link to the Public Health Institute for Scotland's report on `Child and Adolescent

Mental Health`, which report a substantial rise in the number of children being referred to CAMHS who have an autistic spectrum disorder

http://www.phis.org.uk/pdf.pl?file=publications/Autistic%20Spectrum%20Disorders.pdf

 -  PHIS National Needs Assessment Report on ASD (2001)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1957948,00.html

G2 First person 'I am 80 and still my son's only carer' Monday November 27, 2006 The Guardian

Barbara MacArthur's husband left her when she was four months pregnant. The baby was born with learning difficulties. Now 53, Howard still lives at home with her, but she worries about what will happen to him if she dies

- The son is actually autistic

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1811141,00.html

• Government turns charities into multimillion-pound businesses

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1197365.0.0.php

Disability charity in crisis over cash shortfall EMMA SEITH and DAVID LEASK  February 16 2007

EXCERPT - Aberdeen council has been subcontracting core services supporting 108 people with learning difficulties to Cornerstone for some time but has now set a single rate for all such work - regardless of who provides it. Cornerstore argues that the money on offer is tens of thousands less than the cost of delivering the service, an increasingly common complaint from voluntary-sector organisations already under pressure. Cornerstone's spokesman said: "The way someone else could provide the service cheaper is to pay staff less. But we don't think it's appropriate for people providing care services to be paid less than the folk stacking the shelves in Tesco. It's a demanding and responsible role."

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1253948.0.0.php - Charities subsidise state by £130m - Charities are subsidising the public sector by up to £130m a year, according to an official report. Leading charities such as Barnardo's, Capability Scotland and Quarriers are being forced to use their own funds to pay for services they provide for the state. As a result, a number of voluntary organisations say they are being forced to cut services. More than 70% of voluntary organisations which provide services such as social work, nursing or care services, are not recouping the full cost of the service from local authorities.

http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntary/comment/0,,1955275,00.html

 -  All change - Is the charity sector in danger of losing its voluntary ethos, asks Graham Leigh of Directory of Social Change   Thursday November 23, 2006 SocietyGuardian.co.uk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6087876.stm

- Last Updated: Thursday, 26 October 2006, 15:48 GMT 16:48 UK Support services reduction claim

Mr Parker said services to vulnerable people would be cut

Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker has said cuts in services for vulnerable people are inevitable. He has highlighted concerns that the "Supporting People" budget from the Scottish Executive will drop by about 20% over the next three years. An executive spokesperson contested that claim saying a reduction of just 3.5% had been agreed.

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1514&id=1643622006

 -  Edinburgh Evening News Mon 6 Nov 2006  Housing for disabled adults faces cash crisis

LINDA SUMMERHAYES HEALTH REPORTER (lsummerhayes@edinburghnews.com)

THE number of disabled people waiting for supported accommodation in Edinburgh

has soared in the last five years as city leaders battle a cash crisis.

New figures show that in September there were 136 people waiting to be housed

by Edinburgh City Council - a rise of 89 per cent since 2001.

Officials say they are unable to cope because of a severe shortage of funding

as the numbers of adults with learning difficulties grows.

An extra £1 million of funding was allocated from the health and social work

budget this year to look after adults with learning difficulties.

But the funding is £3m short of what is needed to cope with rising demand on

services.

EXCERPT

More than 40 per cent of those on the waiting list are being cared for at

home, often by aging parents who are struggling to cope.

More than 72 per cent had been waiting for supported accommodation for more

than a year and over a third for more than three years.

EXCERPT

Councillors will this week consider the waiting list figures which show that

while most of those on the waiting list are at home, others are waiting in

hospital and care homes or in temporary supported accommodation.

The Family Advice and Information Resource (FAIR), which supports adults with

learning disabilities and their carers, have said that many people are only

housed once their situation has become desperate because their carer has

died.

Project worker Pat Egan said: "We think part of the problem is that so many

more people are being diagnosed with ADHD and autism so there are more people

who need to be housed in supported accommodation.

"Previously, many of these people would have been left to fend for themselves

or would have ended up in care institution or even prison.

"But it is amazing the amount of elderly people who are looking after young

adults with learning disabilities who are staying at home.

"What is of particular concern is that in some cases people are not being

housed until the carer has died and they become an emergency. It's definitely

a growing problem."

The usual ding-dong between local and central government, and guess who loses out?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6432447.stm - Learning disability deaths probe 12^th March 2007 An independent inquiry is to be launched after a charity highlighted six deaths of people with learning disabilities in NHS care. Mencap's report says there is widespread ignorance in the NHS which has resulted in "institutional abuse". In each case, there are concerns the necessary care was not given because of the person's disability.

We know of one autistic child who was only diagnosed with a brain tumour once he had actually died – in spite of many visits to hospital over months by his parents.

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1427462006

-  Ministers 'short-change vulnerable children by £160m' PETER MACMAHONSCOTTISH GOVERNMENT EDITOR

THE Executive was yesterday accused of under-funding social work services for vulnerable children by more than £160 million this year.

`hard to measure` whether £3.2 billion is good value!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6193627.stm

Last Updated: Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 17:33 GMT Children's centres 'must do more'

The government wants 3,500 centres by 2010

State-funded children's centres must do much more to help teenage parents and single mothers, a report says.

The National Audit Office (NAO) found that fewer than a third of the 200 Sure Start centres it investigated were making efforts to reach the most needy. It also said while families valued the scheme, it was hard to measure whether the £3.2bn investment was good value. So far, 1,000 centres have opened in England to bring education, childcare, employment and health under one roof. The scheme was launched in 1998 and is primarily targeted at the under-fives living in deprived areas.

Long-term impact

To compile the report, auditors visited 30 centres and interviewed managers at almost 200 of them.

They found more must be done to make baby weighing, health checks and careers advice available to the families who needed most help. These included lone and teenage parents, disabled children's parents and some ethnic minority families in areas with small minority populations.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1635394,00.html

• UK Hell of the carers driven to breaking point

http://society.guardian.co.uk/longtermcare/story/0,,1730697,00.html

 -  the absence of real care for disabled or their carers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6247367.stm

 -  Last Updated: Wednesday, 10 January 2007, 11:05 GMT       Many 'excluded from social care'

  EXCERPTS Elderly and disabled people are increasingly relying on family and friends to care for them, inspectors have warned. Access to services was being tightened to include only those deemed to be in the most serious need. The proportion of people who are over 65 is growing - over the next 20 years projections indicate it will rise by 53%.  The number of young disabled people is also increasing. Between 1975 and 2002 it rose by 62%.    Thousands of people who need extra help to remain independent are being ignored   To cope two-thirds of councils only offer support to those with substantial needs.  The Local Government Association predicts over the next few years no local

authority will provide low or moderate support, including general home care support.  The Commission said family and friends are helping to fill some of the gaps.  Nearly five million people are classed as carers, with 1.5 million of those providing over 20 hours of care per week.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/77927.html

 -  Psychiatric ward bed shortages hit young  HELEN PUTTICK, Health Correspondent  January 03 2007

    Teenagers are being forced into adult psychiatric units because of bed shortages in suitable wards, according to a new report. The study in Scotland found eight out of 10 youths who suffered psychosis for the first time were admitted to adult wards. Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Leonie Boeing, of St John's Hospital, Livingston, who worked on the research, described the findings as shocking. She said adult wards had lower staffing levels and the level of disturbance

that could be caused by older patients was not appropriate for young people coping with mental health problems. She also said units for adolescents offered more activities relevant to teenagers including access to schooling and more therapy relevant to teenagers.  The study, published today in the British Journal of Psychiatry, was based on a survey of 101 adolescents treated over a number of years in South Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Lothians. Since the survey was carried out, Dr Boeing said more beds for teenager with mental health problems have been cut in Scotland.

And no possibility of redress or reform ......

http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1009789,00.html

 -  Care staff pledged legal protection over false abuse allegations Press Association Thursday July 31, 2003 SocietyGuardian.co.uk

  Health and social care staff cannot be sued by parents who have been wrongly accused of abusing their children, the court of appeal ruled today. But children can take action if they are victims of negligence as a result of care proceedings or investigations of abuse. The ruling came after three senior judges headed by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, heard three test cases involving child abuse accusations by health professionals against a parent.

FURTHER EXTRACT Lord Phillips said it was no longer legitimate to rule there was no duty of care owed to a child over abuse investigations or care proceedings. But the judge said the position of the parents was "very different". He said: "We consider that there are cogent reasons of public policy for concluding that, where child care decisions are being taken, no common law duty of care should be owed to the parents."

© Fiona Sinclair, Wednesday 4^th April 2007