Charity Warns That Social Care For Disabled People Is At ‘Crisis Point’

by Carol Adl

New research published  by the charity Scope warns that social care for disabled people is now at ‘crisis point’ due to being severely underfunded.

The research which was published today found that chronic under funding has meant that disabled people, who rely on social care for their independence, are often left hungry and isolated from the rest of society. Some are forced to sleep in their clothes or left waiting up to fourteen hours to use a toilet.
The charity is calling on the Chancellor George Osborne to invest in social care in the upcoming spending review, later this month
Mark Atkinson, Scope’s chief executive Mark Atkinson said: “Our findings show the horrific consequences that disabled people face as a result of our collapsing social care system.
Welfare weekly reports:
Disabled people represent a third of all social care users, but more than half struggle to get the vital care they need. According to the research, only 18% are given the right support package to meet their basic care needs.
Social care is vital in providing support for Britain’s disabled people, enabling them to live as independently as possible and participate fully in society. However, 55% of the 500 disabled people surveyed by Scope said social care “never supports their independence”.
With the right level of support, many disabled people can continue to work, learn and socialise with friends and family. 79% of social care users who participated in the survey agreed with this.
However, Scope found that social care packages for 83% of disabled people do not include enough hours, and too few are given enough choice or control over the type of care they receive – 41% said they get no choice or control whatsoever.
Worryingly, one in three (33%) users expect social care services to worsen over the next five years, while 10% fear they may lose support entirely.
The UK Government controversially scrapped the Independent Living Fund (ILF) in July 2015, devolving responsibility for supporting ILF users to local authorities in England and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Disability rights campaigners fear the changes will lead to a decline in social care services for disabled people. 32% of social care users are not getting the standard of care agreed in their care plans.
Co-founder on the campaign group Disabled People Against Cuts, Debbie Jolly, told the Morning Star: “Disabled people’s basic human rights and dignity are being removed to leave them in dangerous and life-threatening situations.
“The closure of the independent living fund in June was supposedly done to avoid any postcode lottery.