‘Services Should Support Independence For People With Learning Disabilities’

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) responds to the Healthcare Commission report on neglect of people with learning disabilities:

“We are deeply concerned by the revelations in today’s report from the Healthcare Commission. The basic rights of people with learning disabilities continue to be ignored,” says Bill Kilgallon, chief executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) – the organisation responsible for developing good practice in social care.

“Social care and health services must enable people to live their lives as independently as possible within the community. The majority of those in hospitals could and should be cared for in their own homes or within residential services.

“Services must base their practice on the evidence-base, promote independence, invest in the skills of their staff and strengthen their leadership.

“Many social care and health services already deliver excellent and empowering support to people with learning disabilities – so why can’t others? By providing good community-based services that promote independence, the majority of people would not have to go into long-stay hospitals in the first place. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that it is perfectly possible to communicate and involve people with learning disabilities in decisions about their care. There is no excuse for poor
performance.

“If services based their care on the evidence about what works and the lessons learnt from previous inquiries, the sort of abuse described today would be a thing of the past – not an ongoing issue. Clear guidance, such as that provided by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, is available free of charge to all who require it.”