Some people with LD are now looking after parents. They are not known to Adult services. It needs to be flagged up with surgeries too. there is more pressure now than ever before. LD framework did not reflect personalisation (from 200 providers to 40). People have been offered direct payment instead. Family members are spending time to support people with learning disabilities. We need clear information in particular assessment support, how to appeal and complain (flowchart of some sort please) Carers and families should be put on a mailing list so that they know what is going on in their locality. Note: AIS does not allow to send emails out to everyone. Libraries and group can pass on information. Each LIG could set up their own email account and get feedback this way. Carers need meaningful information Charging policies and paying for care consultation: has everyone had a letter yet? consultations should be in easy read. Equal ops. Lobby Supportive communities: come to the LIG? Orange LIG The word respite does not appear anywhere The assessment report going to panel does not get given to the parents beforehand. It can lead to a lot of errors and concerns. Parents generally should be kept informed. Most parents will have an interest in their child whatever how old they are. Launchpad, please keep the parents informed even if there is not much news Not sure if equal partners People should use complaint procedure if not happy Families need to be included if they wise Page 6: community learning does not always know Young carers: what is happening? Page 7: health, magic number is 40!
adult that works out at £2.66 per hour, but does not include holiday pay, and they can only earn an additional £110 per week before the allowance is reduced. There needs to be transparency and there needs to be the same rates/ support/information for all carers. Case Study 1 I received no information or support from HCC and have only managed to get a diagnosis for my daughter (age 20) a year ago. There is also no appeal process for refusal of support. When an assessment goes to panel and is refused there is no information to tell you what you can do next to appeal this decision. When people are offered respite support they are often told that the person they care for has to go away from home for up to three weeks instead of having the option of support within the home. I have also never seen or been told about the Learning Disability Plan until now/workshops or how I could be involved. This Case study was not an isolated case, so suggestions for things to improve the situation Clear information about, who to contact for assessments/support. (The Contact Centre is long winded, will not always transfer you to Social worker unless you are current case and have a direct line number). We know Social workers cannot keep “cases open” but every service users name must be on the system, so Contact Centre staff could transfer the family carer to the Duty Social worker at the team their son or daughter last had contact with. Family carers need support to continue to care and to save the Department money, they will only contact the Social Worker if there is an issue. Clear guidelines on the process and now to appeal/complain are needed, this could be in easy read, so everyone who