My fight to save my son’s care

2:00pm Thursday 4th April 2013 in News By Melanie Vass

BRAVE: Lorraine Zavadil from Throop with her severely disabled son Tarik

A BOURNEMOUTH mother, who cares full-time for her severely disabled son, has been invited to the House of Commons to share her experiences with MPs.

Lorraine Zavadil will tell politicians how she was forced to take legal action against Bournemouth council after it tried to slash her son’s care package.

She also hopes to describe the “insurmountable” pressure she and other parents of disabled children are under

The 53-year-old is one of around 50 people invited to the Right to Care? event.

The event will be attended by Esther McVey, Minister for Disabled People, and Edward Timpson, Minister for Chil-dren and Families, and it has been organised by campaigner Rosa Monckton and Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, who help-ed Lorraine win her 18-month battle with Bournemouth council.

Lorraine leads a team of three carers who provide 24-hour care for 28-year-old son Tarik.

He has congenital cerebral palsy, epilepsy and profound learning disabilities, is registered blind and is unable to speak.

Initially, the council tried to cut the budget for his care by almost 70 per cent. Both parties eventually settled out-of-court and agreed a reduction of around 11.5 per cent.

The Local Government Ombudsman later concluded the council had been guilty of maladministration in its handling of Tarik’s case.

She said: “I will be saying the families of disabled children and adults are often under an insurmountable burden of care and this must be acknowledged by the state in its treatment of such vulnerable families.

“They are often exhausted from the mental and physical demands on them, sometimes deprived of sleep, and due to care demands often under huge financial pressures too.

“Our values as a country of caring about the lives, and providing for the needs, of this most at risk group are being eroded. People are dying.

“How is it possible we can live with that and still call ourselves civilised?

“Recourse to law for this most at risk group must never be undermined by reducing access to Legal Aid, because the law is increasingly the last chance for this profoundly vulnerable group to have someone speak up for them, represent them and protect their right to care.”

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