Tag Archives: Learning difficulties

Learning-disabled people are dying because they receive less good care

Following the Winterbourne View abuse scandal, there’s been a lot of well-intentioned talk but little actual progress in improving the care of vulnerable people

Connor Sparrowhawk, who drowned in the bath in a specialist NHS inpatient unit in Oxford in 2013

By the time Robin Kitt Callender died, she had endured eight weeks of intermittent vomiting and diarrhoea, and her weight had fallen to five stone. In the four months before she collapsed at her Essex care home, the 53-year-old had visited her GP six times and A&E twice, but her inflammatory bowel disease remained undiagnosed.

Disabled man ‘put up for auction’ on care website

James Knight’s sister, Emma, was shocked to find his details on a website

The family of a man with a learning disability say they are horrified that their local council put him “up for auction” on a care website.

Emma Knight found Devon County Council was inviting companies to bid to look after her 45-year-old brother James.

The website listed other personal details that James’s family say could easily identify him.

Call for review of Carer’s Allowance application process

The Carers’ Association has called for a complete review of the application process for the Carer’s Allowance in respect of those looking after people with learning disabilities and autism.

The association said it is encountering a worrying rise in the rejection rate following desk-top assessments at the Department of Social Protection.

The father of a 16-year-old boy with autism drives 50 miles a day to bring his son to the Stepping Stones ABA school in Kilcloon, Co Meath.

Anthony Doolan gave up his permanent, pensionable job ten years ago to care for his son Paul full-time.

He said his son cannot be left at any stage on his own and needs to be under constant supervision.