Delivering the promise of Community Living: A perspective from the UK

Aug 17 2011 12:00AM

It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to be able to offer a modest contribution to this important edition of Integracia on deinstitutionalisation. This theme is important to me because my profoundly disabled sister lived much of her life in a British institution until this closed in 1997 – and much of my life’s work has been focused on creating the conditions in which she and every disabled person in my country can (in the words of the recent United Nations Convention) live independently, included in the community*. It is also important to me because I first came to Slovakia more than 20 years ago and have been following, mostly from a distance, the efforts you have been making to advance this common agenda in your country. My understanding – and indeed the premise of this edition – is that the time is now ripe to fully realise the promise of community living in Slovakia.

Against this background, Dr Slavomir Krupa invited me to offer a perspective from the UK and other international experience on the key requirements for achieving this transformation successfully.

Social care and health integration – the service user perspective

Aug 15 2011 12:00AM

“Yet, is integrated service delivery always the right thing in every case? Well, it depends on what you want to achieve and for whom. In many cases, joint and integrated working between health and social care professionals is just what the doctor (or social worker!) ordered, but the measure of success shouldn’t be how perfect the process is, but the impact of the integration on the lives of service users and carers.”

The Office for Disability Issues: Independent Living Strategy Demonstration projects reports

Aug 15 2011 12:00AM

The demonstration project aim is to show how to bring about, and embed, the changes required to increase choice and control for disabled people.
The Support, Planning and Brokerage (SAB) project was set up to demonstrate The demonstration project aim is to show how to bring about, and embed, the changes required to increase choice and control for disabled people.
The Support, Planning and Brokerage (SAB) project was set up to demonstrate how resources could be transferred from traditional, local authority care-management systems to user-led support, advocacy and brokerage. The aim was to enable disabled people to have more choice and control over the support that they need.

Open Public Services White Paper

Jul 19 2011 12:00AM

Open Public Services pledges that a range of providers from the voluntary and private sectors will be able to bid to run services. The paper says services should be procured at an individual level when possible, at a community level if this is not possible and only at a local authority or national level when absolutely necessary.
The white paper includes several proposals affecting third sector organisations, such as:
- A consultation on a right to appeal for any organisation that feels it has been unfairly treated when attempting to take over a public sector service - A reduction in the Tupe burdens for those taking on public sector workers as part of a public sector contract
- An ongoing review on VAT barriers that impede organisations, including charities, social enterprises and new mutuals, from taking over public services
Organisations and individuals have until the end of September to respond to the paper.
Ten key questions on the government's public services reform plans, posed by Anna Coote, the New Economics Foundation's head of social policy. She asks:
"The aim is to promote more 'payment by results', which can only be achieved if actions have direct, measurable consequences. What's a 'result' and who decides? Where some services are concerned, a good result is that nothing happens for a long period of time. Is there a danger of boiling down services to quantifiable outputs that do nothing sustainable to improve people's lives?"

The Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework - Handbook of definitions

Jul 19 2011 12:00AM

This DH Data Definitions Handbook sets out the technical detail of each measure in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework, with worked examples - to minimise confusion and inconsistency in reporting and interpretation.

In This Together: Building knowledge about co-production

Jul 19 2011 12:00AM

This report tells the stories of people who are improving public services by working with the people who use them and delivering public services in a radically different way. It describes a range of practical projects and includes personal testimonies from individuals directly involved. These examples have at their heart equal and reciprocal relationships between professionals, people using services, their families and neighbours – an approach known as ‘co-production’.

Co-production: A manifesto for growing the core economy

Jul 19 2011 12:00AM

As far back as Aristotle, philosophers have understood that family and community relationships are a second economy. Environmental economist Neva Goodwin has called it the ‘core economy’. This pamphlet shows how public services can help to rebuild and reinvigorate this core economy and realise its potential.

CQC to double inspections of adult care services

Jul 19 2011 12:00AM

Adult social care services would be inspected at least once a year under Care Quality Commission plans to call time on "light-touch" regulation. The plan, revealed exclusively to Community Care by CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower, comes on the back of a sharp drop in site visits in the past year, because inspectors were diverted into the regulator's programme of re-registering all providers.

The cost of implementing personal health budgets

Jul 19 2011 12:00AM

The third interim independent evaluation report on the personal health budgets pilot programme has been published by PHBE, the Personal Health Budgets Evaluation team led by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent. It looks at set-up costs involved for the twenty in-depth evaluated pilot sites to implement personal health budgets. Costs examined include project management, system development, workforce development and support planning and brokerage.

Who's rushing on disability?

Jul 11 2011 12:00AM

The Disability Alliance – representing leading disability charities in the UK –has launched a legal challenge against the Government over its plans to abolish Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and introduce a new benefit (Personal Independence Payment – PIP).
The Government has claimed the legal challenge is jumping the gun a bit – that the Disability Alliance is second guessing the impact of the reform and spreading panic unnecessarily.

Cuts to adult social care to worsen next year, warns Adass

Jul 11 2011 12:00AM

Cuts to adult social care are set to get worse in 2012-13 following big reductions in funding this year, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services president Peter Hay warned today.

New research reveals benefits of building community capacity

Jul 11 2011 12:00AM

Study reveals that schemes like time banks, befriending services and community navigator schemes have the potential to provide savings up to £1300 in savings per individual per year.

Telecare Ready: Creating a universal entitlement to telecare

Jul 11 2011 12:00AM

You can download a copy of Telecare Ready: Creating a universal entitlement to telecare from the website of the Strategic Society Centre at:

Research on cost benefit

Jul 11 2011 12:00AM

Martin Knapp of LSE and Think Local, Act Personal have published a cost benefit evaluation of timebanking, befriending and community navigator schemes. It found that timebanking cost £450 per member per year, and made savings of £1300 per member per year. Befriending cost £80 per older person per year and saved £300. Community navigator schemes cost £480 and saved at least £900.

Private hospitals are no place for people with learning disabilities

Jun 28 2011 12:00AM

Last week more than 80 leading figures in the learning disability sector lent their names to a letter to the prime minister demanding an end to the placement of people in such facilities. There is, the letter says, "no place for hospitals such as Winterbourne View" and seeking to improve them will not do. "The model is wrong and does not work."

To read a copy of the letter contact John Adams: info@vodg.org.uk

Police are failing people with learning disabilities, says study

Jun 28 2011 12:00AM

Mencap report found that forces were not properly investigating hate crimes or treating victims as credible witnesses. ‘Stand by me.’

Are direct payments for social care still living up to their name?

Jun 28 2011 12:00AM

Personal budgets let people receiving social care select the services they want. But there is evidence choice is being compromised. Personal budgets "can and do work well for everyone", according to an independent evaluation published today. Between half and three-quarters of budget-holders report a positive impact on most aspects of their daily lives and fewer than one in 10 finds any negative effects.

Building Community Capacity to Put People First

Jun 28 2011 12:00AM

The project brings together councils and their community partners to investigate the role of strong and resilient communities in transforming social care.

New Research Shows That People With Learning Disabilities Are Ten Times More Likely to Have Sight Problems

Jun 28 2011 12:00AM

New research commissioned by VODG members RNIB and SeeAbility, shows that the estimated 1 million adults in the UK with learning disabilities are 10 times more likely than the rest of the population to be blind or partially sighted. People with severe or profound learning disabilities are the most likely to have serious sight problems. In addition, six out of 10 people with learning disabilities need to wear glasses.

SeeAbility and RNIB are calling for everyone with a learning disability to have a sight test every two years or more frequently if advised by an Optometrist.

We are Living Well but Dying Matters

Jun 28 2011 12:00AM

New short film 'We’re living well but Dying Matters', produced by CHANGE for Dying Matters and the National End of Life Care Programme, is about including people with learning difficulties in discussions around death, dying and bereavement.

Workforce Development Strategy

Jun 3 2011 12:00AM

The Workforce Development Strategy supports employers in developing a workforce that is equipped to achieve greater personalisation. It also offers clear deliverables to support workforce commissioning, planning and development to meet the new vision and priorities for adult social care.

Social care can benefit from Health Bill delay, says Adass

Jun 3 2011 12:00AM

Social care can benefit from the likely delay in the government's health reforms, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services' president has said. Peter Hay said delaying the Health and Social Care Bill resumption until the autumn could lead to changes that would enhance the integration of health and social care and pave the way for the planned reform of adult care law and finance next year.

Councils in the dock over disability

Jun 3 2011 12:00AM

“Birmingham didn’t cut social care services on a whim. It was faced with an impossible funding situation handed down to it from central government. And Justice Walker hasn’t magically fixed this problem. He simply told Birmingham not to cut social care, and to find the money by cutting something else.”

Better for less?

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

Innovation is vital for the reform of the Public Sector? But how will it be achieved? This article is part of a feature exploring how innovation will be vital over the coming years to ensure public services can achieve better for less. But where is it most needed and how will it be achieved?

State of care in England (2009/10)

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

CQC annual state of care report highlights improvements to health and social care services but warns of crucial time ahead.
The report found:
? 80% of services meet safe practice targets, double that in 2003.
? 34% of councils are now rated as excellent up from 25% the previous year.
? Care for mental health patients on inpatient wards remains overcrowded and compromises people's dignity.
? Safeguarding practice was identified as a strength in two-thirds of councils.
? The number of over-75s who had a repeated emergency admission to hospital increased, suggesting a lack of community support.
? Support for stroke survivors in the community is patchy.
The report concluded that the quality of services overall had risen. Only 1% of regulated services were judged poor in April 2010 compared with 3% two years earlier.

Integrating health and social care: Where next?

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

The coalition government has made clear its commitment to the integration of health and social care in its proposals for reform. In the context of the intense financial and demographic challenges facing both health and social care, this paper offers a fresh assessment of the prospects for integrating health and social care and the opportunities and challenges arising from the government’s proposals.

Adult Social Care Excellence Award

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

CQC is seeking expressions of interest to run a licensed excellence award for adult social care providers. The Commission announced plans for the new award in February and now wants groups interested in running the scheme to come forward.
The CQC-backed award – due to launch in April 2012 – will be open to all social care providers offering regulated services, including care homes, domiciliary care, supported living and Share Lives services, rehabilitation and residential substance misuse services.
The new scheme will be voluntary and subject to a proportionate charge. Providers who achieve the award will see it published on CQC’s website, alongside their core ‘provider profile’ showing compliance with CQC’s own essential standards (due to launch later this year).
The award will be delivered by third party organisations licensed by CQC. CQC wants there to be a number of schemes available nationwide so that care providers can choose a scheme which is most suitable and affordable to them.
CQC is now inviting expressions of interest to run the scheme under licence (see pre-procurement process outlined below). A formal tender process will commence in April and further information will be made available at this time.
Successful applicants will need a track record of delivering audit or inspection programmes as well as knowledge of the social care sector. CQC is keen to encourage partnerships across the private and voluntary sectors and is happy to hear from bodies with experience in one of these areas who may be interested in submitting a collaborative tender. Interest from voluntary sector organisations is actively encouraged.

How have the cuts affected adult social care?

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

According to the King’s Fund, by 2014-15 there could be a £1.2bn funding gap in adult social care. So far, the pattern of cuts in adult social care varies wildly. While Birmingham is cutting £51m from its £293m budget for adult care, neighbouring Solihull says it is investing in it and is making only one significant saving, of £279,000, by redesigning day services.
David Brindle

Guide to support workforce commissioning in adult social care

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

Skills for Care, in partnership with ADASS, has launched a step-by-step guide to support commissioning in adult social care, aimed at local authorities and their partners.
The easy to use guide aims to help local authority commissioners break down the key steps and processes needed to commission the right workforce in the right places to implement national priorities using Integrated Local Area Workforce Strategies (InLAWS).

Government could abolish all council social care duties

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

The government will take social care "back to year zero" if it removes duties on councils to support service users, it has been warned, (see item above).
It follows communities secretary Eric Pickles' declaration of war on councils' "barmy rules and regulations".
Family court guardians and lawyers have hit out at the consultation, with one lawyer branding it “sneaky”, “insulting” and “deeply concerning”.
“It is hard to believe that the government could consult on changes to primary legislation in this way. It is so sneaky. And it is insulting to professionals and vulnerable groups that duties of care are even included on this list,” a senior family lawyer said.

Continued government support for people with learning disabilities

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

Paul Burstow MP, Minister for Care Services, has announced continued government support to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities. This includes extending contracts for the Learning Disabilities Confidential Inquiry and Public Health Observatory to March 2013, as detailed in David Flory's letter of 1 April 2010.

Who benefits?

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

‘Who benefits,’ a new report from The National Autistic Society (NAS) is based on the stories of over 250 people with autism, family members and carers. They told the NAS that DLA was an absolute lifeline, supporting them to be more independent, or sometimes simply helping them to get by.
The report challenges the cuts to DLA proposed by the Government, and sets out our recommendations to make the new system work better for adults with autism.

Cameron's 'big society' will strengthen the market, not local communities

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

The rhetoric of the prime minister that advocates decentralising power and autonomy to local communities is of significant intuitive value. People have a real interest in preserving and extending their freedom to participate in their local communities.

Prevention and Social Care for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Apr 26 2011 12:00AM

This scoping review by Professor Eric Emerson and colleagues at Lancaster University explores the issue of prevention in relation to adult social care services for people with learning disabilities and sets our the evidence base for:
• options for preventative actions
• implications for adult social care practice
• possibilities for modelling the consequences of preventative strategies.

In the reduction of social care and health care budgets, society still requires a wider range of support than crisis intervention services alone. This important paper on prevention reminds us that crisis intervention is not the most effective strategy. Prevention and early intervention for people with learning disabilities can improve their lives, deliver better opportunities and reduce stress for their carers.

Options for Supported Living quarterly newsletter

Apr 18 2011 12:00AM

Please see the attached document to be able to view the latest Options for Supported Living newsletter

Investing in better places: international perspectives

Mar 29 2011 12:00AM

Sharon Chisholm, Knowledge Exchange Specialist at the Centre for Housing Research and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St. Andrews, and David Waite, PhD Researcher at the Centre for Housing Research at the University of St. Andrews.
The place of cities and the role of infrastructure There is a growing realisation that the effective management of places – in particular, the spatial
patterns of government investments – has key roles in shaping national outcomes in relation to competitiveness, cohesion and sustainability. Neighbourhoods, cities, city-regions and broader
spatial scales all reflect and shape national patterns of development. From the perspective of economic policies, they provide a meeting place for various enterprises and are often the pace setters and determinants of regional activities and therefore a nation’s wealth.

Using "The Big Plan" with people moving house-combining with housing mentoring

Mar 28 2011 12:00AM

Connect in the North is an organisation led by people with learning difficulties. They have been helping people with learning difficulties change their lives with person centred planning since 2001. Housing Options is also a voluntary organisation. They work across the UK giving information and advice to people with learning difficulties and their families about housing.

Raising Our Sights – the Government response

Feb 15 2011 12:00AM

The Government has published its response to the Raising Our Sights report by Professor Jim Mansell (March 2010). Professor Mansell’s report responded to concerns raised in the Valuing People Now consultation that the needs of adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities were not being properly addressed.

The Big Society and its challenge

Feb 8 2011 12:00AM

The Big Society Challenge’ brings together a range of authors to explore the issues surrounding the Big Society. It is part of The Keystone Development Trust Publications series aimed at understanding issues in challenging policy areas that have a direct impact on communities and promoting dialogue amongst practitioners, policy makers and academics. Keystone Publications are intended to be thought provoking interventions in policy debates, as well as reporting on primary research. The publications are co-authored by academics and practitioners, often with the support of volunteer researchers and editorial assistants. It is a big document (228 pages) but as an edited collection it appears to cover every aspect of thpolicy idea of Big Society and includes a series of case studies. If you want to explore the notion of Big Society and its potential implications this is an excellent starting point!

The future direction of social care

Feb 8 2011 12:00AM

Welcome to the first Putting People First e-bulletin giving you the latest news about social care transformation including self-directed support and personal budgets.

It includes important news relevant to people working on transformation in England, and also information about new publications

Localism needs leadership, warns Deloitte report

Feb 8 2011 12:00AM

The government’s plans to shift public service delivery to a local level could hit a wall if communities are not given clarity and leadership, a new report warns this week. The report A little local difficulty - (16pages) from Deloitte LLP, claims in that the government’s flagship policy of devolving power, central to its localism and Big Society agendas, “requires leadership to build consensus and bring clarity to the varying interpretations of what localism means"

Procuring for social good

Feb 8 2011 12:00AM

Including a social value test in procurement is not only possible but also necessary for service users and the community where value for money shouldn't just mean cheapest

Riven Vincent had no choice but to cry for helpTo get support, families with a disabled child are forced to describe their lives as thwarted and unhappy

Jan 21 2011 12:00AM

Are you happy? Imagine if, in order to be able to do the simplest things – from popping out to the shops to taking a shower, you had to answer, "No" to that question. Imagine if you had to emphasise this unhappiness to complete strangers, who then wrote it down on a sheet to copy and distribute to other strangers. This is what my teenager daughter has had to do, time and again, over the last few months. She is disabled and has just turned 18, which means she has to be assessed for support by adult social care. "Are you happy?" is one of the questions on the assessment form. Unless she repeatedly says "No", she won't get any support.

Ten questions to ask about the Health & Social Care Bill

Jan 14 2011 12:00AM

The King’s Fund sets out ten key questions to ask about the Health and Social Care Bill which is about to be published, to enact the proposed reforms, the questions consider what key issues need to be resolved.

Get out of your comfort zone, disability living allowance cuts are relevant to all

Jan 14 2011 12:00AM

The measure is being justified not on cost grounds but on the basis that it would stop duplication of funding for transport provision. An assumption charities say is wrong.

New qualifications to replace NVQs ready

Jan 14 2011 12:00AM

The Health and Social Care level 2 and 3 diplomas on the new qualifications and credit framework are now available. These qualifications replace the Health and Social Care (HSC) NVQs level 2 and 3. There are options to take a generic HSC Diploma or a specialist dementia or learning disability pathway which allows learners to tailor their learning to their job role. There are also smaller qualifications available on the QCF that can be used for continuing professional development (CPD).

Learning disability commissioning relies on inaccurate data

Jan 4 2011 12:00AM

Service planning relies heavily on estimates and the costs of residential care vary wildly, says David Brindle

Although most people with a learning disability live in the community, the balance of spending on services has never reflected that. So it is hugely significant that, according to official data just released, expenditure by English councils on residential care for learning disabled adults fell in 2009-10 for the first time

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2009-10

Jan 4 2011 12:00AM

This annual report describes the wide range of government funded projects supporting the development, introduction and evaluation of assistive technology that might increase the range of activities and independence or well being of disabled and older people.

New guidance to protect people with learning disabilities from forced Marriage

Jan 4 2011 12:00AM

To mark International Day of Disabled Persons (3 December), new guidance to prevent people with learning disabilities being victims of forced marriage has been launched by the Forced Marriage Unit. The guidance was developed in conjunction with learning disability charities the Ann Craft Trust and the Judith Trust. New research carried out by the charities suggests that people with learning disabilities are at risk of being forced into marriage, and are less likely to report the abuse.

Best Interest Decisions study published

Jan 4 2011 12:00AM

Best Interests Decisions study by the Norah Fry Institute has been published.

DLA Mobility component

Jan 4 2011 12:00AM

As we move into the New Year it’s important to keep up pressure on the government by encouraging supporters to write to their local MPs asking them to take-up this concern with Ministers.
The Disability Living Allowance reform – public consultation is now on line.
Please respond to this consultation as a matter of priority and feed in your concerns. Don't worry about filling in all the sections just use the available space for this issue. You will find the consultation here:

Right to Control

Jan 4 2011 12:00AM

The first five “Right to Control Trailblazers” are being launched on 13 December. Trailblazers are partnerships between local authorities, Jobcentre Plus and disabled people’s organisations

Big society will be broken by spending cuts, says think tank report

Nov 22 2010 12:00AM

New Economics Foundation says the voluntary sector faces an impossible task in filling the void left by the state.

Big Society

Nov 22 2010 12:00AM

ResPublica has launched its latest report, 'The Civil Effect,' which warns that the development of David Cameron’s Big Society will fail unless urgent action is taken to better support civil society in our public services.

Big Society

Nov 22 2010 12:00AM

Read an overview of the political philosophy underpinning the Big Society and implications for health policy in England.

Welfare state expresses an ideal of the good society

Nov 22 2010 12:00AM

Cuts are an ideological assault on the concept of welfare and the market economy denies our nobler side.

Providers 'disregarding rights of supported living tenants'

Sep 14 2010 12:00AM

Supported housing providers are failing to respect the tenancy rights of learning disabled people, government-commissioned research has found

Charities claim their slice of Cameron's 'big society' pie

Aug 20 2010 12:00AM

This new report by the Institute for Public Care says voluntary groups can offer 'gain without pain' savings and should takeover more of the work of the public sector.

Personal budget rates double in past year

Aug 20 2010 12:00AM

The proportion of service users and carers on personal budgets in England has doubled in the past year, figures published today show.
The NHS Information Centre said 13% of disabled adults, older people and carers who used community services were receiving personal budgets in 2009-10, up from 6.7% in 2008-2009.

Housing Associations and the future of the voluntary sector

Aug 20 2010 12:00AM

This new report for the JRF and Baring Foundation covers topical issues around public service provision, independence and aspirations now expressed as ‘Big Society’.

Third Sector Investment Programme: Innovation excellence and service development fund 2011-12 - Information pack for third sector organisations

Aug 11 2010 12:00AM

This document provides third sector organisations with information about the Third Sector Investment Programme’s Innovation Excellence and Service Development Fund. It provides information to help assess suitability to apply and details the funding themes for 2011-12, the priority areas for each theme and the criteria to be used for assessing applications. The 2011-12 fund closes to applications on 1 November at 12pm.

A welfare system for the 21st century

Jul 5 2010 12:00AM

Employment Minister Chris Grayling today announced a series of reforms to deliver a 21st century welfare system.

The new Work Programme will replace the current back to work schemes and provide a coherent package of support for people out of work, regardless of the barriers they face or the benefits they claim. The Government is inviting expressions of interest from the private, public and voluntary sectors to help deliver this.

A Brighter Future for Alex

Jun 2 2010 12:00AM

Following recent news stories about an increase in the number of mothers who continue with their pregnancies after a positive tesr for Down's Syndrome in their unborn children, Sean Kelly met Paola Nono, mother of Alex, an 18-month old boy with Down's Syndrome, she talks about how she made her decision and why

Harness - New Technology

Jun 2 2010 12:00AM

Harness new technology to give people more independence
Two years ago, Martin Nicholas went on a Paradigm study tour to
Wisconsin in the USA, a state recognised for high quality individualised
services. He returned with some exciting ideas about supporting people at
night. It’s all about harnessing new technology.

Background Briefing: Personalisation and the ILF – the need for major reform

May 15 2009 12:00AM

Independent Living Funds (ILFs): The independent review

SCIE research briefing 20: The implementation of individual budget schemes in adult social care

Mar 31 2009 1:47PM

This research briefing is now available on the SCIE website it examines some of the recent UK and international literature relating to the development of personal budget schemes for adults eligible for support from social care services. These include older people, people with physical or sensory disabilities, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health problems

New report: Individual Budgets Pilot Projects: Impact and outcomes for carers

Mar 31 2009 1:41PM

This study investigated the impact of IBs on carers in terms of assessment, support planning, costs and outcomes.

shop4support

Mar 31 2009 12:12PM

shop4support is the new web-based marketplace that will transform how people manage their Individual Budgets online is now one step closer to be rolled out across the UK following a successful first phase programme.

Individual Budgets:Impacts and outcomes for carers

Mar 31 2009 12:00AM

Individual Budgets (IBs), piloted in 13 English local authorities, aimed to give greater flexibility, choice and control. Although primarily intended to benefit chronically sick, disabled and older people, IBs could also be expected to affect carers. This study investigated the impact of IBs on carers in terms of assessment, support planning, costs and outcomes.

Making decisions: The Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) service

Mar 31 2009 12:00AM

This document sets out the role and responsibilities of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This edition has been updated to reflect the requirements of the MCA and MCA DOLS legislation.

Person Centred Commissioning Booklet

Nov 17 2008 12:00AM

This booklet exploreswhat is working well in commissioning around the country and how this can be used in developing a person centred commissioning pathway for the future.

SCIE Knowledge review 20: Commissioning person-centred, cost-effective, local support for people with learning difficulties

Sep 9 2008 12:00AM

This knowledge review brings together knowledge from research and practice on commissioning person-centred, cost-effective, local support for people with learning disabilities who are labelled as having complex needs and/or challenging behaviour.

By Eric Emerson and Janet Robertson.

People with Learning Disabilities in England

Jun 12 2008 12:00AM

Report on the number of people with a learning disability in England. This report was commissioned by Mencap and published by the Centre for Disability Research on 28 May 2008.

Doing it for attention

Jun 1 2007 12:00AM

Paper on non physical reactive strategies from Tony Osgood

Valuing People Refresh

Jan 1 2007 12:00AM

Article by Peter Kinsella about the Valuing People Refesh from Community Connecting magazine, August 2007.

Falling on deaf ears

Jun 1 2006 12:00AM

Paper on self harm and self injury from Tony Osgood

Dreaming for real - The development of Partners for Inclusion in supporting people to shape and direct their own lives.

Jun 1 2005 12:00AM

Partners for Inclusion aims to deliver truly person centred support services, following its dream of providing individualised supports for people to have real lives as valued citizens in their communities. The article explores core principles and practical applications in getting the right relationships and considers some challenges in developing organisational culture and structures which support and reinforce its dream.

Fred's Story

Jun 1 2001 12:00AM

Story of how Fred moved into his own home