Making life more accessible

(Extract from an article. Holman 2002)

 

Valuing People is the Government’s way forward for services for people with learning difficulties.

 

Valuing People has been a first for the Government in the way it worked with and listened to the views of people with learning difficulties themselves.

 

Here we briefly look at just one part of that work, how the User Group got started and how it has worked on the Learning Disability National Strategy for the Government over the past 2 years

 

We also describe how the User Group worked on such areas as accessible information, as well as looking forward to the next steps that will enable people with learning difficulties to be fully involved in all service areas starting with the new regional and national forums.

 

Valuing People, the first Learning Disability strategy for over 30 years, came about in a piecemeal rather than planned way. The Department of Health started on the route to a White Paper in 1998. As John Hersov writes "the idea of a user group came about from a face to face meeting of members of People First, Change and Mencap with ministers and civil servants". The Minister had wanted to establish a way of listening to what people had to say and was establishing an advisory group. People were asked about the best ways of involving those who had experience of using services in the Department's new advisory group; they all opted for a separate ‘users' group. The user group also sent representatives to the main advisory group.

 

The group had their own support, initially from Ken Simons and later from myself (Andrew Holman) and John Hersov. The best format was found to be holding meetings before and after the large main group meetings to prepare for and feedback from those meetings. Members became established as contributors to the advisory process, they found they were listened to. Civil servants came to the user group meetings and were able to brief on current issues and support the group in their role.

 

In December 1999 the work of the advisory group was stepped up a notch when the plan to develop a strategy was announced. At the launch meeting, a user group member, Richard West (now a consultant with Inspired Services), questioned the Minister about work and benefit problems for people with learning difficulties. This was initially brushed aside as a matter unconnected with the DoH, until it was pointed out  that we had heard that thinking was now meant to be ‘joined up'. And so the strategy engaged with other departments, acknowledging that the lives and services for people with learning difficulties had finally moved away from the Health dominated focus of the past. Richard's question proved to many the extent to which the Government intended to listen to the views of users prompting the comment "it is really good to see the Government has got people with learning difficulties on the agenda".

 

The need for accessible information was a frequent point made by the user group. We were able to provide accessible minutes and notes, we could produce briefing papers, but some areas of Government always seemed to be so busy they leave little or no time to produce the required accessible information. Civil servants were keen to learn and some members of the group helped provide training to the whole section on the production of accessible information. While some civil service practices of detailing issues in increasingly complex language died hard, the flow of more accessible information slowly increased. The receipt of such information and good support from members' own organisations to go through it, enabled wider consultation and better preparation for meetings.

 

There were many meetings, conferences and consultations, as well as individual representations from people with learning difficulties across the country, adding up to many hundreds of people with learning difficulties directly involved in contributing to the White Paper. The ‘user' group also travelled around the country listening to the views of others. These were fed back into the advisory group and published in the user group report ‘Nothing About Us Without Us'. The group found some examples of good work but also many others that raised concerns. The Minister appeared to listen to what people had to say, a group member agreed saying '"Nothing About Us Without Us' means the power is handed over to us". In Liverpool, people talked about access to justice and the courts and the White Paper included these issues. Others talked about boring day services and a lack of work opportunities, services are to be modernised and work opportunities increased. Others talked about the need for Direct Payments to be more readily available to people with learning difficulties. As a result of this concern they are to become mandatory and the sluggish authorities we heard about will soon have to give Direct Payments when requested.

 

A wider group of people from different regions came together over a two-day residential workshop to look at what information people with learning difficulties might want from the White Paper. Eve Rank said, "there were sixteen people with learning difficulties deciding on how to put the White Paper into an accessible format". They said they wanted as much information as possible. Putting it together caused considerable problems when the White Paper itself kept changing. It had suddenly gained a far greater scrutiny due to the impending election announcement. The original timetable was suddenly thrown out on the Friday afternoon we were recording the audio for the C.D. the call came from the Minister announcing he was going to launch it the following Tuesday, we were also asked to include a bigger mention about people's rights to vote and that mentioning hospital closures could be politically sensitive at such times. We needed to change the graphic and words to say that everyone would leave the last of the long stay hospitals instead!

 

The excitement had been electric, we fully expected an election to be announced the day following the launch. If we could not get the reports published in time the White Paper would be postponed until the Autumn, if it surfaced at all! By Friday night none of the main reports were ready to go to the printers. After several sleepless nights they were ready for the launch on Tuesday. The rush meant a low-key launch, overshadowed by media coverage of the foot and mouth tragedy. But at least it was out!

 

The result is another first for Government, an accessible White Paper, which as Eve confirms, "I am pretty pleased with that". It comes with a pack of other accessible information, the full White Paper and other reports. The accessible White Paper called the ‘really useful guide to the Government's ideas on how to get services right for all people with learning disabilities' was produced using paid models to help make the main chapter points and lots of illustrations for the detail.

 

The consultation group talked about people who could not read and asked for an audio version as well as one they could print out in bigger type. The result was a tape and a C.D. that works in an ordinary C.D. player as well as automatically playing in a computer. There are instructions on how to make the text bigger and a button to click for it to be read out loud. The C.D. also comes with clip art that can be used for your own local information about the strategy.

 

The user group's work is not finished, they now face a bigger challenge with the need to change to a regionally representative, National Forum of people with learning difficulties who will continue commenting on policy and will be able to keep an eye on how the new strategy is being put into practice.

 

 

Andrew Holman 2002

 

 

Return to top

Inspired Services has an unparalleled track record in supporting people with learning difficulties to achieve at the highest levels.

 

We supported people to have their say in Valuing People. To form the National and Regional Forums of people with learning difficulties that become the force they are today, including support to establish the Learning Disability Taskforce. (More detail below)

 

We provide support for consultations and other meetings that properly include people with learning difficulties.

 

We have enabled people to employ their own staff, choose their own support and choose between tenders for work.

 

Individual support can be provided by our independent advocacy services.

 

Please contact us for more information

 

Click here for Contact details...