Author: Becky A'court
Medina Centre Closure: My Views
2:03 pm Thursday, 1st July, 2010, Isle of Wight
ShortURL: http://wig.ht/26t4
Read More- Accessibility, Community, Disability, Island-wide, Isle of Wight Council, Newport, Opinion Piece
(Recap: Becky’s been doing work experience with VB this week as part of her studies at Carisbrooke School. Here’s an opinion piece by her – Ed)
Yesterday I visited the Medina Centre in Newport for the first time, for the farewell BBQ. I had barely heard about it before, and, like many Islanders, knew nothing about its sudden closure.
When I went in, I was greeted by the smiling and laughing faces of those who didn’t fully understand what the day symbolised, and the tears of the few that did. Even though it was a sad day for everyone involved, I still felt an overwhelming sense of happiness, safety and family, to which I felt welcomed.
Why Is It Losing Funding?
The Isle of Wight council are taking funding away from Medina Centre and the Island-NHS say they can’t support it by themselves.
Most recently – last Monday (21th June) – the Island authorities told those in residential care that they’d realised that they’ve been paying twice for their day care. Once to those providing residential care and also to the day care centres. Some of the money paid to residential homes is meant to go towards looking after their residents and providing entertainment.
This came as news to parents, those with learning difficulties and staff, who knew nothing about it. So from today, residential care home staff are expected to look after their clients all day, as well as care for the residents during the night. 1/3 of Medina Centre’s users live in residential care.
Remember, they were only told just over a week ago that as of today they can’t go to Medina Centre.
What Does It Mean?
So now those in residential care aren’t able to visit Medina Centre anymore. Which is just like someone coming up to you and saying ‘In a few days, you can’t go out and see your friends anymore, you can’t go out and do what you’ve been doing for years, you have to change your whole routine, and you have to sit at home all day with your carers.’ Can you even imagine being told that?
Through no fault of their own, these people are the most vulnerable in society, and always seem to lose out. Nobody asked for this, and we should be supporting them to the best of our abilities, which I don’t feel we are.
A Family
As we interviewed people it became clear that everyone considered themselves as one big family. How you can split up a family is something I will never understand. It’s just not right, it doesn’t feel human.
In my opinion, nothing about this situation is human, from the lack of notice about the closure, to the splitting up of a family. The council have let so many people down, and I know I speak for many other Islanders when I say I am appalled at the handling of the situation.
Excellent piece Becky. A suitably emotive missive on an important issue. A+
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Yes an excellent piece, this young lady will go a long way.
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A wonderful piece of writing on a very sad and extremely unfair situation. It’s appalling that the closure had to take place but even worse is the way it’s been done. Barely any warning and not transistion period. I expect the repercussions of this decision will be 10 fold.
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Excellent piece Becky .I was one of the parents there yesterday and although my daughter won’t leave until the end of March when the Medina centre finally closes for good ,as she still lives at home , you caught the mood exactly the wonderful staff were determined that the clients were going to have a fantastic last day even though their and our hearts were breaking inside ,as you say we are a family .I wish you well in your studies and future career . And also can I just say thank you to Derek Sandy you were superb they loved you and you helped it to be such a great afternoon.
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Very well put, Becky. I don’t know anyone personally involved in the closure, but can appreciate what a shock it must be to those who do rely on it. As you say, some of those present at the farewell BBQ won’t realise what it symbolised. Very poignant.
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Yes indeed Becky you caught the mood exactly, I think so many of us were near to tears, it is hard to say which got to me most, those who knew it was their last day and wept, or those severely diabled who sat in their wheelchairs smiling and obvioussly enjoying the atmosphere without realizing we were saying goodbye to them.
The staff at Medina as usual did a wonderful job, smiling and cheerful as always, I cannot even begin to imagine how they were feeling and am not likely to ever find out as we know, staff are not allowed to comment, if you work for the council and value your job your freedom of speech obviously goes out the window.
This was a black day indeed, IWCC have just put back the “Care service” 50 years.
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A nicely laid out piece Becky. Congratulations
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This will be the first of many ‘cuts’ from our local authority, they have already warned the learning disability providers that there will be more to come in October.
They will not rest until they have decimated the service and sold all council properties, leaving no contingency plans for the future.
Providers also refute that they are funded to provide activities for residents. This is not the case. They are underfunded, so residents will end up looking at the television all day because there are no staff to take them out of the home.This is inhumane and is reducing their choice and control they have over their own lives.
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So what can we all do..there must be something<
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lovely bit of writing becky but pleae may i add the piece that states ‘the Island authorities told those in residential care that they’d realised that they’ve been paying twice for their day care. Once to those providing residential care and also to the day care centres. Some of the money paid to residential homes is meant to go towards looking after their residents and providing entertainment’ what wasn’t said was that providers are not only underpaid but for years service users have been placed in their residential home alot when families can no longer care due to age or illness, and they were placed with a ‘care band’ then their needs assesed, this would be assessed as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 days at the centres, this was jointly agreed with the care manager, the individual and anyone else involved in that persons care, this was then agreed this is what they needed and the funding was covered, other authorities place people and assess every area and pay the basic rate then whatever to cover the extra needs, this is not providers being greedy or wanting more then they need this is needs being met and funded as such. peoples lives are being turned upside down due to the councils ignorance and refusal to see the effects their actions are having on peoples lives, and what ever they say this is purely all about money, it is not about the people.
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The providers have known for at least a year that these changes were coming. They have creamed off vast amounts of taxpayers money in order to get rich, so shame on them for bleating now that they have got their just deserts.
Time for a change for the residents and lets hope the residential homes are forced to close and allow people the opportunity to have a life beyond the 4 walls. Yes, some will sit and watch television all day, but perhaps you would be suprised to know that those people who arnt dumped into day services already, only sit and watch TV anyway!
Ask the day centre staff what they think of residential homes and if they are able to speak the truth they will tell you they are cash milking machines!
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Just ahead, you sound like a disgruntled ex-employee to me!
You have no idea what life is like for someone with a learning disability do you. I guess you think it is acceptable that they just vegitate in front of the TV all day where they are not doing anyone any harm.
Well fortunately, there are forward thinking providers out there who want more for their residents – who want adults with a learning disability to be a part of society where they can contribute to the local community.
I know many staff who work in day services and they all agree that residential care providers are underfunded, over regulated and discriminated against by the Local Authority who are putting out propaganda that ignorant members of the public just sit back and believe because this is the easy option.
Someone needs to fight for the rights of adults with a learning disability on the Island because those on the mainland are still able to go to day services if this is what they want –
If residential care homes were to shut, then residents would be given a ‘Personal budget’ which of course would be much cheaper for the taxpayer, but would mean that the people that care for them would be untrained, unqualified and unregulated and unsupervised – I’m sure that you can guess what this would lead to!!
Their personal budgets would then be cut next year to almost nothing, leaving them to struggle on their own.
Can’t really see whay you would think this is a good idea???
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All based on supposition… mine is fact at least!
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so it’s not fact that personal budgets have been cut then??? you ask the people who are on them! as for shutting down residential homes…….you clearly have an axe to grind, can only guess you have been sacked!!! shame you really don’t care about the people living in them, grow up!!
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If the residential homes close where do you imagine the clients will be going to “Have a life of their own” The families obviously can`t look after them or they wouldn`t be there, we are talking about severe handicaps in most cases!
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whilst I dont agree with what Just Ahead has said, SW seems to make a valid point. If there are care home owners out there who are charging the council twice for the service they provide, those owners should be arrested and charged with fraud.
Of course, if the care homes cant provide the standard of care they should with the funding available, the council should increase funding. But that wont happen if care homes are dishonest, either intentionally or not. The council should make sure they pay the right amount for the services, and only pay once.
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Hello and I hope to make a valid contribution to this conversation.
I have worked as a senior support worker within a number of residential homes over the years (Just to be clear, I have never been sacked from any of them :-) )
Some of the information on here is quite correct. Residential homes, for many many years have actually been charging the council x 3 for their residents.
The residential home providers (In a lot of cases)have received:
A) A set amount for 24/7 care
B) Funding for attending day centres
C) funding for 1 – 1 support.
So in effect they have been triple funded. One home I worked in had 7 residents with a total of 260 hours a week 1-1 support being paid for. Lets do a quick calculation on one residents costs:
£450 (Average weekly core funds)
£300 (Average day services)
£1050 (1-1 costs for 70 hours a week @ £15 ph)
Total for this one person = £1800 per week.
(In case you were wondering, this is a real resident with true financial figures)
I no longer work as a support worker for residential homes for a number of reasons. The standard of care is “Average” (This is the majority of homes, but not exclusively) The staff are paid an absolute pittance considering the hours they work and some owners have become hugely wealthy on the funds received.
This is of course all legal! There is nothing “Dishonest” being done here, the council have simply allowed it to continue. I cannot tell you the amount of conversations I have had with other staff members where we wonder how the owners get away with the huge charges.
Although I think that Just Ahead has been fairly brutal in his/her discription, the reality is that the comments are not far too from the truth. (Although there are a few exceptions where life for residents does not mean 7pm bed-time)!
Finally, I am now working for a number of people who have been in receipt of a personal budget for almost 2 years. They were some of the first phases that the council put onto personal budgets. (I am not here touting for work :-) )
The budgets are a fair calculation and the people I work with like the opportunies that we (And other providers) offer them. In addition they have a couple of brokers (These are people that help to set up the budgets and find the resources in the community)
2 people I work with have had a small reduction this year in their funding (I say small, because it still meets their needs) 2 others have had an increase because their needs are higher this year.
I know to a lot of people this change will be very very hard, but I would like to say to anyone who is worried, please please talk your relatives care manager (If they have one) or if not, get hold of a broker. The brokers are just brilliant and will sit down with you and talk it all through.
There is a “Carers forum/partnership” meeting being held in July (I dont know the exact date) but I attended the last one as a carer and lots of information was available. Brokers were there to answer questions and I found that very helpful.
The personal budgets are here to stay, so I hope this has been helpful to outline some facts for you.
Good luck and please ask me any questions. I will keep my eye on this VB forum just in case.
Best wishes to you all.
Karen
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may i start by saying-
Well done becky your piece was very well written and very true to many.
i am new to VB i have just read threw the comments left by many people on this dicussion and i must say im rather confused, in becky’s own piece writing she decribes people involved with the closeing or nmedina house as being a big family but some of you (not all) who are part of this family seem to be taking a very unfare opinion to hazel, from what i have read, seen and listen to threw this discussion, the paper and the television hazel has only spoken for those who find it hard to speak out themselves, in my opinion hazel is doing a fantastic job at protecting her daughters best interests she is quite an amazing woman.
Those of you who are just saying she should keep it to herself and leave well alone are being rather unfare, you may think the budgets are fantastic but she obviousely worrys about her daughter’s future…and who are you to question her if you have no real worrys about it???
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Karen,
If half of what you write is true, someone at the Council is not doing their job (Is anyone?) There should be a public investigation. I will go as far as saying that the fraud squad should be called in.
I stayed at an hotel in Sandown whilst I had some plumbing done in my bathroom. Next door was a private nursing home. A 4×4 and a Jag on the small car park, and I can assure you none of the cars belonged to the residents or their visitors.
Corruption destroyed Rome; it is happening here in the UK.
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Hello Don Smith,
Just for you to ensure that the information is correct may I suggest that you look at the “Fees” charged by the private residential homes? You can access this by going onto the CQC website (This is the inspection body for care homes)and entering the name of the residential home you want to access deatils of, look then under “Fees” section.
I should point out that I am not aware the residential homes are doing anything ilegal, otherwise I feel sure the council would have dealt with them by now!
No, I am afraid this is simply a case of the owners getting rich quite legally! Of course if personal budgets are made compulsary, now thats a different matter. I think we will see lots of homes closing because I dont think the personal budgets will match the current fees charged.
Hope thats helpful.
Best wishes
Karen
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I too, have worked for many years in residential care homes for adults with a learning disability and have been lucky enough to work for fantastic providers whose main aim is to improve quality of life for residents.
You may have been unlucky Karen, however, part of the problem in some homes is the staff who are merely there for the money and who have absolutely no understanding of the financial implications related to running a home.
Yes, some residents may need 1-1 support, however, they have very high needs and could possibly present a danger to themselves or others if they do not get the support they require.
Yes, some home owners may have a ‘nice’ car, but this comes after many years of working day and night – of fighting with the local authority to ensure all residents are safe and their needs met.
Homes are not funded x 3!! – this just shows how little you understand the system.
Most residents were assessed years ago by the local authority and if they needed day services, then this came with the package.
The fees then made up the rest of the costs. Care providers are only paid to give each resident 16.1 hours of care a week. THIS IS ALL THAT HOME OWNERS RECEIVE FOR THE MAJORITY OF RESIDENTS.
16.1 hours does not go far I can tell you as it covers not just physical, but emotional, social, and psychological support.
It is widely known that MOST care staff who work with adults with learning disabilities are better qualified and much more equipped to deal with problem behaviours than staff in other sectors and this is partly because the local authority require the staff to attend an enormous amount of training (funded by the provider of course).
If its such a money maker Karen, why aren’t more people doing this – I think you know that its a lifetime commitment of fighting and striving for the best – not an easy option is it???
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This is very well put becky, you’ll defently go far in life with the effort and emotion you put into your articles. This case is very sad maybe people could get a charity event to rais money for them instead of arguing on here, we should all get together and DO something about it, because whos going to see our comments on here its not going to change anything if we dont do something about it.
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For all of you who want to take positive action to support adults with learning disabilities who are losing their services, there is a meeting arranged for Monday 12 July at 6pm at South Wight Housing Association’s Offices at The Courtyard, St Cross Business Park, Newport.
This is for families/carers to discuss what action can be taken in protest against the local authority.
Please go if you can to show your support!
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thank you DP it’s always good to know when and where the meetings are taking place, we need to act now.
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Whereabouts exactly is this, I will be there
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South Wight Housing Association’s Offices at The Courtyard, St Cross Business Park, Newport.
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I am more worried by hazel wyld becoming a voice of the people when actually she is doing huge amounts of damage for those families that will not have the opportunity to go to meadowbrook. I have no doubt that she will get a place for her daughter, so i would ask her to please shut up and stop scaring the rest of the families to death with her outbursts! My son has had to leave medina centre as he lives in a residential home but i am trying to think of options for him and whilst she continues to schreek at such a high voice (Supposedly speaking for us all???) I, and other families have had enough of listening to her. As for the article in the county press, really hazel, you are a maverick, please be quiet and let other people have their say. Thankyou
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sorry you feel like that, there is however no question of my daughter getting a place at Meadowbrook, she has to have an escort to and from Newport and due to her behavioural problems could never do the journey form West wight to Ryde!
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if you know anyone with an adult using either Medina center or Meadowfield could you please pass n the information re Mondays meeting please.
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Hello Hazel, Thanks for the information regarding the “Protest” meeting at SW Housing on Monday. I will not be attending this meeting because actually I am one of these parents who have a personal budget for my Daughter. She is happy to no longer attend day services and has found lots of opportunies to keep the continuity of friendships on the Island. Yes, we are one of these people with a broker and I must say it was the best thing we ever did.
I am wondering why you are so against the changes. Previously people on this blog have suggested that you have done this because you were happy to have your daughter away from you 5 days a week, perhaps thats true, but maybe it is time for you to try something new. For me and my precious daughter it was a worry, but we are grateful now to see her flourish.
There are quite a few of us who belive that the changes are to peoples benifits and we are looking at you and your small band of protestors and wondering what you hope to gain by your disruption? If the budget isnt big enough, talk to the broker and they will appeal. The budget meets the needs and I dont think that it costs £400 a week to attend the Medina Centre. Your facts are wrong and you are stuck in a time warp. Think of your child and support her towards a better quality of life than a “Day Centre” for the rest of her life. DW.
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wow..the ‘I’m alright jack’ brigade are out tonight
It’s nice the personal budget works for you..hope it continues to do so once the brokers have gone and your budget is cut.
Hazel has every right to voice her fears,whether she be alone, a small minority or a majority
(and her facts are correct)
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My daughters costs were worked out by a care manager, she has to have one to one and it takes six staff to care for her on the THREE days a week she attends the Medina center…her disablement is such she could not undertake the activiies you speak of…and if I didn`t wish to care for her she would have been in a residential home years ago, yes I am concerned for her because I know what works for her, not because I wish to stifle her, I have said over again I have no problem with personal budgets but they do not work for all, personal choice so glibly talked about should be just that!
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May I also add if you think this is a small band of protesters clearly you were not present at the parents meeting on the 21st June and heart the very vocal majority in full swing!
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Very well written Becky,
I think that maybe the Council is progressing with this as fast as possible before anyone can organise any objections.
Take the following example,
The Mental Health Act makes it quite clear that cost implications should play no part in The Provision of Care
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Just popping in…. No 5, how do you know her facts are right?
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couldnt agree more, and its also very nice to see Debbie W giving a positive point of view rather than just jumping on the bandwagon and saying change is bad. Of course, people will jump down her throat and say things like the Im alright jack brigade is out tonight.
As No. 5 says, Hazel has every right to voice her opinion. Debbie has every right to disagree with her too. What im struggling to comprehend on this blog is why, if anyone gives an opposing point of view, people seem to automatically assume they have some vested interest, or that their opinion is worth less. Hazel has been very vocal for her point of view, and its nice to see some people for the opposing point of view becoming more vocal and giving a balanced discussion. Keep it up Debbie, and dont listen to those who make snide or sarcastic comments.
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I think it is important to redress the balance. So thanks for your support IB. There are lots of people who have personal budgets now and things are working well for them and their families.
I always feel a sense of unease at people who are so seriously vocal and use every media opportunity to get attention.
We are all entitled to our own opinions and some of us choose to get ours across in a less militant way. I would go as far as suggesting that Hazel probably finds any opportunity to go into battle… save energy and give personal budgets a chance to work.
BTW, if transport costs are so very high for her daughter, why doesnt she use her mobility allowance and purchase a car in order to drive her to her destinations? I do that with my daughter and we dont ever have these “Huge” costs for transport that Hazel talks of? DW
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Firstly may I say I have not contacted the bbc or solent radio they contacted me!
Secondly I am a non driver and it is a bit late at 74 to learn.Lastly if I have learnt anything in the last 74 years it is if you don`t speak out you don`t get heard..I quote…”First they came for the jews and I did not speak out for I am not a jew….” I think we probably all know the ending but if not…”Then they came for me and there was no-one left to speak out for me”
Still alas true today.
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I beleive the snide comment was the one that implied Hazel didn’t want to look after her child
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no, the snide comment was the one you made about the Im Alright Jack being out.
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true though
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no i dont think it is true. some people have put the opposing point of view and said that personal budgets work for them. THats not saying theyre alright jack, thats saying it works for us, maybe it can work for you too. However it was meant, thats no excuse for snide comments. Theres showing you disagree with them and then theres making a snide comment to try and make their comment appear less valid. The former is fine, the latter is what children do in a school playground. I hope that wasnt your intention and your comment was a momentary lapse. Usually you make sensible comments, but just occasionally you seem to make nasty or snide comments. Dont let yourself down and stick to sensible comments.
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and thats not me telling you what you should and shouldnt be saying. Just me hoping that you can see that snide comments just make yourself look small.
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its called research…how do you know they are not?
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I do think that Hazel is sounding quite lost in her own arguenments, in one breathe she says NO to personal budgets and then says she doesnt mind the idea, she then is blaming the council for something which is the PCT’s fault, she overexagerates the cost of attending Medina Centre and (Surely its laughable) her daughter needs 6 people to manage her????
She is clearly not able to see anyone elses view other than her own. Debbie W has valid points.
All quite worrying from someone who seems to consider she is the voice of the people. Lots of people are fairly sick of listening to her actually. We are parents too Hazel … With respect for ourselves and our disabled children and can see the future with a positive view and a personal budget. “Get real” as my daughter would say! And before you froth at the mouth, we trid the Median Centre and she didnt like it so I have been paying for her to have carers take her out to find community opportunies and she has thrived! She now has a personal budget in place from 4 months ago and life could not be better. Try it, dont deny it!
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Oh dear…what I have said is I have no problem with personal budgets as a general rule and that they may well work for a lot of people, my objection is two fold, there are a lot of people who have too severe a diablement for them to be able to access the activities on offer so need the day center where there are qualified staff to care for them and give them the opportunity to mix socially with others and do other things.
All I have ever asked for is some kind of day center for those who still need it.
I think we need one more centrally than Meadowbrook perhaps in Newport.
Now as for my daughter, her care Manager a Mrs Le Brecht worked out her weekly care budget at £430 a week, this included three days at the day center, six staff to do one to one so extra pay there, taxi to and fro from Freshwater with an escort on both journeys, the days I can come in as escort and meake my own way home I do, however I cannot always do that as I am also a foster carer with a home to run.
Lastly I am sure the Medina center would confirm it takes six people to care for jackie as told to Suzzanne Wixey who commented on it to me.
One person will look after her until lunchtime and then someone else will look after her in the afternoon, I suspect, though no-one has ever said this, she is too exhausting to cope with for longer than two or three hours! She has severe behavioural problems, is on the autistic spectrum and congential brain damage, she can be delightful or horrendous depending on her mood of the momment.
I am a bit tired of being told I am exagerating my statements, i am not and have given you names to prove it…I also have never considered myself a spokesman for other parents, or indeed said so, my opinions are my own, I have concerns, I have voiced them as I am entitled to do and will continue to do.
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Hello to people on VB. I have been an avid fan but not felt the need to contribute anything until yesterday when Debbie W (I know her well) told me about this important channel of communication regarding the Medina Centre (And other important services) that are closing. I would like to make a contribution to this important subject.
I am a Father of a wonderful young lady (Who is in her 30′s) who has quite a lot of support needs. She is classed as “Complex” by her social worker.
During the past 12 years we have lived on the Isle of Wight. We love it here and have always been offered an excellent service by our care managers (Social workers) and have been lucky enough to have only 2 in that time. Both of which have worked together with us to make my Daughters life as good as it can be.
We used day services until about a year ago. My Daughter seemed quite happy there and showed no signs of not wanting to attend. However, the opportunity arose to discuss her receiving a personal budget. We researched it all together as a family (Obviously we have to make ALL decisions for her, but we still include her in the family discussions because who can say what she understands?)
At first I was not keen. Change is not easy for some people and we were not pressured.
We had heard of a service on the Island that offers advocacy and has brokers – The Advocacy Trust – we asked for a meeting with them to see what they could offer. They (And our care manager) took us through the process step by step. We were allocated a broker who really knew his stuff! He wasnt pushy, he was clear and talked about the positives and negatives. He suggested that we share in completing an assessment questionarre and just see what sort of budget would be offered to meet my daughters needs. When this was completed (By lots of us being involved) we were still unsure what the budget would buy? “No problem” says the broker, “Lets look at the Islands resources and see what suits your daughter and your family and what you were like to purchase. If it isnt in the marketplace we will create it with some negotiation and good support workers”
My Daughter has had her budget in place for almost 7 months now. She would not look back and neither would we! We purchase (On her behalf) a couple of fantastic support workers who come to the house in the mornings, she is excited to see them. They help prepare her for her day. They have a membership to a private leisure facility where they can go and swim/jacuzzi watch a show in the evenings, play bingo (!) … she also has natural therapy which helps her relax and a lovely lady comes in once a week and offers her Indian Head Massage which just has the most amazing effect on her!
I have known Debbie W and her family for some years. I have a great deal of respect for her and her views. She is a committed Mother who people admire (That will embarress her)!
Debbie and I have seen all the bad publicity about personal budgets but I agree with her that those people who are so against it have no idea how it can transform a person (And their familes) life! I would not have believed this possible but I can say that (With the brokers initial and continued) support, this works.
In the County Press this week (Again) families are angry. Someone (And perhaps Hazel could help) needs to think of it from the person with the disabilies point of view.
Maybe they would like their own budget?
Are you as parents stopping them?
Isnt that taking their choices away?
Thanks for reading this – From a devoted Father.
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again..well done.
nobody here is condeming personal budgets, nor the people that use them to theri benefit. Hazel certainly hasn’t condemed them.
But the pro personal budget people who post here are all very damning of Hazel and can’t accept that what is true for them is not true for everybody…
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Well said Hazel. I note as is often the way with these forums, those who attack you do so anonymously. Worse, they seem to make claims for you that you do not make yourself. Your statements above could not be clearer. If I have a grievance with the council and the media contact me, I would certainly start talking. The changes being made are cuts, they will affect the most vulnerable. The method used by the council is incompetent. Keep fighting, keep explaining, these are complex issues, don’t allow anyone to rubbish your experience.
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This is a reply to No 5 …
I hope I did not come across as damning of Hazel. She is entitled to her opinions and of course her circumstances are unique to her.
Hazel’s frustration and anger MUST be impacting on her Daughter…. She has taken the choice away from her Daughter to use this personal budget. Hazel wrote that “It would not be enough money” but how does she know that a broker (Or her Daughter’s Care Manager) couldnt find her services that fit the budget?
Again, I do stand by my opinion that people have choice and parents (Even if they dont agree) should look to what is best for their child and not write it off at the first hurdle.
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I completely understand…but the post is about the closing of the Medina centre..a resource valuable to a large number of people…those that are in despair about it are just getting kicked in the teeth by people who have sorted out their personal budget and it suits them…it won’t suit everybody and for those it doesn’t suit..Hazel has become a voice… and in response one or two people have attacked her because they currently find the personal budget works for them…I personally find that hard to fathom out, people who are supposed to be caring loving family people attacking other caring loving families….but thats what politics does..it divides and rules, certainly what this council does
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Families with disabled children ‘struggle to pay bills’
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Sadly my daughter knows nothing of what is going on, I say sadly because she has no understanding of any of it…. she was upset cos some of her friends were leaving Medina center and I have promised her we will inivte them over to tea in the summer holidays, she has no understanding of personal budgets and I willingly filled in the forms on her behalf, I was advised by my care manager that as the sum offered would not enable her to go to Medina I should put off making a decision at that time, which I did, of course at that point neither of us realised the Medina center would be closed down, we just thought Jackie would not get enough money to pay for her care there and as pensioners we could not afford to make up the deficit.
I must admit I am surprised at being under attack for my concerns, I thought all families with children with learning difficulties were in this together, I have said repeatedly that if your experience of a personal budget is good I am glad for you, my concern is that Jacquelines options are going to be severely limited, I have not told her any of this as she would be very distressed and think it was all going tomorrow, she has no concept of time, she loves the staff who work with her and talks always of “Going to work”
As for stress, I am moving house in a couple of weeks, my husband following a heart attack is far from well and quite frankly I could do without the personal attacks! I am just trying to get the best deal I can for my daughter, may I just add that I use the gardening service from Medina once a month, yesterday the chap in charge came out with just one helper instead of the usual three, the reason being the others live in residential care so are not there any longer, and no part of an activity they so enjoyed, they took great pride in the help they were giving.
this strikes me as sad.
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Let’s keep the discussion free of personal attacks, they are not welcome here.
Hazel has as much right to express her views and concerns about how her daughter will be affected by the changes, as others who have had success with personal budgets have a right to share how well it has gone with them.
What is not acceptable however, are the personal attacks.
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The word ‘disabled’ has always been a problem. As Hazel makes very clear, having a disability can mean anything from minor physical disability to severely mentally disabled. It follows what works for one will not work for another. I know of several adults with Down’s, every one is an individual with very different levels of ability and understanding. For example, some can travel alone, many cannot.
Lumping disabled people together is always wrong when it’s done by people ignorant on the subject. For people to do this when they themselves care for a person with a disability, is very disappointing.
Hazel’s daughter is obviously demanding, both on Hazel and the state. Offering her a personal budget is fine in principal, in practice, it is of little help when the sum offered is less than half of the cost of the services already provided. To add insult to injury, like many other users, the Medina Centre will no longer be available to her.
I hope for the sake of all those on the Island who receive support from the council, that their care is maintained at the best possible level. At present, that does seem very unlikely. It does make one wonder how the Leader and his team sleep at night.
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I would just like to add my comment to all this, Firstly – jolly good to all those who find that the personal budgets work for them. Unfortunately not all people are so lucky & have seen each year their personal budgets reduced until they now have very few hours & very little choice to do things in – also the astronomical price charged by some providers.
Secondly – Oh yes we all know about the talk of resedential care homes receiving double or tripple funding for clients – but the fact is you try telling a person or persons that they can’t go out unless the whole house goes because they don’t have one to one care, they only have 24hr in house care! Each client received there own care plan & each receives a different amount according to how they were accessed at the time. In some cases very unfairly!
Thirdly – yes Hazel does speak for many people & thank God for her – there are a lot of people that the Personal Budget will not suit, it also has the ability of isolating people even more than they are at the moment. Interaction and socialization with their peers, that group activities give, and sharing their experiences is extremely important, especially if they live at home with just elderly parents.
My daughter is extremely sociable and for this reason is a danger to herself and others, but if these closures go ahead will spend all her time going out with us, as normal, or one to one with another person.
As we know the Isle of Wight Council made these cuts to the budget, pior to the General Election, purely the save money.
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I absolutely agree with you Angie!.
Hazel, you are admired and respected by many many people for your dedication and lifelong commitment to do your best for your child (surely this is what we all want for our children?)
Personal budgets are fine at the moment, but after the initial 12 months, they are likely to be cut as ‘outcomes are achieved’. The poor person is then left with reduced funding and reduced support leading to isolation and deterioration in behaviour. (This of course, is not told to people when they first receive the personal budget)
Brokers (I was told there are 150 of them on the island) are not volunteers, they are paid staff whose job it is to procure services for adults who require social care support.
The person requiring support has to pay them a percentage of the personal budget for the pleasure of receiving this service – a service that they used to receive free from care managers!!
As stated above, personal budgets are great for those service users who do not have complex needs. For those unfortunate enough to require a lot of support, then their needs will be unmet.
Many people have a distorted view of learning disabilities – we have all seen the token man with Down’s syndrome that the government like to show us on adverts. However, many other people have severe, LIFELONG social, physical, emotional, health and psychological needs – some have no communication skills, are not able to feed themselves etc etc and these people are ignored because they are so severely disabled.
However, as a society we will have to face up to the fact that with more complex medical treatment available to us all – the number of people with a learning disability is set to rise dramatically, so we must be prepared to support them and encourage them to be a part of the community – to contribute to society (not just go horseriding once a week!!)
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Please note that
the venue for the meeting arranged for Monday 12 July at 6pm at South Wight Housing Association’s Offices at The Courtyard, St Cross Business Park, Newport has changed.
The meeting will now take place at Newclose County Cricket Ground, Blackwater Road Newport
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I think it will be too late to contact people and tell them the change of venue. Do we know why the venue has changed? Regards, Graham.
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I dont doubt for one moment that the change of venue is down to SWH running scared of falling out with the council. They didnt expect the council to be so furious with them for calling a very contraversial meeting on their own ground, and SWH want to be seen as the “Good Guys”
Ba Humbug!!
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South Wight Housing, What are you doing changing at this short notice?????????????????????? People are coming to The Courtyard, St Cross Business Park, Newport. Will there be anyone there to greet us?????????????????????
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