Dr Mark Brookes MBE, Advocacy Lead at Dimensions, a not-for-profit organisation supporting people with learning disabilities, discusses transforming the social care system to better empower individuals with learning disabilities and autism.
For too long, people with learning disabilities and autistic people were overlooked by a system that’s meant to support them. Improvements have been made but there’s still more work to do. It’s time to listen, understand, and act.
Undeniably, there are amazing people working in the social care sector. But when we step back and look at the system, more needs to be done to ensure that people with learning disabilities and autistic people are truly listened to and understood.
All-too-often, people like me were ignored. This is largely because key decisions were made without the input of people with lived experience. Government was and can still be detached from the lives of people with learning disabilities and autistic people. Improvements have been made and now members of the Dimensions Council, which represents people who are supported by the organisation, are given an opportunity to talk about good support to a cross-party group of MPs. It’s important that we also raise awareness about the way that support is commissioned and too focused on hours rather than outcomes to the lives of the person being supported.
We’ve come a long way because social care providers like Dimensions employ quality consultants to ensure the support they provide meets the needs of the individual. Members of the Dimensions and Discovery Councils have plenty of opportunities to speak up about what’s important to them. A one-size-fits-all model cannot work for us, as we require specific support based on our own capabilities and needs. We need to see more people with learning disabilities and autistic people actively engaging in the development of their person-centred care plans. At the heart of this issue is listening. It’s crucial that we are given the opportunity to exercise our own voice, choice and control.
We also can’t ignore that underfunding for social care has had serious consequences and has limited how effectively the sector can work for us. The bottom line is that poor pay has left the social care sector struggling, as staff recruitment and retention is increasingly difficult. It has meant support workers are overstretched, and we’ve seen many great people leave their jobs because they’re not being paid enough.
For adults with learning disabilities and autistic people, this has very real impacts on our daily lives. It has left us without the consistency of support needed to enjoy our independence and achieve our goals. Sometimes it means we’re promised things that never happen, or we have support workers switching in and out which is detrimental to our mental health and wellbeing. We want to have a life, a job, enjoy social activities, and get outside more. But to do all this, we need quality support. With the social care system facing challenges, this is becoming harder.
So, what should be done?
Ultimately, fair pay in the social care sector is a vital step towards addressing these systemic issues. Better pay can contribute to encouraging more people to join the social care sector, keeping current support workers in their roles, and maintaining a manageable workload. Operations colleagues with more experience need to be paid more than those who are just starting out in their career. A career structure for social care is long overdue.
Across wider society, awareness-raising is vital. We need to see more education around, and understanding of, people with learning disabilities and autism. Information about what it is like to work in the social care sector is vital. This might help us attract more people into roles, and also help people like me integrate better into mainstream life. For example, we need to help employers to understand the significant benefits that come from employing people with learning disabilities and autistic people, so there are more opportunities to work.
All of these measures will help me and others like me to be more visible in my community, living an ordinary life like the rest of the population.
@DimensionsUK
dimensions-uk.org
