Rob Greig is the Chief Executive of the National Development Team for Inclusion. From 2001-2008, he was the Director of Learning Disabilities at the Department of Health. When he says "A learning disability scandal is being swept under the carpet", someone should listen.
The Justice for LB campaign is widely, and rightly, viewed as one of the most successful examples of the mobilisation of public opinion to challenge service failure.
For those not familiar with it, Connor Sparrowhawk, a young man with learning disabilities, died while under the care of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust in July 2013. Given the trust’s failure to accept responsibility, Connor’s family and friends launched the Justice for LB campaign (Laughing Boy, ‘LB’, was Connor’s nickname).
Before Christmas, an NHS England-commissioned report (the Mazars review) described how Southern Health failed to investigate hundreds of unexpected deaths of people in its care with learning disabilities or mental health conditions. There was a flurry of shock and horror from the media and politicians. However, since then, mostly silence.
Rob Greig points to three places where "real change should be identifiable":
- National policy: A new government ‘learning disability action plan’ is being developed (An aside - that would be interesting to learn more about), but early drafts show no sign of issues raised in the report and the inquests being addressed.
- General NHS practice and behaviour: the awful possibility, as the CEO of Southern Health has said, that "what was happening at Southern Health was no different to other NHS Trusts".
- Southern Health: "a persistent failure to accept responsibility" i.e. resignations.
This last, by the way, is one of the accusations levelled at the Board of Trustees of the failed charity Kids Company.
In a readable, detailed blog post on the Community Care website, Rob Greig argues that "a fresh start is needed" and asks "Why the lack of action?".
It is utterly horrific that any serious observer such as Rob Greig can write:
"You cannot help but conclude that government is ascribing a different value to the lives of people with learning disabilities and older people with mental health problems (whose unexpected deaths also commonly went without investigation).
Personally, and as one with no brief for this government, the issue of "ascribing a different value to the lives of people with learning disabilities" is deeper and wider and very much more long-standing than the current government. We are, almost all of us (practitioners, councillors and politicians, media and press) implicated: witness the proposal for a 40-unit (nearly 80-bed) care home for adults with learning disabilities in Northumberland run by Lenore Specialist Care (who do not have a website!) which has been received with condemnation from families.
On yesterday's BBC news, David Cameron "called for the nation to focus on mental health after a review [by a taskforce set up by NHS England] revealed inadequate, underfunded care, leading to 'thousands of tragic and unnecessary deaths' and that "around three-quarters of people with mental health problems received no help at all". But no mention of those with learning disabilities. Perhaps we shall hear more when the "learning disability action plan" is fully developed?
Why does all this concern me? Why write about on CE Jottings? What has it got to do with conductive education? Why would conductors and parents share that concern? Because children grow into adulthood and some of those who have benefitted from conductive education as children will do so lifelong and, like others, need adult care services lifelong.
For Rob Greig's post in full:
‘A learning disability scandal is being swept under the carpet’ Rob Greig
A section of the 'LB Quilt' made in tribute to Connor Sparrowhawk