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Into Independence By Alan Norton

It’s a difficult task to capture on paper the intensity and activity we at Into Independence are facing in response to the changes and the needs of disabled people living independently.
There’s more on the horizon for 2016 including changes to Motability Allowance, Air Travel, Train Travel and Benefits, to mention just a few.

It amazes me that we do not have and adhere to any national standards recognising disability related living costs when being assessed for care needs. If there is any obscure document covered in cobwebs buried deep within Whitehall then there is a major problem with interpretation.

Quote off a healthcare professional “you must have been mad to provide for a private pension we will just take it all off you”

Recently I was faced with a healthcare professional saying “you must have been mad to provide for a private pension we will just take it all off you”, she was right and then some. Other issues in my life at the moment are lack of fully trained district nurses; my wife is being forced to go to bed by 8pm through restrictive practices by care agencies.
Recruiting care PA’s is a nightmare, first getting recognition of your needs is virtually impossible with the continuing problem of continuing negativeness and having to justify what you cannot do on your worse days.

8pm forced bedtimes

I met with the Minister for Disability Justin Tomlinson on 4th November 2015 and raised many of these issues. After a short discussion he challenged me to work locally to produce a template which works in integrating and streamlining services so as to avoid duplication and to provide the help and advice needed which is not available now with the closure of local disabled living centres and no national organisation. I have to report back with a working model to promote on a national scale. To achieve this I have taken a positive step and joined the local Healthwatch Group and hopefully this will give a good base to promote the changes needed.

Looking on some of our activities since the closure of Assist UK in October 2014 it provides for some interesting reading:-

  • Continuing our involvement with the Civil Aviation Authority where there are forthcoming changes in legislation only allowing disabled seating at designated places to avoid obstructions in the event of an emergency evacuation.
  • I participated in a Devices for Dignity Hoisting Event where disabled people, healthcare professionals and manufacturers attended workshops to come up with new novel solutions of hoisting people in more dignified ways. Some of the inventions will hopefully get to market but it is well worth monitoring their website www.devicesfordignity.org.uk
  • I attended an expert meeting for the Mechanical Engineers Institution which consisted of a closed two day expert meeting on the topic ‘Travel and Transport for Older People, where I spoke about ‘The physical design for boarding and leaving public transport’ with the objective of producing a “White Paper” detailing the major issues for use both by the transport industry and relevant local and national government agencies.
  • I continue to support Manchester Disabled Living as a board member and they have had another fantastic year with their kid’s events, their training, sensory rooms and OT assessments. The organisation grows from strength to strength and is a great template for other disabled living centres to follow.
  • I was invited to a meeting for the Department for Transport to have discussions regarding the need for scooter training and insurance as the then Secretary of State was becoming concerned about the reaction to press articles. It appeared that there was little evidence to suggest the numbers of accidents justified changes in legislation but statistics were now going to be taken at casualty departments to monitor the situation.
  • I was invited by the British Healthcare Trades Association to help with their judging for the 2015 Industry Awards. I found this extremely interesting with excellent involvement from other judges who had vast experience of the industry.

I was recently contacted by British Gas who were promoting the new ‘Hive’ heating control system, it is well worth the investment as it gives the ability to control your heating and hot water from your phone or iPad, this is great as you do not need to get up in the night or you can control your heating levels from the comfort of your wheelchair. I recommend investing in the new thermostat, it is much easier to use than the earlier version. A great piece of assistive technology as can be seen below;

Hive Active Heating Image
Image Source – Hivehome.com

I was talking to one of my wife’s carers who works for a large company and he was interested in how I could switch on and off plugs with a remote control. These items are available from B&Q and they save having to reach down for plugs which in turn is likely to reduce accidents and protect people’s bad backs. He passed this information onto another lady who is absolutely over the moon as she dreaded having to unplug items as it was extremely painful to do so.

The information about assistive technology is just not out there, I feel that many OT’s don’t pass on information as the client may not be able to afford it and it is not available locally. Surely a small amount of expenditure should be made if it saves major accidents and all the associated costs.

That’s all for now folks!!