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NEWS

Sleep-in row – a temporary pause Families not consulted before a

he government has taken minimum wage throughout a decision to move people from
Ta step back from the shift even if it is a sleep-in. Calderstones to Ashworth Hospital site
brink in the row over
sleep-in payments for staff The campaign against the amilies in the North region. As well as the
working with people with enforcement action was led by F West were not consulted disruption, families are very
learning disabilities. the learning disability charity before plans were actioned aware that short-term
Mencap who argued that it by MerseyCare to locate a placements too easily
An HMRC enforcement action could force the social care new purpose-built unit for become long-term.
has been temporarily sector to implode within patients from Calderstones They were clear they didn’t
suspended and historic months, cause up to 178,000 on the same site as Ashworth want people in need of low
financial penalties against people with learning Hospital. This hospital is secure places to be moved
organisations, estimated to disabilities to lose their on a secure campus at to the Ashworth site to fit in
owe hundreds of millions of assistance and transfer even Maghull, Merseyside. with this timescale.
pounds in back pay, have been higher costs to the NHS. They were particularly
waived. The money is owed A consultation* earlier this concerned that those in the
to staff now entitled to the Mencap warned earlier this year suggested that the medium secure beds at
minimum wage rather than month that the ‘looming crisis’ principles of services being Calderstones would be
one-off payments for sleep would cost the sector around near where people live and moved to the Ashworth
in duties. £400m. Although aggressive minimising in-patient time had secure site, pointing out that
collection of back payments been agreed but, unknown to the hospital is well known in
This follows two tribunal has been temporarily put on the families, the decision to the North West for high
cases in 2015 and 2016 which hold, an announcement from move people to the Maghull risk patients. Changing the
brought about revised government on the next step site had already been taken. name, they said, would not
government guidance that forward in the stand-off is alter the public’s perception
organisations should pay the nervously awaited. In their response to the of those who were
consultation, families had placed there.
NEWS IN BRIEF expressed concern that the They also expressed concern
three-year closure period
Care worker exodus would not be sufficient to about the proposal that
he BBC has analysed data from the charity Skills for Care help people move into new staff would be shared
T and suggest that more than 900 adult social care local places and they did not across high and medium
workers every day left their jobs in England in the past year, want them moved to fit secure services.
60% of them never to return to the sector. They report that such a short timescale.
there are an estimated 86,000 vacancies across the care * Consultation response
sector. An ageing population, low pay and poor morale have The Maghull site is not even from North West Forum and
brought the social care system to the brink of collapse, central to the Lancashire Families Forum April 2017
Age UK warned the government in a separate report
(Skills for Care data http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
england-39507859, Age UK report http://www.bbc.co.uk/ Keeping people in ATUs is a
news/health-38984925). profitable business
Dance to success hard-hitting report has million a year from the
orali, a dance company of talented performers with A attacked the in-patient inpatient healthcare market.
C learning disabilities, has been awarded National health care economy for people
Portfolio Status by the Arts Council for 2018-2022. with learning disabilities and/ Data from the report
The National Portfolio offers funding and support to or autistic spectrum disorders. indicates that inpatient rates
companies regarded as bringing new energy to the arts are being strongly affected by
and cultural sector. A trade in people, by Mark the decisions of healthcare
Brown, Elaine James and entrepreneurs to locate in
The sky’s the limit Chris Hatton for the Centre for areas where house prices
ndrew Harris, a 32-year-old American, has become the Disability Research, estimates are lower. This creates
A first person with Down’s syndrome to climb the that almost £480 million was geographical disparities
13,776-foot Grand Teton, a mountain in Grand Teton spent on keeping approximately where people have to go
National Park, Wyoming. He climbed the peak with his sister 2,500 people with learning into inpatient provision
and future brother in law, Alpinist and mountain guide disabilities in Assessment and far from their homes
Max Hammer. The United States National Down’s Syndrome Treatment Units (ATUs) in because of a lack of locally
Society commented that Andrew’s conquering of the peak, 2015-16. Just over half of these available support.
which requires a high level of fitness and technical ability, were in independent sector
demonstrates that “people with Down’s syndrome are provision, which has grown To read the full report
capable of doing what we are all capable of doing, exponentially over the last ten http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/cedr/
and sometimes more.” years, and which is now files/2017/06/A-Trade-in-
estimated to earn £284 People-CeDR-2017-1.pdf

4 Vol 31 No 1 | Autumn 2017 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk