Resources

Autism and Intensive Interaction - A new training DVD from Phoebe Caldwell (clip) - link to YouTube video

A couple of weeks ago, the website called The Mighty,published a since-removed post called meltdown bingo.  The post was a pejorative “game” aimed to make light of children and adults experiencing sensory and emotional overload resulting in a meltdown. As some of my acquaintances pointed out, having a meltdown is not enjoyable for the person having the meltdown.  As a parent who has watched children go through meltdowns, it is also no fun for the family around a person having a meltdown.  Heck, I’ve had meltdowns myself, and they are no fun for me either (although I have more ability to temper my behavior than my kids do).

Since that time, the disability community has issued a sharp rebuke to The Mighty, with#CrippingtheMighty.  The Mighty is run by non-disabled people, is rich in inspiration porn, and contains an inordinate amount of material submitted by people who purport to speak for us.  Nothing about us without us is clearly not a principle held by The Mighty.  A number of blogs and posts have surfaced from disabled people issuing a rebuke to parents of disabled children for speaking for their children.  A number of blogs and posts have surfaced from parents claiming they must speak for their children.  Missing from these posts is the perspective of disabled parents who have disabled children.

READ FULL STORY ON THE DISABILITY PRIDE WEBSITE

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is the corner-stone of policing: it is the law that governs important state invasions into our civil liberties through stop and search; search and seizure; and arrest and detention without charge. It can seem overwhelmingly complex stuff and I admit that as a PC, I was often confused as to what was going on some of the time!

I remember as a probationary constable watching a group of sergeants scrumming down with a copy of PACE to work out what on earth was going on with a prisoner who had been arrested in another force area and then transferred to the West Midlands. This was all before we had IT to do half the work for you and when calculating legal detention timescales could get very complicated indeed, even to those familiar with PACE!

So here is a series of BLOG posts, not covering the extreme complexities but the various common topics that I hope amounts to a brief but reasonable understanding of what is going on in police custody, for those of you who need to understand it just a little better. It was motivated by a request from an AMHP who found it confusing to consider how PACE affects the MHA assessments and decisions that she was obviously familiar with – I hope this hits the mark Aisling!

VISIT THE MENTAL HEALTH COP BLOG SITE TO READ MORE (LINK OPENS IN A NEW WINDOW)

Autism can normally be diagnosed in children at around the age of two.

Summary  - There is growing evidence that personal budgets can be an effective, valued and value for money mechanism to improve the quality of life of people with long term conditions, and their experience of care and support services. They give people greater choice and control over the support they access, ensuring that it is shaped around their lives and goals. People who have used a personal budget to access support report improved experiences and wellbeing.

Despite this evidence, some commentators have expressed concerns about the use of personal budgets within the NHS. Recent coverage has suggested that the support accessed through personal budgets can be inappropriate, dismissing them as allowing people to purchase ‘luxuries’. This has raised questions about the impact on existing statutory services given limited resources, and whether they are fully compatible with a universal National Health Service. It is feared that this could threaten the sustainability of existing services if funding follows budget holders who choose alternative support.

Download the full discussion paper here (opens in a new window)

From the NICE website:

This guideline covers planning and delivering social care and support for older people who have multiple long-term conditions. It promotes an integrated and person-centred approach to delivering effective health and social care services.

The Care Quality Commission uses NICE guidelines as evidence to inform the inspection process.

Recommendations

The guideline includes recommendations on:

• Identifying and assessing social care needs
• Care planning, including the role of the named care coordinator
• Supporting carers
• Integrating health and social care planning
• Delivering care
• Preventing social isolation
• Training health and social care practitioners

Who is it for?

• Health and social care practitioners
• Providers of care and support in health and social care services
• Older people with social care needs and multiple long-term conditions (including both physical and mental health conditions), and their carers.

Commissioners should ensure any service specifications take into account the recommendations in this guideline.

READ FULL GUIDELINE HERE (OPENS IN A NEW WINDOW)

FROM THE SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE'S WEBSITE:

The Care Act 2014 aims to strengthen the voice of people who use services, and their carers, over the process of assessing, planning and safeguarding. Local authorities need to commission independent advocacy services to support people who may require it.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must arrange an independent advocate to facilitate the involvement of a person in their assessment, in the preparation of their care and support plan and in the review of their care plan, if two conditions are met:

• the person has substantial difficulty in being fully involved in these processes
• there is no one appropriate available to support and represent the person’s wishes.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Advocacy experts fear people are being left without support to challenge council decisions about their care

This guideline covers the transition between inpatient hospital settings and community or care homes for adults with social care needs. It aims to improve people's experience of admission to, and discharge from, hospital by better coordination of health and social care services.

The Care Quality Commission uses NICE guidelines as evidence to inform the inspection process.

Recommendations

The guideline includes recommendations on:

• person-centred care and communication and information sharing
• before admission to hospital including developing a care plan and explaining what type of care the person might receive
• admission to hospital including the establishment of a hospital-based multi-disciplinary team
• during hospital stay including recording medicines and assessments and regularly reviewing and updating the person’s progress towards discharge
• discharge from hospital including the role of the discharge coordinator
• supporting infrastructure
• training and development for people involved in the hospital discharge process.

Who is it for?

The guideline is for health and social care practitioners; health and social care providers; commissioners; service users and their carers (including people who purchase their own care).

ACCESS FULL ARTICLE AND LINKS ON THE NICE WEBSITE (opens in a new window)