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Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
MORAY
PHYSICAL & SENSORY DISABILITY STRATEGY
DRAFT
Current version 24 March 15
2015 - 2025
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
1. Welcome
Welcome to the Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-25. This
strategy is for people from birth to age 65 who’s only or major impairment is a
physical or sensory one, this includes people with life limiting long term conditions
and acquired brain injury, but excludes those with learning disabilities and/or autistic
spectrum disorder as there are separate strategies covering these areas. There will
clearly be an overlap in this strategy with policies and services for older people who
have a physical or sensory impairment who are over 65 and we will deal with this by
ensuring that links are made to relevant strategies for older people.
The World Health Organisation has recognised that people with disabilities,
including those with a sensory impairment, have poorer health outcomes, lower
educational achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty
than people without a disability. It acknowledges that they do not have equal access
to a range of services, to the extent that disability is now increasingly understood as
a human rights issue.
People with a disability are entitled to have their human rights respected. However
barriers to health care, rehabilitation, education, employment, and support services
are still in place. Often these barriers are due to accessibility and the obstacles they
face in their everyday lives, but it is also about the level of awareness and
understanding that society as a whole has in relation to people with a physical or
sensory disability.
The Scottish Government’s Getting It Right for Every Child approach (GIRFEC)
approach throughout Scotland is intended to ensure that all services and agencies
working with children, young people and their families take a co-ordinated approach
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
to holistic assessment, planning and service delivery that is appropriate,
proportionate and timely. It also states that children and their families are fully
involved in any decisions that affect them. This is irrespective of age, impairment,
condition or circumstances and therefore will include all children and young people
with physical or sensory disability.
Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, as
amended, education authorities are required to identify, meet and keep under
review the additional support needs of all pupils for whose education they are
responsible and to tailor provision according to their individual circumstances.
For national and local content for the strategy, detailed information can be found at
the end of the strategy in Appendix 1, with clear definitions outlined in Appendix 2
relating to the mean of what is defined as a disability.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
2. What services do we have?
Employment Support Service Quarriers Carers Support
Quarriers epilepsy fieldwork service Moray Citizens Advice Bureau
Capability Scotland Moray Disability Forum
The Blue Badge Scheme Moray Resource Centre
MAT – Moray Assisted Transport Scheme Shopmobility – Moray Limited
North east sensory Services (NESS) Crossroads
M.O.V.E Movement Opportunities via education
Development Play Groups
SENSE Scotland Taigh Farrais Respite
PANIS – Access to diabled toilets The Oaks Hospice
SSAFA – For military families CHAS Childresn Hospice Association
Scotland
RAF Benevolent Fund Archie Fund
Moray Duo – Disabled User Led
Organisation
More Info - Database of services
Homecare services Dial a bus
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
3. What the budget looks like
Health & Social Care Annual Budge 2014/15
Health & Social Care Budget
Mental Health £1,642,000
Drug & Alcohol £201,000
Learning Disabilities £10909,000
Older People £21,577,000
Occupational Therapy £1,204,000
Physical, Sensory & Disabled £2,385,000
Children & Families £16,327,000
Management, Strategy & Support £1,885,000
Total £56,130,000
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
The Moray Council spends 61% on external service providers and 39% is spent on
internal service provision.
What we know about the budget
We do not have lots more money to spend. Money from the Government is
reducing.
This strategy includes the move toward more Self Directed Support, which is all
about personalisation and giving people choice and control. It is also about the fair
sharing of money based on a persons’ need.
We will have to do things better without waste, ending some services, and have
even more creative and cost effective services.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
4. Key Trends in Moray
NEEDS ASSESSMEN TO BE ADDED
A full needs assessment can be found at the end of the strategy in Appendix 3
5. Developing our strategy
The development of our strategy has been highly participative, drawing on the views
of individuals, families, communities and partner organisations. A consultation event
and a series of focus groups and workshops were held with stakeholders who
included people with physical and sensory disabilities. The views expressed have
informed the content of our final strategy.
We developed a questionnaire to capture people’s thoughts, feelings and opinions.
We know that not everyone likes to fill in questionnaires so we held a conversation
cafe for people to come and talk to us in an informal setting over a coffee. We also
visited services in Moray so that they could talk to us in familiar surroundings. We
were also available for one to one chats.
It was really important to get the strategy right. It helps decide what services are
needed, how many services are needed and where they should be. It also helps us
to think about how services already available can be used and how service in the
community that anyone, if they are able, can use. It helps us look at self-help and
how we can help keep ourselves healthier.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
6. Our vision – how we want things to be
We listened to everything people said about what they want their lives to be like.
We agreed our vision, we feel we all need to work together to make this happen.
Our vision says:
We must also make sure all services and staff who work in services treat people in
the right way as it says in the Human Rights Act (1998) and the Equality Act (2010).
Moray is a community where people are heard and listened to and have
choice and control to meet their individual needs and
chosen lifestyle
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
7. What we found out
Some things people told us
Support people to live - let go
See life as a whole not segmented
Talk to people who have done it before –
peer support
Think about where you put disabled
spaces - on a hill!!
Professionals need to see beneath 'everything
is fine'
People don't want to bother people
in services
Information is vital
I feel lucky to live in Moray. It has a lot to offer people like me
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Things people told us were important:
Summary: Some main things we found out from the needs assessment and
what people have told us…..
Appendix 4 gives more feedback information from the consultation process.
Being allowed to live in the community and not in hospital
Having a buddy would help reduce isolation
Aberdeen is a long way to travel for hospital appointments to see a
specialist or attend wheelchair clinics
The Moray Resource Centre could do a different range of activities
People are all different and cope in different ways. Some days are
better than others, good and bad. Time spent with people who are
caring and not patronising as people want to be proud of themselves
(feel good factor) even though we can be grumpy at times
I attend the Moray Resource Centre with all my friends. Does not
matter what disability, we are all the same
Chemists are very helpful
Self directed support gives me more control and sets out what I want
my support to do. I felt there was a lack of flexibility and quality of care
before
Lack of flexible care to suit my needs. I can’t spontaneously decide to
do something. It all has to be planned and organised in advance
Volunteering should be started at a younger age
Diagnosis is just the start of the process
Co-ordinate the childs support services with a specialist team
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
We have collected a lot of data from the consultation process and it has been used to write our strategy as highlighted in Appendix 4. We have identified some emerging themes from the comments received through the various methods of early engagement have been identified six strategic themes as:
1. Sustaining good health
2. Supporting relationships
3. Housing, Equipment and Transport
4. Information and Involvement
5. Increasing financial security
6. Professional workforce
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
8. Six Strategy Themes
The 6 themes in detail:
Sustain and promote good health
Strategy Aim: people of all ages will receive the support they need, when they need it to keep physically and
emotionally healthy
The things we are doing to make this happen include:
Ensure effective transition between children and adult services.
Develop anticipatory care plans
Support uptake of Self-Directed Support (SDS)
Further develop / consolidate outcome-focused / goal-based planning
Support the Dementia Strategy
Ensure that there is a concerted effort to sustainably reduce the stigma and discrimination faced by people with disabilities
Continue to support disability awareness training.
Reduce inequalities for vulnerable groups, ensuring equitable access and provision of services.
Encourage and support access to universal services and community opportunities
Support the work of the Scottish Human Rights Commission
See Hear - Encourage local partnerships (health and social care agencies, 3rd
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
sector) to develop care pathways when developing and reviewing services
Develop more and raise awareness of accessible toilets and changing facilities
Review all current spend on sensory impairment, including that relating to
carers, across statutory Health and Social Care and third sector agencies, in
relation to specialist provision
See Hear - Local partnerships should consider options for the introduction of
basic sensory screening, for example, for people of a certain age, and at
agreed times in their care pathway
See Hear - Accessible local information strategies should be developed to include preventative measures and good self care in retaining sensory health, but also providing information on how to access services
Support school health and awarenss programmes
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Supporting relationships
Strategy Aim: to ensure that people with a disability are supported to achieve social inclusion by being able to
access a range of services including information, advice and advocacy to support their relationships within their
own family and wider community.
The things we are doing to make this happen include:
Ensure support for families and carers
Ensure that service users of all ages and their families and carers are fully
involved in service development.
Develop volunteer support services
Support greater use of formal and informal peer support approaches
Develop peer support worker roles within care teams
Ensure access to Independent Advocacy
Support the development of self advocacy
Develop opportunities for respite
Encourage community support groups
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Housing, equipment and transport
Strategy Aim: that the mobility and access needs of people
with a disability are met through a range of accessible transport services and buildings that meet high standards of accessibility agreed with people who have a disability.
The things we are doing to make this happen include:
Improve mental wellbeing by improving the condition of housing.
Ensure vulnerable groups have fair access to safer homes
Increase uptake of telehealth / telecare
Explore the use of technology for better engagement with people
Allow people to try equipment to help them into work
Develop a quicker repair service for equipment
Training for bus and taxi drivers in disability awareness
More dropped kerbs
Information to shop owners on problems with A boards
Think about where disabled parking is put – not on a hill, not with doors
opening onto busy roads
Explore options to reduce wheelie bins left across pavements
More choice of transport, either public, private or community vehicles
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Information and involvement
Strategy Aim: People who have or develop a sensory loss are able to access information and be supported to take
the maximum possible control over living as independently as possible, while also getting direct assistance when needed; appropriate communication is critical to this.
The things we are doing to make this happen include:
Ensure that people of all ages are better informed about services available,
with age appropriate information being available.
Ensure that service users feel listened to and are fully involved in decisions
about their own care.
See Hear - Support stronger local partnerships with service user and carer
engagement / co-production in the design of services and activities which
reflects the need in Moray through appropriate service planning.
Develop local awareness raising initiatives for the public and local
organisations including local businesses.
See Hear - There should be robust systems for maintaining information
locally, and sharing this between agencies, in relation to people who have
received a diagnosis of a sensory impairment at any time from birth onwards.
See Hear - Compliance with the Equality Act 2010 should be scrutinised in
relation to sensory impairment, particularly in relation to communication, and
consideration given as to what future action may be required.
Develop an information point
See Hear - audit current spend and service patterns on sensory impairment,
including for carers, in relation to specialist provision and also to those
elements of other service provision that impact on people with a sensory
impairment. In the light of the findings, consideration should be given to
options for service redesign as appropriate;
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
See Hear - Explore opportunities to increase awareness and expertise int eh
area of impairment awareness, building in appropriate content into core
training regimes of different professional groups.
Make information available in a range of formats
Encourage the use of simple language when comminucating to children
Data sharing to be made easier across all agencies
Increasing financial security
Strategy Aim: that people are supported into meaningful activities and have access to good employment or volunteering opportunities
whilst ensuring appropriate options to support people into employment are available.
The things we are doing to make this happen include:
Ensure that people with disabilities have access to advice and support on
financial matters
Support people to maximise incomes / mitigate impact of Welfare Reform
Promote employment opportunities including self employment
Improve skills for employment and help young people progress into
employment.
Promote the use of Employment Support Service
Support more appropriate volunteering / intermediate employment
opportunities.
Support people into and employers to offer flexible working patterns
Promote the use of self directed support to become self employed
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Support people to go to college
Explore and promote early years activites focusing on under 3s
Professional workforce
Strategy Aim: that staff have the skills and training they need to
provide good support to people.
The things we are doing to make this happen include:
All staff to promote a culture that is respectful and experienced as
empowering.
Ensure a sustainable skilled workforce that helps people improve health.
Develop service culture for positive risk management.
Increase awareness of employability and health issues among frontline staff
Encourage involvement in the Healthy Working Lives (HWL) programme
among local employers, businesses and other workplaces
Develop coordinated approach to disability training and awareness for staff
across services
See Hear - There should be mandatory training in sensory awareness and
assessing for non complex needs across staff in health and social care
settings, targeted in the first instance on older people’s services
Ensure processes arer in place enabling skilled staff to pass on their
knowledge and experience before they leave
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
In order to achieve everything highlighted within our 6 themes we have produced a
delivery plan which sets out in more detail what we want to do, how we will do it,
when we will do it, who will do it and what resources we need to do it. This delivery
plan is Appendix 5 at the end of this strategy.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
9. How will we know our strategy is working?
Part of the process of developing this strategy has been to bring together
stakeholders on a regular basis. This has been done by having working groups,
larger events and smaller more intimate conversation cafes. A Physical and
Sensory Partnership Board has been created which will oversee the continual
development and implementation of our strategy.
The role of the partnership board is to:
Helping identify what services people with physical and sensory
and their carers need in Moray
Increasing understanding of what works, service gaps and what
people with physical and sensory disabilities and their carers value most
Supporting the development of strategies and work plans
Reviewing and overseeing the implementation of strategies and
work plans
Promoting wider involvement and participation
Consulting and communicating with wider stakeholders including
users and carers to aid the priority setting process
Agreeing priorities and making recommendations on the above
Ensuring effective handover and transition arrangements for young
people and older adults
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
10. Want to know more?
If you need more information please contact:
the Moray Councils Commissioning and Performance Team
Please email us at:
Telephone us on:
01343 567179
Go online to:
www.moray.gov.uk
If you need information from the Moray Council in a different format, such as Braille, audio
tape or large print, please contact:
如果閣下需要摩里議會用你認識的語言向你提供議會資訊的話，請要求一位會說英語的朋友或親人
與議會聯繫
Jeżeli chcieliby Państwo otrzymać informacje od samorządu rejonu Moray w swoim języku ojczystym,
Państwa przyjaciel lub znajomy, który mówi dobrze po angielsku, może do nas
Se necessita de informação, do Concelho de Moray, traduzida para a sua língua, peça o favor a um amigo ou
parente que fale Inglês para contactar através do:
Jeigu Jums reikalinga informacija iš Moray regiono Savivaldybės [Moray Council], kurią norėtumėte gauti
savo gimtąja kalba, paprašykite angliškai kalbančių draugų arba giminaičių susisiekti su mumis
Чтобы получить информацию из Совета Морэй на Вашем языке, попросите, пожалуйста, Вашего
друга или родственника, говорящих по английски, запросить ее
Si necesitas recibir información del Ayuntamiento de Moray en tu idioma. Por favor pide a un amigo o
familiar que hable inglés que:
Project Officer (Equal Opportunities),High Street,Elgin, IV30 1BX
01343 563319 [email protected]
(Wednesday or Thursday only): 18002 01343563319
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Contents of Appendices
Appendix 1 – National and local content
Appendix 2 – Definitions
Appendix 3 - Full needs assessment
Appendix 4 - Feedback from consultation process
Appendix 5 – Delivery plan
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Appendix 1 - National and Local Context See Hear: A strategic framework for meeting the needs of people with a
sensory impairment in Scotland
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00448444.pdf
See Hear covers cradle to grave sensory impairment and is set against a
background of increasing demand, the requirement for greater efficiency and
effectiveness with available resources and Health and Social Care Integration. It
has been developed in the context of a number of wider national policies including
Self Directed Support (SDS), Reshaping Care for Older Pople, the Early Years
Collaborative, the Revision of the National Care Standards, the implementation of
the Carers and Young Carers Strategy, the Children and Young People (Scotland)
Bill and the Doran review. Further development included practice expectations, and
has been directly informed by the views of a wide range of stakeholders who have
contributed their views on current service provision and made suggestions for future
developments.
Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012-2015 The Scottish Government published the three year national strategy for mental health in 2012. The strategy established the following seven priority themes:
Working more effectively with families and carers.
Embedding more peer to peer work and support.
Increasing the support for self management and self help approaches.
Extending the anti-stigma agenda forward to include further work on discrimination.
Focusing on the rights of those with mental illness.
Developing the outcomes approach to include personal, social and clinical outcomes.
Ensuring that we use new technology effectively as a mechanism for providing information and delivering evidence based services.
Reference to the new strategy
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Self-Directed Support
In April 2014 the Self Directed Support Act came into operation. Self Directed Support can help people achieve changes in their life. It is an opportunity for a person to have more choice and take greater control over their social care support, enabling them to enjoy greater independence.
Self Directed Support puts the person in control by giving them a lot more say about the type of support they get. They can choose to spend their budget on the support they most need and prefer in order to live the life they want. It is a way of providing social care services which enables them to:
Have more choice and flexibility
Have money to buy their own services
Choose services to suit and improve their lifestyle
Manage their own support
The community care officer or social worker will tell the person how much money they have in their individual budget. They can then strategy and decide the best way to use it. They don’t have to just spend the money on services. They might choose to spend some of it on buying the kind of services they already receive and the rest on new and different things that would make a real difference to their life.
They can choose how they would like their Self Directed Support to be delivered:
The local authority can make a direct payment for them to arrange their own support;
They can choose their support and the local authority makes arrangements for the support on their behalf;
The local authority selects and arranges the appropriate support on their behalf; or
A combination of the options for each type of support
Self Directed Support will mean that that those who commissioning services will
have to do things in a different way. No longer will services be bought in long term
block contracts. We will move to outcomes focused services to meet the needs of
the individual.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Integration of Adult Health and Social Care Services The integration of adult health and social care will facilitate integration of commissioning budgets for adult services, in such a way that the source of the resources will lose its identity, for as the Cabinet Secretary has stated: “where money comes from, be it health or social care, will no longer be of consequence”. The Integration of Adult Health and Social Care Bill has placed a duty on
partnerships to put in place locality strategizing arrangements to deliver locally
agreed strategic commissioning strategies that have the support of the
professionals and other care providers who will deliver services as well as users
and carers. It is vital that this new partnership arrangements function to improve
performance in the form of the delivery of outcomes for local communities, and that
joint commissioning functions to ensure the specific needs of people are met.
Achieving Sustainable Quality in Scotland’s Healthcare – A 20:20 Vision In 2011 the Scottish Government published its strategic vision for achieving sustainable quality in the delivery of healthcare services across Scotland. The Scottish Government's 2020 Vision is that by 2020 everyone is able to live longer healthier lives at home, or in a homely setting and, that we will have a healthcare system where:
We have integrated health and social care
There is a focus on prevention, anticipation and supported self-management
When hospital treatment is required, and cannot be provided in a community setting, day case treatment will be the norm
Whatever the setting, care will be provided to the highest standards of quality and safety, with the person at the centre of all decisions
There will be a focus on ensuring that people get back into their home or community environment as soon as appropriate, with minimal risk of re-admission
See Hear A strategic framework for meeting the needs of people with a sensory imparment in Scotland. This framework covers cradle to grave sensory impairments and is set against a background of increasing demand, the requirement for greater effeicincy and effectiveness with available resources and Health and Social Care Integration. The issues identified will be addressed over a 10 year period and pogress will be subject to regular review.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Commissioning Social Care, Audit Scotland In 2012, Audit Scotland identified the substantial gaps and uncoordinated way in which services have tended to be commissioned. The main recommendations made in their report included:
the need to develop commissioning strategies;
the need to manage the risks of contracting services from voluntary and private providers;
implement self-directed support in a way that service-users will get information, advice and support and processes are in place to monitor the outcomes of the support; and
the need to work very closely together with all partners, including the Third and Independent Sectors.
Caring Together: The Carers Strategy for Scotland 2010-2015 Caring Together acknowledges the vital contribution unpaid carers make to the health and social care system and commits to working with carers as equal partners in the planning and delivery of care and support. It is recognised both nationally and locally that Health and Social Care services depend on the significant amounts of caring provided by partners, family members and others to respond to the increasing challenges posed by an ageing population. Adult Support and Protection The Adult Support and Protection Act 2007 provide greater protection to adults at risk of harm through powers to investigate and take action to support and protect adults in situations where concern exists. It places a duty on Councils to make enquiries and investigations to find out whether or not further action is required to stop or prevent harm from occurring, and introduces a range of protection orders including assessment orders, removal orders and banning orders. Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 places duties on bodies, including service providers in the statutory, Third and Independent Sectors not to discriminate on the basis of certain protected characteristics and make reasonable adjustments in certain situations. Welfare Reform Act 2012 The Welfare Reform Act came into law in March 2012. The Act makes a wide range of changes to the UK's benefits system. Key changes include:
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Universal Credit: This new benefit aims to simplify the system by combining a number of different benefits into one payment, including income-related Employment and Support Allowance. It is a key part of the Government's pledge to make work pay and cut fraud in the benefits system.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP): This new benefit will replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for working age people from April 2013. Between 2013 and 2016, existing DLA claimants who are aged 16 - 64 will be reassessed to see if they are entitled to this new benefit. PIP uses a new assessment process that will take account of a range of abilities, but maintains a very similar structure to DLA.
There are also a wide range of changes introduced in the Act to cut fraud, change the Housing Benefit system and overhaul child support payments. Understanding the implications of the reforms for people experiencing mental ill health, and keeping up to date with developments will be a key concern for those working in mental health. Children and Young People (Scotland) Act The Act sits within the context of the Christie Commission which emphasised the importance of early years, prevention and personalised service delivery. It aims to put children and young people at the centre of planning and services and enduring their rights are respected across the public sector. The Act covers the following key areas:
Promoting the rights of children and young people – placing duties in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), extending the powers of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People.
Wellbeing and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) - ensuring young people have access to a Named Person, and placing duties on public bodies to coordinate the planning, design and delivery of services for children and young people with a focus on improving wellbeing outcomes (and reporting collectively on how they are improving those outcomes).
Early learning and childcare – strengthening early years support by increasing the amount and flexibility of free early learning and childcare.
Getting it right for looked after children – supporting better permanence planning for looked after children through a clearer definition of corporate parenting, a duty on local authorities to assess care leaver’s requests for assistance, additional support for kinship carers and a new statutory footing for Scotland’s Adoption Register.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
The Act promotes stronger cooperation and collaboration among those responsible for looking after children and young people. This includes different local authority departments, services and associated agencies and promotes the principle of corporate parenting whereby relevant agencies hold corporate parenting responsibilities. The Act supports collaboration between corporate parents in terms of information sharing, provision of advice, and coordination of activities. Among the duties placed on corporate parents is a requirement to be alert to matters that may adversely affect the wellbeing of children and young people whom they support. The provisions in relation to information sharing are relevant for the interface between children’s services and adult mental health services.
A Guide to Commissioning for Community Care
The guide includes a clear framework for the commissioning and delivery of support and services to the people of Moray. This means finding out what services people need and then deciding how we can best put those services in place. We want to make sure that people with lived experience of mental ill health, their families and their carers help us to make these decisions.
Moray Health and Social Care Partnership agreed what Commissioning for
Community Care means:
“Commissioning is the process we use to ensure the effective and efficient use of
resources to achieve the best possible outcomes for the population of Moray. The
process includes all the activities involved in assessing and forecasting needs,
agreeing desired outcomes, considering options, strategizing the nature, range and
quality of future services and working in partnership to put these in place”.
The commissioning cycle below was developed by the Institute of Public Care and adopted by the Scottish Government.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Good commissioning has four main types of activity shown in the cycle:
Analysing – making sure that you know how things are working at the moment, how much there is to spend, who needs the services and what national policies and guidelines have to be kept to.
Planning – finding out where the gaps in service are, developing strategies for the future, which like this one, is based on both the analysis and the views of everyone concerned, especially the people who use the services.
Doing – making sure that the services are delivered as planned and that if problems occur they are dealt with properly.
Reviewing – assessing the services on a regular basis and making sure that they are still meeting people’s needs.
These activities work in a cycle and in order, and help make sure we have the services we need.
Integrated Children’s Services Commissioning Framework
Our aim is that this framework will promote coherence and consistency in commissioning across different care groups and services and help the service and its partners to assess and take decisions about the relative priority given to different
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
groups within the community, as well as the balance of investment in prevention, early intervention and supports that are more intensive. We follow the same commissioning cycle (shown above) as Community Care. The service aims to achieve the following specific objectives through the implementation of this Framework –
service strategies identify and address the most significant needs and risks affecting outcomes for children, young people, parents and carers
strategies support the achievement of positive outcomes in relation to those needs, for people using services
strategies promote choice and control on the part of service users in relation to the support and services that they use
strategies help us to achieve value for money
strategies promote equality of opportunity
strategies increase the preventative effect of our services
strategies foster good long-term relationships with service providers, building a culture of trust and mutual respect
strategies develop the range and depth of the market in services to children, young people and families
strategies build capacity in families and communities to meet the needs of children and young people
strategies build capacity in services to meet the needs of children and families, through the development and retention of –
o knowledge, skills and values o a culture of partnership o synergies between sources of support
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Three Tiered Intervention Model The Government’s mental health strategy has been broadly welcomed but gaps in the strategy have been identified by some sources - including the organisation ‘Children in Scotland’. They suggest:
Improving children and young people’s mental health – primarily through Child
and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) - is not one of the listed
priority areas
The Scottish Government’s stated commitment to the well-being of children
and young people in so many other policy areas -- from Getting it Right for
Every Child (GIRFEC) to the Early Years Framework, as well as from
Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence to the Additional Support for Learning
Act -- is not well reflected in the strategy.
There is insufficient emphasis on prevention and early intervention
There is too much emphasis on health services
The emphasis is on those who need specialist treatment
In order to support young people in developing resilience and in promoting their own emotional well-being and to offer more specialist support to overcome difficulties, we need to ‘get it right’ at a number of levels ranging from the support offered in universal services to those in dedicated mental health roles. Clarification about the thresholds and interface between these levels is also of vital importance if young people are to be the subject of timely, proportionate and effective intervention.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Threshold: Practitioners
including teachers, GPs,
health visitors require an
awareness of issues relating to
emotional well-being so they
can identify potential need,
support young people and
signpost confidently and
appropriately
Threshold: Practitioners
including those in the named
person role or those working
with vulnerable young people
are better able to identify
when more specialist support
is needed and are aware of
thresholds and referral
pathways for CAMHS
support Specialist /
CAMHS
support
Early Intervention Support with issues such as anxiety,
bereavement, low mood, self-harm,
sleep issues, attendance etc
UNIVERAL SERVICES
SCHOOLS: Mental and emotional wellbeing is a key
component of the curriculum
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING: Promoting the emotional
well-being of parents and young children
COMMUNITY LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT:
Promoting community support and resilience
Integrated Children’s Services The Three Tiered Intervention Model
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Moray 2023 a Plan for the Future Written by public sector providers in collaboration with the Third Sector Interface (TSI Moray) the aim of this document is to describe what Moray will look like 10 years from now. The plan includes targets for improvement, targets to address changing demands for specific services and targets to maintain a high quality of life for many communities. The vision for 2023 is ambitious and will require a significant shift in resources to be achieved; inevitably this will require a reduction in some areas of public service activity and these areas are clearly identified. Community leaders believe that fundamental changes need to be delivered to ensure that Moray is a great place to live in 2023.
‘Caring Together in Moray’ 2011-2015 Caring Together in Moray, A strategy for unpaid carers was co-produced by local unpaid carers and Moray Community Health & Social Care Partnership. It brings together the identified needs of unpaid carers in Moray and the ideas that were shared as part of this process for how we, the Moray Council, NHS Grampian, the Voluntary Sector and Unpaid Carers themselves, can consistently deliver appropriate support to those people who provide an unpaid caring role.
Moray Telehealthcare Strategy
This strategy is about using technology to help maintain people’s independence and
well-being safely.
The Moray Council Procurement Strategy 2010-2014 The Moray Council will support sustainable procurement. This can be described as buying services, whilst at the same time providing other benefits to the local community. All of which must meet with the principles of Best Value.
So, for example, the Council to encourage small and medium enterprises and the third sector (voluntary/charity organisations) to provide services to the Council will ensure that any selection relating to financial viability are proportionate to the contract in question and do not unreasonably exclude small and medium enterprises or third sector providers. An example of promoting social issues would be to encourage volunteering by mentioning this in the contract specification and taking this into account in the award criteria.
By promoting sustainable procurement by means of community benefits and social issues, the Council can support local employment and encourage inclusive supportive communities.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
The Moray Council Local Housing Strategy 2013-2018 The overall aim of the Local Housing Strategy is:-
To ensure that sufficient good quality, affordable housing is available to meet the needs of people living in or requiring housing in Moray.
The Three Tier Model A new model of delivering adult community care services in Moray in now in place. It is a vision shared with the Christie Commission for the reform of public services in Scotland. At the heart of this vision is a new relationship between those who provide services and people who receive these services. For Moray Adult Community Care Services this new model can be described as a
three tier process:
Tier 1- Help to help you (information and advice), universal services to the whole community and emphasis on prevention.
Tier 2- Help when you need it (immediate help in a crisis, re-ablement and regaining independence.
Tier 3- Ongoing support for those who need it through the delivery of 1 or more self directed support (sds) options.
There are a number of principles that have been adopted:
Principle 1: The provision of social care services is not the first response. The provision of information has an important role to play in supporting more people to live independently and to make full use of their local community.
Principle 2: The conversation is at the heart of what we do. Identifying positive outcomes that matter to people is based on a conversation. This level of engagement is the essential first step in delivering an outcomes based service.
Principle 3: Promoting Independence. The role of Moray Adult Community Care Service should always be to focus on empowering the service user.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Principle 4: Providing Choice and Control. The new model embraces self directed support. If people require on-going support, care officers will help people identify which of the SDS options would best suit their needs.
Principle 5: Improving People Outcomes. This three tier model aims to provide clarity in terms of our core process thereby reducing bureaucracy, minimising delays in providing services and improving outcomes for service users and carers. In practical terms, it means that people cannot be escalated to tier 2 and 3 until their outcomes have been fully explored at tier 1.
Telecare and Living it Up (LiU) The term ‘Telecare’ refers to a range of equipment and associated services which support and enhance safety for people living at home. We know that telecare can greatly increase a person’s independence and in Moray we wish to promote the use of telecare equipment. Living it Up (LiU) is the name of the dallas project in Scotland which will run until at least 2015 and Moray is very pleased to be one of the five early implementer sites. LiU aims to empower people to stay healthy for as long as possible and to help those with long term health and care issues by using technology to enhance opportunities for wellbeing and independence within their community. LiU also aims to provide better links to useful information, products and services; to enable people to support themselves and others. Social Enterprise and Micro Enterprise In Moray we are keen to support the development of social and micro enterprises. A social enterprise is a business that tries to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. This might sound like charity work, but social enterprises are businesses and come in all sizes, from small community cafés to really big organisations. They make and do things that earn money and make profits like any business. It is how they work and what they do with the profit that is different. Social enterprises reinvesting the profits they make to do more good. A micro-enterprise is a small business. This is a way of creating a job that makes good use of your skills and abilities. Anyone can have a micro-enterprise, including people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Micro-enterprises can be anything from running your own gardening business to owning a vending machine.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Appendix 2 - Definitions
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 (DDA) protects disabled people. The
Act sets out the circumstances in which a person is "disabled". It says you are
disabled if you have:
A mental or physical impairment; Which has an adverse effect on your ability to
carry out normal day to day activities;
The adverse effect is substantial;
The adverse effect is long term (meaning it has lasted for 12 months, or is likely
to last for more than 12 months or for the rest of your life).
There are also some special provisions, for example:
If your disability has badly affected your ability to carry out normal day to day
activities, but doesn't any more, it will still be counted as having that effect if it is
likely to do so again;
If you have a condition which can get worse such as multiple sclerosis or
arthritis, and it will badly affect your ability to carry out normal day to day
activities in the future, it will be treated as having a bad effect on you now.
At least one of these areas must be badly affected:
Mobility Continence
Manual Dexterity Physical Co-ordination
Speech, hearing or eyesight Ability to lift, carry or move everyday
objects
Memory or ability to concentrate,
learn or understand
Understanding of the risk of physical
danger
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Disabilities can be divided into four broad categories:
physical disabilities
sensory disabilities
learning disabilities
mental health problems
Impairments
A physical impairment can arise as a result of accident, illness or congenital
disorder and may be caused by a range of health conditions such as neurological,
circulatory, respiratory and musculo-skeletal disorders which may be long term. It
generally has an impact on someone's physical ability or function.
A sensory impairment refers to people who have a hearing impairment, a visual
impairment, speech impairment and people who are deaf blind. Almost everyone
who has a physical or sensory impairment would be covered by the definition of
disability in the DDA, the definition most widely used and accepted by organisations
such as the Council, Primary Care and Secondary Care.
Visual Impairment
This is a term used to cover those who have some residual vision to those who
have no sight at all. To be registered, a person has to be so blind as to be unable to
perform any work for which eyesight is essential. It does not mean that the person
will have no vision at all. The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 gives local
authorities the power to maintain a register of people who are blind or partially
sighted.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Hearing Impairment
This is a generic description that covers several groups. This includes, the deaf
community, a term that is generally used to describe those people who use British
Sign Language. There are also a larger number of people who are profoundly deaf,
many of who have become deafened through the course of their lives. The largest
group is those who are hard of hearing, many of whom acquire hearing loss as they
become older.
Dual Sensory Impairment
This refers to people with a combination of sight and hearing loss. It includes people
who are both deaf and blind from birth, people who are either blind or deaf from
birth and who lose the other sense and people who acquire a significant visual and
hearing impairment in later life. People with a dual sensory loss typically have
difficulty with communication, access to information and mobility. (Community Care
Services for People with a Sensory Impairment – An Action Plan. Scottish Executive
2003)
Long Term Conditions
A long term condition(LTC) is a condition that requires ongoing medical care, limits
what one can do as a result of various degrees of impairment and is likely to last
longer than one year (action report LTC). It includes conditions such as diabetes,
asthma, epilepsy, arthritis, heart disease and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD) as well as conditions more commonly identified with physical
impairment such as muscular sclerosis or spinal injury. These are conditions which
cannot be cured but require early identification, symptom control by drugs,
treatments and therapies and close monitoring with a greater emphasis on self-
care, self management and advanced care planning.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
The national vision is that by 2025 many long term conditions will be being
prevented by health education measures as well as advances in preventative health
care but it is anticipated that the proportion of our population who will suffer from
long term conditions will increase because of the anticipated increase in older
people.
Neurological Conditions
A Neurological Condition is a general term to include a range of people who have
illnesses such as Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Motor Neurone Disease,
Multiple Sclerosis, and Epilepsy. The term also includes people who have an
acquired neurological injury such as Stroke, Aneurysm, Acquired Spinal Cord Injury,
Acquired Brain Injury. It is recognised that many of the people who have these
conditions will also have a physical disability and/or a sensory impairment.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Appendix 3 - FULL NEEDS ASSESSMENT
TO BE ADDED
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Appendix 4 - FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTATION PROCESS
Adult Consultation
What we found out
What does living well and as independently as possible mean to you?
To stay in power – my life, my disabilities
Receiving the support of Crossroads, Elgin Resource Centre and now Quarries’
as we have already lost two important lines of support from the health care
services in the last 3-4 years
I am independent and take a pride in myself. I don’t get depressed
It means everything to me
Getting out of hospital
Doing what I can do for myself and getting help with the things I can no longer do
It allows me to continue to do the things that I am still able to do for myself,
maintaining my confidence and independence and it allows me to remain
assertive and ask for help when I need it. I like to be involved in any decisions
that are being made about myself and my care.
Hoping I can cope with my hearing loss which can be very hard at times when
everyone is chattering
Being able to lead my own life, making my own decisions, keeping as much
independence as I can
It means a lot to me. I don't like having to depend on others as I feel I may come
across as being lazy
Being able to make my own choices
What helps you to live well and independently in your community?
Aids from NESS. Hearing loop when we are at meetings makes it easier
NESS, my guide dog, the NHS
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
The Moray Resource Centre has helped grow my confidence due to the support
of staff and other service users that attend
I attend the Moray Resource Centre with all my friends. Does not matter what
disability, we are all the same.
Attending Moray Resource Centre keeps me independent. Go three times a
week and help in the kitchen. This give me independence and family respite
We are lucky to have Moray Resource Centre here. More people could benefit if
there was more promotion
Support from health professionals and family. Walking aids supplied by OT
services
Helpful health and social care professionals
I have a brilliant care package from Hanover Housing
Self directed support gives me more control and sets out what I want my support
to do. I felt there was a lack of flexibility and quality of care before
Being allowed to get out of hospital and live in the community
Attendance of a carer for half an hour each morning
Chemists are very helpful
My GP is good
Having the right equipment for my wife
I can always some get help from Handy Persons Service and W.V.S. Also attend
Friends Forever
Attending Moray College
Peer support is important
Being able to eat properly and buy good cheap food. Able to shop for ourselves
or with assistance when necessary
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
What, if anything, stops you from playing as full a part in community life as
possible?
Lack of flexible care to suit my needs. I can’t spontaneously decide to do
something. It all has to be planned and organised in advance
When we're ill or cannot get to places. Cannot walk too far
When I get in a muddle and have trouble with my aids and can't hear very well.
When going out worry about toilet facilities and some shops could have a seat so
you could rest while doing shopping
I can't always get dressed due to my severe pain. On the days I can't get out I
get tired easily
My disability at times can prevent me from being able to go out of the house and
be part of the community. I have foot drops and wear splints on my legs and can
cause pain. My deafness can cause pain. My deafness can also make me
anxious when I can't hear what someone is saying.
Need my activities to be arranged and organised around my needs and to
manage my anxieties. I need to rely on family to take me to unfamiliar places and
to accompany me to appointments etc
I have M.S. My walking and stability hold me up. I never have two days the same
Having to deal with pain, relying on medication, stiffness of limbs/joints and
hands. There are times when hands and feet don't always co-ordinate. Living life
for today and not "what ifs".
I am becoming a recluse because of my vertigo. My visits outside are limited to
when I feel safe. My friends have their own lives and families to deal with
Not being allowed to get out of hospital in two years
Registered blind
My head injury made me dependent on care
Poor eyesight and limited mobility
Having no one to assist me in case of falling
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Because of my disability I am rarely out of the house
Shutting the public toilets was a real mistake
Not being able to get out and about without depending on others. Loss of
confidence, feeling I no longer have much to contribute and that I am not of value
What would help to change this?
Being allowed to live in the community and not in hospital
Having regular checks on health and taking on board advice given by medical
professionals and also try to be as mobile as I possibly can be within limitations
of movement
If medication could reduce my epilepsy and control my falls from vertigo I would
feel more confident about going out if I had more help
Currently there is a question mark about the Moray Resource Centre closing.
Although it cannot help with my pain it helps my confidence. I feel that if it were
to close I would not have anywhere to go and I would be alone with no support
A choice of day services in Moray. Having someone (paid carer) to take me out
to increase the number of social interactions that I have and to help me
experience new things
Nothing but to maintain present level of independence helps to be part of
community.
I only have basic computer skills, which is something that is becoming almost a
necessity, so something to help me with that would be helpful
Someone keeping an eye out for us. Friendship, caring people
Having someone to assist me to and from groups. Even having someone to take
you out for a coffee can be worthwhile, at least you won't be isolated
Having a buddy would help reduce isolation
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
What could be better?
As far as we are concerned maybe employ another person to help in the office
(NESS) as Diane and John are always busy but always have time for clients.
They do a good job with compassion and listen to what we have to say
The Moray Resource Centre could do a different range of activities. On Mondays
we do card making and Tuesday we do art. I do like these
Due to proposed changes to a user led service there (MRC) are some concerns
on the future
There should be more volunteering opportunities at Moray Resource Centre
When called for NHS appointments, they shout your name and then the staff
walk away and leave you (visually impaired man)
I have had to use hospital transport to get to Aberdeen appointments however
this has been a very bad experience. I am exhausted and sore afterwards. The
transport leaves very early, picks up people all over the place and I don't get
home till very late and often miss meals therefore it affects my diabetes. Now I
ask friends to take me or miss my neurology appointments. Improve hospital
transport or clinics in Elgin. Improve the waiting times at the diabetic clinic in
Elgin (2 hours average wait). Bring back an assisted transport scheme to help
with the cost and accessibility of wheelchair transport. Sometimes it's a lack of
communication and disabled people get stressed out
Staff shortages and cut backs at day services alarm me. I like routine and
structures and knowing that I can approach my support worker at any time. I've
benefited from the one-to-one approach
Waiting times to see health specialist, communication from health and social
care services
A neurology clinic in Elgin – Aberdeen is too far away and I am more likely to
miss appointments
A wheelchair clinic in Elgin
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Easier access to health and social care professionals and seeing the same
person so that someone knows me well and I don’t have to go over the same
ground
More nurses and doctors, physiothrapists, OTs, available beds - the complete
health package. Less waiting times for waiting in A&E and home visits if
necessary. More training for care workers and back up
Aberdeen is a long way to travel for hospital appointments to see a specialist or
attend wheelchair clinics
Suitable care in the community. Communication between health and social care
More care from social work to give as much help for persons living in community
independently. More trained nursing staff to help out with the normal 9-5 working
hours and more doctors on call. Not having to wait for medical help to arrive
much too late in some cases and more hospital beds if needed for wellbeing
Get more appointments locally as going to Aberdeen/Inverness can be quite
difficult
Change how Self Directed Support is handled, run and channeled.
Shopmobility open seven days a week
Everything can always be better. Content with Crossroads. Resource Centre is
not as good as when my wife first started going but is still useful and Quarries’
looks promising. Health service is going downhill in a hurry through financial
constraints
Making it easier to access services
Regular health checks are needed
More local health clinics
Home carers need more training – I had to talk carers through putting me to bed
Unable to comment as don't use any. Can't use any in hospital as under 65 years
Audio books are usually good.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Nothing. Shopmobility staff are very helpful and on my down days I always feel
happier after talking to the staff there
Nothing could be improved upon. The services always deliver and help me to
achieve my personal goals. It's only my own personal health that could be
improved upon.
Quite content with services meantime
Nothing. Happy with the services I use
What’s missing? What are the gaps? Are there things in other areas you
would like to see in Moray?
The mental health issues of people with disabilities are not dealt with
You have the therapy pool in Forres why not have one as part of the leisure
centre in Elgin? At least we could have use of all the facilities in one place
Should be more activities like wheelchair dances and where you can just talk to
people
Volunteering should be started at a younger age
Maybe look into buddy system a bit more to see who is being alone. There will
always be someone who has slipped the net. Can we be aware of this?
I'm happy with what I do just now. I have not seen or heard of anything in other
areas
I feel lucky to live in Moray. It has a lot to offer people like me
Moray Resource Centre works for my daughter
I know there are other services available in Moray but I do not use them
Is there anything else you want to say about living with a physical or a
sensory disability?
People are all different and cope in different ways. Some days are better than
others, good and bad. Time spent with people who are caring and not patronising
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
as people want to be proud of themselves (feel good factor) even though we can
be grumpy at times
We have to try and help ourselves as much as possible but it's nice to know
services are in place
I'm struggling to do everyday tasks due to severe pain. I need to get help around
my flat from agencies but I don't know who to ask to get items for my everyday
life.
To get out of hospital to live my life as I want to, not how someone else thinks I
should
Due to the nature of disability things can change
It is very hard
I do not wish to become over dependent on services which I know can be
provided in order that I can keep my independence for as long as possible
I can't get out every day and I've always been active but I struggle to do
everyday tasks even getting washed and brush my teeth. I don't get help from
anybody, I struggle
Living with a disability can be extremely demoralising and can lead to feelings of
isolation or you are too much of a bother. Patience on all concerned.
Taking the resource centre away won't be the same as a user led organisation
So far I manage quite well. I know if I need help I can access help and a care
officer through day service or by ringing direct
Used to get all the support and information on other help through two health
support workers but those posts don't exist anymore
People talk a lot of nothing gets done
To ensure all disabled people have a voice which is heard
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
HILDREN’S AND FAMILIES SERVICE CONSULTATION
What we found out: Sustaining Good Health
More play parks and activity centres for children in wheelchairs
Involve the dads more in activities
Co-ordinate the support services by having a specialist team
Change the school, policy, so individuals can go to the school which would best support their needs
Sending children out of area is not good for their physical and mental health
There are no high level services in moray, invest for long term value
Communication skills need to be invested especially for 0-2 yrs, with a more structured approach to nurseries providing support.
Need to be proactive with support from birth not from P1 age.
Upskill parents before kids are born
Who is more important the child with disabilities or the other 28 children in the class?
Upskill expectant parents, more connection before the baby is born
Need nursery accreditation programmes
Social worker for children who are deaf need to be trained in BSL
Need a dedicated Social Worker and a transition social worker
Develop children resilience and coping strategies
There is a lack of understanding with regards to sensory issues
Supporting Relationships
Support the transition of personal budgets
Share information, 1 plan for each child so we can all share information efficiently
A family should be able to give overarching consent
Make toilet changing facilities more available so families can access a broader range of activities
Lack of opportunities for respite can make or break a relationship
Supporting advocacy is important
Communication devises are not always available in public places e.g. signs in the town hall
More opportunities for people to meet face to face to support each other
Transport issues – getting children to activities
Continuity of support groups, with challenges of transient community e.g. RAF, Army
Needs of young carers don’t want to be identified
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Lack of understand from parents without disabled children
Not enough early intervention, help and support needed
Diagnosis is just the start of the process
Lack of support workers
Lack of places to deal with children with complex problems
Social isolation for other members of the family, struggle to have friends round
Challenges for keeping children in the community as the child groups up
Lack for support for military families
Issues around access and public transport suitability
Medical treatment can lead children to be disengaged from school and friends as they are seen as different
Little respite for other families members
More parent support required
Some young carers are very young and need more support
Some good examples of transitions between Greenwards and High school through their extended transitions
Learn from good practice
Lack of knowledge of what is available, what services are out there and professionals not always clear
Housing, Equipment and Transport
Transport is an issue to access services
Lack of suitable transport
Equipment needs for communication not always realised
Remember about acoustics and the environment
Hearing aid systems can be ineffective 1 metre away
Lack of houses available for assisted living needs
Appropriate training for volunteers and taxi drivers
Maintenance costs of equipment can be huge
Information and Involvement
Lack of respect for professional opinion and knowledge
Lack of knowledge on sensory issues at budget level
Everyone plans and informs in different ways, different consent with sharing of information
No consistency in communication across Moray
Confusion in understanding peoples roles
Children’s services are defragmented
Children’s sensory Vi and Hi are good in the schools
Assumptions made that parents know exactly who is working with their child.
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Data sharing must be made simpler
Better communication back to parents
Different levels of guardianship of consent needs to be made clearly after the child turns 16
Duplication across the partner’s. Sometime too many people involved
Generally a small workforce, when someone goes off sick there is no continuity of service
Incresing Financial Security
Self-directed support, concerns over funding available for the individual versus care and support the individual needs
Worry about what happens after school
Self-directed support raises expectations of what is available but can’t be met
We must learn to engage more with parents
Inequality, who shouts the loudest, is heard
Costs of respite care is a worry
Nursery places do not start until age 3, difficulty in getting support for age 3 and under
Information and nvolvement
See Hear Strategy, who is the local authority champions
Frustration when services do not link together
Lack of whole school approach to disabilities
Inequality of training opportunities for staff
Schools sometime operate as islands
High staff turnover can cause issues
Different viewpoints on needs and communication needs experienced across agencies
Quality of relationships differs across authority
Going to Aberdeen for various appointments can be an issue
Movement of workforce on temporary contract can cause inconsistencies
All schools are different
In Moray accessing BSL classes can be a problem
Lack of knowledge for resource availability
Budgetary consideration need to be addressed
Lack of staff and vacant post or cutbacks can reduce the workforce
Experienced staff leaves and take with them all their knowledge
How do you keep good people?
Staff resistant to increase workloads as class room assistants have been cut which impacts on service delivery
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
CHILDREN’S AND FAMILIES SERVICE CONSULTATION on
16 Oct 2014
Comments made during families event at Cedarwood, Elgin, on 16.10.2014 What’s the best way for you to access information, advice and support and physical on sensory disability and other related issues?
Internet
GP surgery
Carers forum
Information should be freely available in a booklet to k now what’s available and
who to contact
NAS. Good to get directed to reputable sites
Personal phone calls and letters
Good advice from epilepsy phone line in Inverness. Epilepsy nurses at Inverness
excellent. Moray expertise at a local level would be good.
Support networks – Quarriers are important
By asking IT
Have special schools. Integration is fine but doesn’t work for every child. As
school etc doesn’t have all facilities/staff training etc.
Just getting awareness out
Accessing information etc is a nightmare. Difficult to find things that are specific
to our area, or to Scotland. Internet and emails are the best way to find out
anything. A database of local groups, people, professionals, therapies would be
good and very, very helpful...it is very time consuming to be searching on the
internet when you have a disabled child to care for.
How do we reduce the stigma and discrimination against those with physical
and sensory disability in schools and our communities?
Information, awareness raising in class
Other parents and staff in shops – they don’t understand autism and do give you
disappointed looks
Council should do more about autism awareness. Link with Glenn Morris access
to services
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Difficult to get people to understand the condition it’s so rare. No specialist
support base up here. Online support is important – forums etc
Need to raise awareness about mental health – people think my son is stupid
Not enough support in schools – teachers vary in their ability to include and
integrate my child
Last year’s teacher was excellent but this year’s is not so good
Waiting for a programme “Smart Moves” in school for 18 months
School is good but they don’t have the knowledge. They deal with epilepsy but
they don’t understand it. If school nurse was to listen to (epilepsy) experts
School deals with epilepsy well - call it “day dreams” to explain it to children. I
find this nice than epilepsy
Better communication and information between school and home – asked for a
diary and so did the speech therapist and they have refused twice
School doesn’t understand condition. Hard to retain information but has support
I would start by making it easier to speak about school things with teachers and
professionals. It always seems very 'secretive' in a way, as they don’t seem to
want to tell us. It helps us parents to feel confident in what we are doing and not
feeling stupid. PTA and other parent groups should have knowledge of disability
rules, so that if a parent of a child with disabilities asks about something then
they should have the back up somewhere to find out how to help. There has to
be more involvement with the regular children.... having separate class time
should be kept to a minimum. It saddens me to see the additional needs kids out
on a shopping trip for all to see.... why cant they be mixed with the other
children? Parents need educating about disabilities of children, to realise that
those children AND their parents like to be spoken to as well, and to be
involved. Maybe Call Scotland passport system to be used more, with parents
consent, to give out to families. Children might like to aim for certificates etc for
learning more about and helping disabled children. Also if staff are not
respecting the parents then no one in school will.
What are the key places where accessibility needs to be improved?
Playbarn. Places with unfamiliar people, places with lots of people
McDonalds is really disability friendly
Christies in Fochabers is great but it would be better if they could lock the gate
and make it safe
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
A great idea would be to have a disabled friendly play day with extra supervision
and safer exits
Playbarn – parents attitudes is a barrier to accessing this service
Family circumstances change and additional support needs to be in place.
Accessibility needs to improve in school transport. Buses should really be
transporting, especially country children, in a bus that has other children in it.... It
really is a big deal that a child goes to school on a bus on his own.... the joy he
would have being with others! More accessible for all clubs..... its not good
enough to have something to include special needs if, on the day of it, its
discovered that there has not been the right training for a particular piece of
equipment etc! Swimming should be advertised for disabled children like it is for
other children. Took me months to finally get some pool time...shouldn’t be so!
More accessible afterschool clubs etc....and think about the country kids, we
don’t all live in Elgin. Please... better blue badge spaces, and lots more of
them! Having to unload a child from a car to a wheelchair that is on the road! is
not good enough, and having to put up with abuse and shouting from some
drivers for doing so is even worse! Access to better toilet facilities...having to lay
your child on a filthy toilet floor is not good....and how are we supposed to get
them up off there afterwards....when we are told not to lift, use the hoist! Info on
a web page maybe of where there are suitable walks for wheelchairs, play parks
etc... Play parks should have equipment for all to use...... very little out there for
our children.
What changes to housing, transport and equipment would make a difference
to your child’s life and that of your family?
Get rails in house. Fencing for the garden would be useful so family could play
safely. Council refused. It is hard to have my daughter stuck in the house
Safety
We could do with a larger house but wouldn’t know where to start or go about
doing this (I have 4 children).
OT assessment
Need to ensure housing is suitable – epilepsy no bath or stairs which are a
hazard
My five year old could benefit from support to get a break from my children with
special needs. He misses out
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Be useful if partners could share information on what activities go on and how to
find out more about them
Go to Step by Step in Forres and Little Fish – these are too busy for my child.
Need quieter, calming activity groups
Key locks for doors. High fences
Transport..... blue badge spaces, suitable buses for wheelchairs. Equipment ....
too much red tape into getting equipment...form filling, meetings and then
equipment takes sometimes months to come. If a parents know that a piece of
equipment is going to be good for their child but it cant be funded, perhaps a
voucher for part of the cost could be given to the parents, and then they can use
it along with money of their own to get the equipment they need It is done in
some parts of England. We should have the same rights and freedom to family
life as any other family does.
How do we raise awareness in our schools and community about
physical and sensory disability?
Give schools information and ensure they are prepared and able to cope
Better communication and partnership working between school and home
Not tolerating teasing/bullying of vulnerable children
Staff need more education. More ASN workers. Education in autism
More awareness training for some teachers
Staff don’t have enough knowledge and skills to deal with autism in mainstream
More auxiliaries/assistance in class where required
Need more 1-to-1 support in schools - person centred – burn off energy. Early
intervention
All children needs education on inclusion at schools
Classes doing themes about disabilities. Info about it on the school web page.
Having a specific awareness day/s in school for any particular disability. Ask
parents views and ideas on what they would like their school to be doing to raise
awareness of their child’s disability, if any at all.
How can we support young people with physical and sensory
disability issues into further employment?
Suitable workers
Moray Physical and Sensory Disability Strategy 2015-2025
Striking a balance – helping my child participate in everyday activities –
swimming and skating – but keeping them safe
What types of technology would benefit your child/you?
Calming lights
GPS type tracker gadget for wandering. Needs a good signal
Alarms and sensors at different parts of house – doors, fridge, cooker, etc
Difficulty getting the right information – too much on the internet. It’s confusing
It’s difficult to know what is out there! New things coming out all the time, but
often the parents are aware of all that’s new for their child, as opposed to a
professional that is acting for them as a group maybe..... Parents should be
involved so much more. Parents should be told of anything that would benefit
their child, and be allowed to donate money if they wish to purchase it.
