Rhetoric vs Reality?

….findings of an independent enquiry

Louise BarryMerseyside Disability FederationNorth West Making it Real Launch 14th May 2012

The Rhetoric2011 virtually all NW local authorities

reported good progress on ADASS milestones

2011 organisations of and for disabled people across NW saying different things

To capture a narrative of the recent experiences of real people we set out to listen

We listenedSeven events – Macclesfield,

Warrington, Manchester, Kendal, Carlisle, Liverpool, Blackburn

Participants from DPULOs, individual disabled people, family carers, provider organisations, and organisations for disabled people

Online survey widely distributed

We learnedKey themes emerged - present across

NW, in spite of local variation in practice

Problems with PanelsInconsistency of approach

◦Hours allocation vs financial allocation◦Holiday vs respite◦Choice & control vs risk aversion & LA

‘managed accounts’◦Early wins of creative support eroded by new

world of cuts

And for the “To Do” listCulture changeMarket development Support for User Led and Disabled

People’s organisationsAdvocacy support for individual

disabled people Much more to do for people with

ongoing community support needs to enable choice and control

personalisation in practice

Closing the rhetoric gap

So if Local Authorities are reporting high success, and yet the people we listened to are reporting a very different reality – then how do we ensure we are closing this rhetoric gap?

Making it Real

Affords us an opportunity to align our conversations and language at the very least

Provides a framework on which we can deliver great outcomes for disabled people

And allows for a true partnership approach to develop

“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual”

Albert Einstein

Thank You

NWDIP Personalisation Research Report free to download from www.merseydisability.org.uk

Merseyside Disability FederationRegistered Charity No 1082671

Tel: 0151 236 6674