CQC - disabled people 'falling through gaps'
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is calling for improved community-based capacity and capability across education, health and care for people with a learning disability, autistic people and/or a mental health condition, after a review found undignified and inhumane care in some hospital settings providing complex care.
The CQC was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to review use of restraint, seclusion and segregation for autistic people, and people with a learning disability and/or mental health condition. The findings and recommendations have been published in the CQC’s report: Out of sight – who cares?
These include recommending that health, education, social care, justice and local government pool their budgets and work together to provide support for people with a learning disability, autistic people and people with a mental health condition as soon as they need it.
The CQC heard from people in services that they were often subject to restrictive practices because they failed to get the right care early on. To avoid this in the future will require development of appropriate housing and specialist teams to provide the right services and support in the community to prevent admission to hospital.
Restraint was used less in community-based services than in hospitals but there is currently no national oversight for people living in adult social care services who are subject to highly restrictive environments. As a result, the CQC is recommending that a national reporting mechanism is developed for the use of restrictive interventions in children’s services and adult social care services to mirror that used in hospitals.