This blog post features a review of this book by learning disability campaigner, Simon Cramp. I will give you the publisher’s description of Stephen Unwin’s book first, and then Simon’s review. Wildfire, an imprint of Headline Publishing (Hachette) write this about Beautiful Lives: A vital, pragmatic and deeply personal history of humanity’s interaction with those…
As you may have heard, in October the UK Supreme Court will her a case that will re-open consideration of what it means to be ‘deprived of your liberty’ if you may lack the mental capacity to consent to your care arrangements. It will re-visit some of the issues considered by the Supreme Court in…
Supported decision-making has a long and proud history in the UK. You could probably take this history back further, but in around the 1970s a small organisation called the ‘Campaign for Mentally Handicapped People’ (CMH) brought together professionals, families and learning disabled people who wanted to see people with learning disabilities living (as the King’s…
The Mental Health Bill reaches its second reading in the House of Lords tonight. This is a quick post to explain why it won’t stop the detention of autistic people and people with learning disabilities. If you want all the footnotes and references, then please take a look at this briefing I wrote about it…
It’s been a while… sorry! The Mental Health Bill 2024 is now before Parliament, its second reading is on Monday 25th November, and Parliamentarians will be able to discuss it and table amendments. One amendment I think we need to see: an amendment to ensure that the human rights of mental health patients, and other…
It’s election time again, hurray! I love elections, even if the outcome breaks my heart. I love standing in the queue to vote, I love the feeling of doing something alongside the rest of the country, being part of a national exercise in democracy. I love looking at the leaflets that come through the door,…
Image © Grace Currie and Helter Skelter Ltd Last year, local authorities in England and Wales received 316,633 applications to authorise deprivation of liberty in connection with care arrangements made by others in the ‘best interests’ of people considered to lack ‘mental capacity’ under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). To put this number in…
I wrote in November last year that Bristol City Council was consulting on a Fair and Affordable Care Policy: This means that in most cases Adult Social Care will provide services to meet eligible needs that are the most cost effective. In some cases this might mean that the service offered by the council will…
I know a lot of you are frustrated that the current government has delayed implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards yet again kicking the can down the road until the ‘next Parliament’ (that is, the next government after the next general election). I know you are frustrated because this means that over one hundred thousand…
Image © Grace Currie We all want to live in the place we call home, with the people and things we love, in communities where we look out for each other, doing the things that matter to us. That’s the #SocialCareFuture we seek. Social Care Future A mate pointed out that I never blogged any more,…
Some days expand your heart, mind and horizons; yesterday was that kind of day. And I want to share what I found out with you, so that your heart, mind and horizons can also grow larger. I was privileged to be invited to a roundtable meeting by the Dementia Pioneers. This is a group of…
In 1942 Sir William Beveridge published his landmark report, laying the groundwork for the post-war welfare state in Britain, aiming to slay the ‘five giants’ of Want, Idleness, Squalor, Disease and Ignorance. Seventy years on, Agenda Publishing have published a series of books revisiting the current state of these five giants, who are regaining their…
Whilst we wait for the draft mental health bill, I have a suggestion. There are too many people with learning disabilities and/or autism detained in ‘assessment and treatment units’ (mental health hospitals), and they are there for far too long – some people are there for years (or even decades). There is not enough support…
As some of you know, I’ve recently written a book, entitled Deprivation of Liberty in the Shadows of the Institution (Bristol University Press, 2022) about the long long history and possible futures of social care detention (regulating community care living arrangements as a ‘deprivation of liberty’). Because the research is funded by Wellcome, you can…
A couple of years ago I tripped over a step and did something horrible to my shoulder. My mate kindly took me to A&E and I was eventually seen, examined, diagnosed, and sent home with a sling, drugs, and a referral for physiotherapy. I don’t think anyone bothered to assess my capacity on that occasion,…
The Small Places 