Agenda item

This report from Action on Disability presents the views of their members on treatment received from the NHS.

Victoria Brignell introduced the report from Action on Disability which presented the views of their members on treatment received from the NHS. She was joined by Ashley Pearce, a member of the Action on Disability Co-production Peer Support Group who contributed his experience to the report and Nikolaos Tzenas, Project Lead for Coproduction & Disability Equality at Action on Disability.

Victoria Brignell noted that the report included feedback from 26 people and while there was some positive feedback, a number of problems had been identified including access to buildings, access to equipment, and the attitudes of staff. She highlighted the recommendations in section five of the report and felt there needed to be a change of culture to show more care and empathy towards disabled people.

Ashley Pearce highlighted some of the key issues raised:

• It was hard for visually impaired people to find things, or people to assist.
• There was often a lack of suitable equipment which led to delays.
• Inconsistent hospital transport could lead to long waits and missed appointments.
• There were problems with correspondence and administration including a lack of accessibility for dyslexic people, duplication of letters, and difficulties filling out forms for people with disabilities and elderly people.
• Deaf people felt the NHS wasn’t doing enough to promote BSL services available.

Victoria Brignell said the findings showed a need for co-production in NHS services. The Council had pioneered this approach and she hoped the NHS could follow its example.

The Chair thanked Action on Disability for the report and those who had provided feedback. She said it was important to raise awareness of the challenges faced by disabled people and hoped the committee could continue to raise awareness and address concerns.

Caroline Farrar (Managing Director of Hammersmith and Fulham Place Partnership) said the report was a disappointing read and recognised that the issues reflected the national picture of historically low satisfaction with the NHS. She was disappointed to hear that services were not getting the basics of access right. She said she would like to speak outside the meeting and make links with providers to start to put these issues right.

ACTION: Caroline Farrar / Action on Disability

Victoria Brignell said she understood the constraints the NHS was under. Action on Disability wanted to cooperate with providers and help improve things. They wanted to set up a co-production project to advise services. Ashley Pearce said it would be good to have engagement with health providers to discuss the needs of different disabilities.

The Chair suggested holding a workshop next year to come together and explore new ways of working, a more focused approach, with examples and solutions. Councillor Genevieve Nwaogbe supported this approach – noting she would appreciate a better understanding of the landscape of providers and services and what could be done to improve things.

Councillor Alex Sanderson (Deputy Leader, acting Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health) suggested speaking with the Chair about how to bring together the workstreams effectively for the Committee.

ACTION: Cllr Perez / Cllr Sanderson

Regarding the issues with equipment highlighted in the report, Jim Grealy suggested providers work with disabled people on an equipment audit to ensure the most required equipment was readily available. He supported the idea of a workshop led by disabled people who set the agenda, noting it needed to be strategic and focus on the areas of greatest impact.

Tara Flood (Strategic Lead Co-production) thanked Action on Disability for the report highlighting issues that disabled people had experienced for decades. She said it was important to get together and make a real difference. She felt doing this with disabled people who had experienced barriers would get the best result. She added she was happy to support further work and can share good practice.

ACTION: Tara Flood

The Chair thanked Action on Disability, members, and officers for their valuable contributions.

RESOLVED

1. That the Health and Adult Social Care Policy and Accountability noted and commented on the report.