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Report27th May 2022

Broken system, broken lives. 11 policies to limit ATU admissions and accelerate discharges.

A bold call to reform support for people with learning disabilities and autism, this report outlines 11 policies to reduce institutionalisation and promote safe, community-based support.
Transforming Care

With appropriate resourcing, legal frameworks and genuine co-working between agencies, families and the person, people can live in the community to achieve their potential.

If at all, hospital should only ever be one small step in a pathway.

For the pathway to avoid dead ends, it must include person-centred philosophy, trauma-informed planning and practice, targeting resources to prevention and removing the opportunity to profit from institutional care.

Jeremy Tudway, Clinical Director, Dimensions

Please help fix this broken system

Dimensions is currently supporting the launch of a new APPG on Inappropriate Institutional Detention, to be chaired by Barbara Keeley MP. Our shared aim is to build parliamentary awareness of people locked away in and out of MPs constituencies, and to provide constructive solutions

The following policy proposals have come from extensive work with experts from across the sector including numerous experts by experience.  Taken together, we believe these policies will unstick the transforming care agenda.

You can help by:

Downloading the full, concise report: Broken system broken livesWriting to your constituency MP and asking them to join the new APPG on Inappropriate Institutional DetentionWriting to us and lending you and your organisation’s support to the policies

Policies in a nutshell…

Funding

  1. Fix the numerous perverse financial disincentives to discharge, for example the settings of the dowry system, through a full review of the financial structures associated with transforming care.
  2. Fund social care in line with the Local Government Association’s (or similar) assessment of need.

Care and Treatment Reviews

  1. No ATU should be able to score better than inadequate in a CQC inspection if more than 10% of patients are missing an in-date CTR.
  2. No ATU should be able to score better than inadequate in a CQC inspection if more than 10% of an inspected sample are considered to fail quality parameters.
  3. Every CTR must identify locally present organisations with experience of supporting people out of ATUs.

Profit motive

  1. An outright ban on for-profit organisations running ATUs

Families

  1. Strengthen family information networks through funding independent advocacy groups.

Housing

  1. Increase funding to the Disabled Facilities Grant, extending maximum funding beyond the current £30k limit for people in exceptional situations – and commit to this in the long term.
  2. Commit funds to specialist housing development in line with forecast long term demand
  3. Require a proportion of ‘social housing’ in mainstream developments to include restricted funding for alterations to meet individual accessibility requirements

Accountability and progress

  1. Create a new role: National Director for Transforming Care