Charity Sense Calls For Support

A charity representing people who have problems with both hearing and seeing has urged the Government to “stop stalling” on social care reforms, after a survey found that one in five deafblind people receive no support at all.

The Fair Care for the Future report was launched on Tuesday by Sense, a day ahead of the publication of the Government’s White Paper on health and social care in England, expected to outline proposals to extend support for the disabled.

The charity said that many of the country’s 356,000 deafblind people are left “imprisoned in their own home” by the lack of social care support.

And many have experienced cuts in support or have been asked to pay more for it out of their own pockets, forcing them increasingly to rely on family members – including children – to act as carers.

According to the report, almost half of the deafblind people surveyed have never been assessed properly for social care. Others struggled to arrange an assessment, with one saying it took five years.

One 24-year-old deafblind man told the report: “Without support I’m a prisoner stuck at home, depressed all the time and doing nothing. I would like to do more and attend college, but they failed to provide me with the additional support they promised so I couldn’t continue.”

Sense head of policy Sue Brown said: “As this report shows, deafblind people say that without support they are trapped in their homes, without access to employment, and many get depressed and ill. It is unthinkable that human beings can be abandoned in this way.

“Deafblind people have difficulties with both their eyes and ears and many need support to do basic things that most people take for granted – going to the shops, buying food, opening a letter, going to the doctors.”

Sense is calling for urgent reforms to create a clear, fair and properly-funded legal framework for social care.

The charity said that the new system must recognise deafblind people’s need for communication support, such as an interpreter who can spell words out on the palm of their hands, assistance with phone calls and reading letters or a guide so they can leave the house.