Disabled people in Bristol could be forced to live in care homes if it is cheaper than providing support for them in their own homes.
Bristol City Council’s proposed Fair and Affordable Care Policy says disabled people whose in-home care exceeds the local authority rates could be placed in nursing or residential homes under a new scheme.
The policy is currently out for public consultation until 31 January 2024.
Bristol City Council has stressed that should changes come into effect, discussions will be had with the disabled person they impact, before decisions are made.
However, the proposal has been fiercely challenged by disability equality organisations including Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living (BRIL).
Mark Williams, from BRIL, said he was ‘stunned’ when he first saw the draft policy.
He told ITV West Country: "At the moment the main people that we’re really worried about are autistic people and people with severe learning difficulties because they are more likely to have high support needs and so risk having their support cut and being moved to care homes.
“It is very worrying if Bristol is bringing the policy that other councils would do the same.”
BRIL is holding an open online meeting about the threat the new policy poses to independent living on 5 January.
The policy also received significant backlash from Disability Rights UK when it was first discussed in April 2023.
The charity said: "[We] believe that the policy fails to uphold the rights of disabled people in Bristol to receive the care and support they need based on personal preference. And the right to live independently at home with choice and control over care and support.
“The draft policy, as stated, is incompatible with the rights we are granted under the Care Act 2014.”
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said the proposed policy was co-developed with the Bristol City Council Adult Social Care Equalities Forum and the policy stresses that all decisions will be made in collaboration with the disabled person they impact.
The consultation: https://www.ask.bristol.gov.uk/fair-and-affordable-care-policy-consultation
Fair point, but there does seem to be plenty who do seem like they should have the capacity to understand, but choose not to.
True, although if enough people understood they were being fucked, things could change. Like if the Murdoch rags told them (sorry, I’m miserable facetious cunt)
Sure, those people exist, but in a lot more cases it isn’t a choice, but fatigue caused by being over worked under paid and having barely any sense of community (all of course features of capitalism, not bugs) which leads to them not having the capacity to care about anything that doesn’t impact them directly (nor the will to consider that in the blink of an eye how we treat disabled people could impact them directly).
People do realise they are fucked, but aren’t given any way out that isn’t against the “rules” set by the system itself in defence of itself, nor the critical thinking skills or truthful information needed to analyse and think beyond said “rules” (again, a features, not a bugs). So you might be being facetious, but you’re not wrong - Murdoch and his ilk contribute massively to keeping people “in line” by framing any step out of it as “extremism” and all governmental efforts to quell us as “necessary”, and keeping people distracted with ragebait and “culture wars” and scapegoating minorities and so on…
All these reasons, and many others, are why there is no reforming the system - it is designed to withstand such attempts and keep on chugging uninterrupted funnelling resources up to a small group of people who are never going to just give that up.