Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Adult Social Care Consultation - dementia day centres
This consultation went live on the Council website on 3 July and will run until 1 October. My mother has a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and vascular dementia and attends the Haynes day centre two days per week. It is proposed to close the Grange day centre, leaving the Haynes as the only dedicated day centre for dementia clients in the borough.
The Council has arranged two workshops for clients "to help explain what the proposals will mean for you", at which "advocacy experts" will be present. The letter giving this information also helpfully gives the relevant link to the Council website page.
This approach betrays a breathtaking ignorance of the nature of dementia and has greatly upset a carer I know whose husband attends the Haynes. Clients by virtue of having critical substantial needs occasioned by dementia lack the capacity to read and understand the information as presented. A workshop held by people they do not know will probably cause them confusion and distress. Family carers have not been invited to these sessions.
My view is that this the best (worst?) the Council can do to meet the requirements of a statutory consultation. It looks ok on paper but is nonsense to anyone with any knowledge of dementia.
Carers have a separate "focus group session". Oh dear ... another chance to listen to Council representatives defending the indefensible and blaming someone else for the mess.
Tags for Forum Posts: adult social care
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Heather, as a former Labour councillor can I express my shame and anger at the way the council is dealing with the cuts. Like many others, I've always taken the view that a Labour council should do its utmost to defend vital frontline services and advocate for residents and their friends and families.
Sadly this no longer seems to be the case. Maybe as you and others take part in the consultation you will be in a better position to explain to everyone else exactly how the Council plans to replace existing services after they are cut. So far, the documents I've seen in different areas are the usual Haringey blend of upbeat vagueness, obfuscation, and doubleplusgood Orwellian Newspeak.
This afternoon trying to shed light on the Council's future plans in another service area, I pulled down my printed copy of Haringey's Corporate plan 2015-18. To cut and paste some of the text, I looked at the online version. And noticed that Cllr Claire Kober's foreword has changed.
One alteration is that the Dear Leader no longer makes the amusing claim: "Haringey is already a better place today than it was three years ago". Nor, speaking of Government cuts does she say: "It sounds quite a bleak picture doesn't it?" Which had the merit of truth. Also now missing is Claire Kober's phrase: "I have to be honest with you". In fact the word honest doesn't appear at all.
The word "support" does appear in the online document -169 times. But not it seems, the particular types of support your mother may need.
You and the other carers you know may have already taken the obvious step of going outside our KoberTory Council and contacting your MP. Both David Lammy and Catherine West are, in my experience, people who try to "live within the truth" and not succumb to the temptation to use spin, PR or the meaningless soundbites which are the hallmark of Claire Kober's public utterances.
Catherine West MP is in the Broadway Ham & High this week having invited Mary Langan to speak at a meeting in Parliament. Mary is a parent campaigner against Haringey's cuts on Autism services and is a member of the group Save Autism Services Haringey.
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