I have more than 30 years' experience working in health and social care, predominantly with people with a learning disability and autistic people. This has included as a social worker, manager and as a commissioner. This experience includes working in long stay hospitals and supporting people to live the life they want in their local community. I firmly believe in inclusion and would maintain that most people should be accessing services and support available to everyone and that there are very few people who require a specialist service.
I believe the key to transformational change needs to be built around cultural change and the first part of that change is to the language we use when talking with and about people. For example there is no place for acronyms in health and social care as they either depersonalise e.g. LD, LDA, MH or disempower, particularly if you don’t know what the acronym means.
This cultural shift also involves people and families leading and directing change, without this it's unlikely that the change that people want will happen.
