Cutting day services for adults with learning disabilities would be ‘heartbreaking’

West Sussex County Council’s latest budget announced the intention to ‘significantly reduce the spending on building-based services to create savings’.

Although no cuts are slated until the financial year 2022/23, parents of day service users have expressed alarm at what proposals could be in the pipeline.

Amanda Bairstow’s 31-year-old daughter Florence, who has a severe learning disability, attended the country centres at Aldingbourne and Ferring before the pandemic hit.

She describes how for Florence attending a day centre is ‘everything’ as she calls it her work and wakes up every day with a sense of purpose because she has meaningful and enjoyable day-time activities.

Amanda, who lives in Ashington, said: “It gives her something fulfilling to do physically and mentally. She is stimulated and she needs everything facilitated for her.”

She described the Aldingbourne staff as ‘amazing with her, she has been so happy there and really devastated when she could not go’ during lockdown.

She has challenged the county council on the idea that accessing community-based opportunities instead of specialist day services will allow adults with learning disabilities to become more independent.

Florence’s biggest challenge is verbal communication and her mother believes its ‘absolutely ludicrous to think she could access community services’, instead of the specialised support offered at places such as Aldingbourne.

She added: “It’s unrealistic to expect people with the level of disability Florence has got to access community activities.”

Amanda fears that ‘heartbreaking’ cuts would lead to reductions or even losses of placements for some users with potentially less funding going into the centre also having an impact on the services and support they are able to provide.

Charities such as the Aldingbourne Trust constantly fundraise, while users also have to contribute financially towards their day services.

In Florence’s case a large part of her benefits already go towards her shared lives placement in the Barnham area.

In a letter to the learning disability partnership board, Amanda detailed the effect not being to access physical services has had on her daughter during lockdown.

She wrote: “The pandemic has shown us exactly what happens to Florence when her ‘work’ is taken away from her and it has been extremely distressing for us all to observe. Florence has literally mourned the loss of her day service and despite the amazing efforts of her shared lives carer Alison and family, nothing has been able to replace what Florence has lost.

“Her mental health has deteriorated and obsessive behaviours, challenging outbursts and low mood which had previously been well managed have returned.

“Florence is a very special person, with very special needs. She needs specialist care in all environments and enjoys spending time with people like her. “There is no other environment where Florence can receive the specialist support and activities on offer at a day centre like Aldingbourne and it is therefore an essential service.”

She accused the county council of ‘attempting to dress up proposed funding cuts as opportunities to improve day services’ and felt it was clear changes ‘are purely finance led’ and warned that reduced funding to day services ‘will have a devastating, wide ranging and long lasting impact on people with learning disabilities’.

‘No final decision made’

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “The county council is not making cuts to learning disability day services in 2021/22. This was initially proposed but consideration of potential savings have been deferred until next year. It is important to stress no final decision has yet been made.