CHRIS SKIDMORE MP APPOINTED SECRETARY OF PARLIAMENTARY DISABLED GROUP AND USES RECENT APPEARANCES IN HOUSE OF COMMONS TO RAISE DISABLED ISSUES

Chris Skidmore, the new MP for Kingswood, has been appointed Secretary of the All Parliamentary Party Group on Disability. In his new role, acting as deputy to the Chair Baroness Jane Campbell, Chris will be seeking to raise disability issues in the House of Commons and raise the profile of the group.

Chris, who promised to take up the work of his predecessor Roger Berry on disability rights, has since used two debates on disability rights issues in Parliament to raise the concerns and issues of disabled people.

Chris made speeches on the treatment of people with learning difficulties in the NHS and also spoke on the importance of supporting carers.

In a debate on treating learning disabilities in the NHS, Chris told Parliament:

By Richard2004 at 14:12 on 20/07/10

"There is clearly an institutional failure to make adequate provision for people with learning difficulties in the NHS, despite the fact that they receive £1.7 billion of NHS money. The Mencap survey highlighted the training issue; it found that 53% of doctors and 68% of nurses felt that they needed specific guidelines on how to care for people with learning difficulties, and how treatment should be addressed to them, to meet their needs. There is clearly a gap that we need to examine in closer detail ... I want to mention is the broader one of communication. That is at the heart of treatment for people with learning difficulties. The question is how to cross the communication barrier between professionals-doctors and nurses-and people with learning difficulties, who often cannot express their needs, which may be very individual. One of my constituents was recently rushed to the Bristol Royal infirmary on a weekend. He had a procedure on his heart and a doctor explained his condition to him as if he were communicating with a normal member of the public. That approach was clearly inadequate for someone with learning difficulties. The nurse then presented him with some complicated leaflets, which he could not understand. There was no co-ordination with his carer at NHS level-or certainly not at the acute hospital level-and that led to a man who was already very sick being further distressed and scared. It is in that context ... that the role of learning disability liaison nurses is crucial, for the support of patients, families and those who support people with learning difficulties. It is not yet clear how many such posts exist. In my area of Bristol, which has the Frenchay and Southmead hospitals, there are only two. However, I was surprised to discover that that is pretty good by national standards."

By Richard2004 at 14:13 on 20/07/10
Report
In a debate on Carers, Chris told Parliament:

"As a nation, we rely on a silent army of carers-some 6 million people or 10% of our population-to look after and support the most vulnerable in society. Those people dedicate and sacrifice their own time and lives for the sake of those whom they love. Family members depend upon such people-as we all do-to ensure that those in the greatest need live the best possible lives, as they deserve.

We should not have this debate today without admitting the enormous emotional and, at times, physical cost that the role of a carer can bring. Some 1.9 million people care for more than 20 hours a week and around 1.25 million people care for more than 50 hours a week, although I suspect that the hidden figures-those that no Department is able to calculate-are probably far greater. Often the people who have to care for a relative, husband or wife-with whom they have spent their entire lives-who is incapacitated by dementia or physical frailty are themselves elderly. It is estimated that over-65s account for around a third of all carers who provide more than 50 hours of care a week. As a result, it is sadly of little surprise that carers are twice as likely to suffer from ill health, because they are providing such substantial care...

I suspect that each of us in this Chamber has in some way cared for a relative-either in the final days of their life or through some period of illness or accident-and at times have been the single person responsible for that person's well-being. That is an awesome burden to bear on one's shoulders, yet we must consider that it is carried by some people every day, with tireless devotion. However, with that devotion, comes the sheer exhaustion of wanting to do one's best to ensure that a loved one is best looked after. There may also be frustrations caused by the fact that such love is not reciprocated by the person being cared for and that, for whatever reason, they are unable to say thank you.

If a relative has a degenerative condition, a carer will also have anxiety about what the future might hold. At the same time, for a carer, considering having a few hours break or a temporary escape seems a betrayal of the love that is so clearly there. Too often, it is easy for politicians and policy makers to revert to statistics and jargon that is in many ways all too familiar to us in such debates. We must not forget that every carer has a personal story that cannot always be easily told-one that we can never put a price upon. However, we must accept that caring will take an ever greater role in the structure of our society."
Ends.

By Richard2004 at 14:14 on 20/07/10
Report