Page 18 - Community Living Magazine 36-1

interview

‘It comes back to moral leadership. You’ve got to

have someone who is challenging the system’

Ten years after Sir Norman Lamb introduced Transforming Care, eroded by consecutive governments. He
he talks to Seán Kelly about how it was his most frustrating issue describes a system that financially
incentivises institutions to keep beds
as a minister and why people are not living in the community filled, while the same institutions employ
the psychiatrists who decide whether
“ ou get appointed as a minister with (ATUs) such as Winterbourne and into someone needs to stay in a bed.
“There are lots of things that
homes in communities. It was part of a
no training about how to use power
undermine our ability to get people back
Yto achieve what you want,” says “push for change”, says Lamb. in the community,” he says.
former Liberal Democrat MP and care Today, however, the 64-year-old admits Some people’s lives did get better. Lamb
minister Sir Norman Lamb. he was naive about the approach: “We says: “There are a lot of people who are
“So you essentially learn on the job and did Transforming Care as a concordat. We now living independent lives who hadn’t
I am quite clear that I became more got everyone to sign up to it – NHS been before that, who benefited from
effective as a minister as I did the job. I England, royal colleges, local authority that whole initiative but, fundamentally,
realised that you have to give as much representatives and so on. we haven’t properly confronted the
focus to implementation as you do to the “And I thought that if people had institutionalised model of care which
initial policy.” committed to a course of action they would persists in far too many places.”
It was nearly 10 years ago in December take steps to implement it. I didn’t think
2012 that Lamb wrote the ambitious that institutions would so readily commit Concept versus practice
foreword to Transforming Care, the to something and then just ignore it.” I ask Lamb why he thinks care and
coalition government’s response to the What does he think of how much treatment reviews (CTRs), introduced in
Winterbourne View abuse scandal. change there has been? “Not nearly 2015, have not always delivered the
The programme aimed to move people enough,” he replies. “Transforming Care change they seemed to promise. “I am
out of assessment and treatment units was the most frustrating issue I had to deal not sure… they’re a good idea in concept.”
with as a minister He tells me a story about how, as a
because of the minister, he initiated a review for a
Do you live in Hertfordshire inertia in the 15-year-old autistic girl stuck in a negative
or surrounding areas? system and spiral of isolation in an ATU with frequent
the resistance
use of physical restraint.
Want to make new friends? to change.” The review led to a move to a more
Want to start a relationship? A central target person-centred provider. Lamb saw her
– to get everyone again two years later. She had not been
out of ATUs and restrained once and was leading a much
similar provision more positive life.
within 18 months But results are not always so life
– was not met. It changing. “I suppose it depends on the
has still not been quality of the review,” he says, noting that
met. Lamb says CTRs can be seen as merely an exercise to
that, frustratingly, be done, and may be overly risk averse.
Nice 2 meet ya is Hertfordshire's first dedicated friendship change has been “It comes back to moral leadership.
and dating group for adults with learning disabilities
and/ or autism only slow and You’ve got to have someone who is
incremental. challenging the system. If you have people
We are a community support group and we help adults to
develop and maintain new friendships and relationships While many undertaking the reviews who don’t
people moved out fundamentally believe in the philosophical
Safe and private 1-1 introductions of ATUs, others principle of freedom, then they are not
Memberships Social events and workshops moved in and the going to work.”
from just
So how then do we really transform
overall figures
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And much more! plateaued. Around from government, and appropriate
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remain in these
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Why is this? and treatment reviews don’t
Lamb points out believe in the principle of
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underfunded and

18 Vol 36 No 1 | Autumn 2022 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk