Here are my notes from today’s meeting with Deputy Health Minister, Julie Morgan AM.
Myself, Sheila Meadows and Vic Grout got our main points across and I presented the Minister with an 80-page dossier of evidence as to why WILG should be saved. We will wait for the outcome with hope and belief in Welsh Labour…
As always, I keep analysing my own performance and keep on beating myself up for forgetting certain points, having an anxiety attack due to nerves and struggling to stay focused due to tiredness. The reason I was tired was because I was awake at 2am and 4am in pain with my feet bent up into my groin area. I cannot straighten them on my own and had to call my dad at 4am to assist me with his arthritic hands. He is in a lot of pain and not fit to provide me with care and support, but what else can I do if WCBC fail to award me the care I need to retain some dignity?
Anyway, here is a list of points – that probably won’t make sense to most of you – that I made prior to the meeting. Hopefully, I will get a chance to meet Julie Morgan again soon – even if it means going down to Cardiff – so that I can get my points across in a more coherent manor. This is a possibility as there is plenty of work to do.
[Having said all this, my comrades said that I came across well. I am just my own worst critic]
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Meeting with Deputy Health Minister, Julie Morgan AM on 24/01/2019
Thank you for setting up this meeting and we hope you had a pleasant journey.
Tripartite, tripartite, tripartite.
Neo-liberalism
Motion: Welsh Labour and Disability Labour Conference
UNCRPD
JC, JM and KL as well as IL, CW and CR
Cross party support
Dossier of evidence
I read the letter that you sent on Monday and must say that I was most concerned for a number of reasons as it appeared that you were singing from the same hymn sheet as the swathe of neo-liberals that engulfed Welsh Labour during the Carwyn Jones years, Huw Irranca-Davies and civil servants who have no idea of the consequences of their actions. Data can be interpreted in a favourable manner on spreadsheets, but when people on the ground are telling you that things aren’t working out in the way you imagined then you have a duty to listen and take appropriate action.
Tackling your letter, it was a concern to read that the deep dive reviewed “all cases where, following an assessment of someone’s care needs, there was an intention to reduce the local authority’s direct support to the person in what would have been the WILG element of their overall support”. What about the support provided by Local Authorities? Why wasn’t this reviewed as well?
Personal assurances are not legally binding and do not give disabled people and their families any confidence for the future.
Surely, it is better to directly consult with disabled people rather than representatives from Local Authorities who cannot possibly understand what it is like to live with a life-limiting disability. Any deep dive review is surely not worth the paper it is written on if those that are affected are not consulted.
This brings me on to the results of the original consultation in to the future of WILG back in 2015. I first requested a full copy of these consultation documents back in 2017, but this request has been ignored. I am just referred to a summary document and we all know that a summary can be produced with a certain bias. I believe that the voices of disabled people and their families have been ignored from the start.
Stakeholder group weren’t all in favour of the transition to end WILG as Sheila – who was a member of the stakeholder group – will tell you.
Who is in charge of policy in Wales? The Welsh Government or the Welsh LGA?
This campaign is not just about me, but all WILG recipients across Wales under different Local Authorities. Nevertheless, I feel that it is important to let you know the way I have been treated by Wrexham CBC and as Sheila will demonstrate later, this treatment of WILG recipients is going on nationwide.
Still waiting to complete reassessment despite being told that the deadline for reassessments to be completed was September 2018, then November 2018 and now whenever they can get their act together. Meanwhile, I am continuing to struggle – both mentally and physically.
24/7 – Laugh
No one in Wrexham
Submit to panel – Expect them to say no
At the end of November, my social worker said that she would attempt to get the report to panel before Christmas, but would provide me with a copy for my approval beforehand. I am still waiting despite countless emails to social services. I am just left to feel a burden and my personal outcomes are not being met in any way whatsoever.
Reliance on my Dad, who is no longer fit to carry out the job.
Rhyl Hustings – March 2018 when you seemed in favour of saving WILG while Carolyn Harris encouraged us to put our trust in Local Authorities.
What is your opinion now, and how do you propose to protect disabled people with high care and support needs in the future? Surely, the most vulnerable need to be allowed to enjoy their lives the best they can without all this stress and anxiety.
