(Non-Afl): My Lords, I
declare my interests as a former statutory social worker and as the
mother of a person living with autism. I express
my heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost loved ones
during the horrific and tragic past weeks. These are sad times and
I thank my noble friend Lady Wheeler for leading this discussion. I
agree wholeheartedly with her invaluable and detailed insights and
I completely endorse the comments expressed by my noble friends
Lady Grey-Thompson, Lady Pitkeathley and Lady Jolly...
...I conclude by asking the Government if they have undertaken an
impact assessment of the current pandemic on people at special
schools, day-care centres and other residential care institutions
that provide services to disabled children and adults with
learning disability and Autism in terms of the
availability of PPE, staff and adequate resources. What protocol
exists for carers accompanying disabled children and adults to
hospital should they contract Covid-19? The Children’s
Commissioner is concerned about the drop in the number of
children on the safeguarding and child protection registers
attending schools. What is being done to ensure that local
authorities have adequate social work staff and resources to
maintain sufficient monitoring of their safety? I thank noble
Lords for their co-operation and attendance...
(LD):...We have already
heard from many noble Lords about the impact that the lack of PPE
and testing has had on the workforce. That group is under
tremendous pressure and is having to deal with people who will
react badly to the situation they are in—I am particularly
thinking about those with Autism a group of
people who have trouble understanding the world they are in and
their relationship to what is going on and who find much of adult
life overwhelming. If the workforce has to deal with people who
have such problems and other mental health problems, their job
will get much more difficult. Will the Government go to these
groups and ensure that they get support as soon as possible?
How long the lockdown lasts will greatly affect the level of the
problem. However, the Government must have some idea about their
strategy for when the immediate crisis ends. We must be able to
go in and say, “There will be support for your mental health and
social anxiety problems”. I started with Autism
because I know slightly more about it, although I am acutely
aware that others know more. However, all the groups, including
those that the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, mentioned, will have
similar types of problems. Can we please get an idea of the
strategy for dealing with the long-term consequences of this huge
social disruption for those who are being looked after?
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