Last week we officially launched the ‘Homes Not Hospitals’ video, facilitated by Bild in partnership with other IMPACT Network organisations.
Alexis Quinn, manager of The Restraint Reduction Network and a person with lived experience, facilitated and directed the video.
Following the video, attendees got the chance to hear from Jon Glasby and Annie Smith, before a Q&A.
Jon Glasby, Director of IMPACT, led “Why are we stuck?” – an NIHR-funded research project that explored the experiences of people with learning disabilities and autistic people stuck in long-stay hospitals. This research was part of the discussion materials used by our IMPACT Network.
Jon set out that people spend longer than they should in hospital, so are unable to live their chosen lives in the community. There’s also a risk of harm, and means there is less money to spend in the community.
Working with Changing Our Lives, a rights-based organisation, the team spoke to 27 people with a learning disability and or autistic people in three sites, as well as families, staff, commissioners, advocates and community-based providers. They then produced a series of resources, including a national policy guide that was widely distributed.
Jon emphasised the importance of public debate. They worked with the Ikon gallery in Birmingham and artist Foka Wolf on an immersive exhibition and billboards. This work then toured to Brighton and Sheffield, getting the message out there.
Annie Smith, Senior Human Rights Officer at the British Institute of Human Rights, talked about the role of the Human Rights Act. Human rights as law are more than values – they are about being treated with dignity and respect and being treated fairly, but there are legal rights and duties attached.
Annie set out the three ways the act works:
- legal duty on public authorities to respect, protect and fulfil people’s rights across actions, decisions, policies, services
- a foundation law, so all other laws should be applied in a way that respects human rights as far as possible
- if 1 and 2 are not complied with, people can not bring cases in UK courts, or authorities can ask for a court decision
For the Q&A, panel chair Kate Hamblin, Alexis Quinn, Jon Glasby, Annie Smith, William (a person with lived experience, involved in the video), Alastair Minty (inControl Scotland), Ben Higgins (BILD) came together to discuss what needs to change and where the video and work might go next.
Find out more about the Network here.