Everyday life under lockdown has been incredibly challenging for people with learning disabilities and, for many, their support workers have been invaluable.
As a society, we have an enormous debt to pay to the commitment and devotion of support staff.
People with learning disabilities have told our staff at social care service Dimensions that support workers have helped them stay safe and help them understand what they can and cannot do. As this is Learning Disability Week, we need to ensure this contribution is recognised.
During the current lockdown, the public has shown a tremendous amount of goodwill towards key workers in recent weeks.
However, goodwill alone is not enough to address the longstanding issues around social care funding.
In its 2019 manifesto, the government gave itself 100 days from the election to launch cross party talks on social care.
We have gone past 180 days and are still waiting. The time for action is now, and we demand these talks begin urgently.
The sector has been neglected for too long and the chronic underfunding of services must be addressed in the near future.
We owe this to our country’s dedicated support workers –they should be rewarded with more than applause.
Steve Scown, Chief Executive, Dimensions.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.