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| TX: 15.12.03 – ASSISTANCE DOGS AS PART OF CARE PACKAGES - UPDATE |
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| PRESENTER: LIZ BARCLAY BARCLAY Assistance dogs which can be trained to load the washing machine, dress and undress you at night and wake you up to remind you to take your tablets, are being increasingly used by disabled people. Until recently their costs weren't included in people's care packages - the support that social services offers people to help with their care. In October though Surrey became the first council in the country to do that. At the time the minister for disabled people, Stephen Ladyman, told us that he hoped it would be the beginning of something big. LADYMAN I certainly would like to see all councils keeping this as one of a package of measures that they have behind their ear when they're discussing people's care needs with them, so that they're aware of just what can be achieved with animals like this, it's a wonderful initiative. BARCLAY Stephen Ladyman. Well Wiltshire has now become the second council in the UK to pay for canine carers. It had intended, like Surrey, to offer the option only to disabled people who receive their care via direct payments, in other words people who get cash to buy their care themselves. But last week You and Yours introduced Wiltshire's director of social services, Dr Ray Jones, to Liz Mooney and her dog Naomi. And since that meeting Dr Jones has decided that all disabled people in the county should have the option of an assistance dog, regardless of how their care is paid for. Carolyn Atkinson was at the meeting when Liz Mooney began by demonstrating Naomi's skills at loading the washing machine. ACTUALITY - LIZ MOONEY AND NAOMI Naomi, look, help, look at the clothes Naomi. Tug - tug, tug, bring it here, excellent. Good girl. There you go. JONES Does she replace your carer, does she do something different? MOONEY What she actually does she assists and it all comes together as a complete package. My carer comes in for a couple of hours in the morning to help me shower and then the rest of the day Naomi is there to assist with things that I need, like opening or closing doors, if I drop items she will pick them up for me. JONES She doesn't replace anything you've got, she's on top of and makes it even better? Brilliant, it sounds absolutely marvellous. ACTUALITY - LIZ MOONEY AND NAOMI Pedal stick. Look, look, oh look what's that then. ATKINSON Liz here is the first person in Wiltshire to actually get her assistance dog's running costs, if you like, paid for by social services, why did you think that's such a good idea, why is it a good use of your money? JONES Well I think it's a good use of our money because that's what Liz wanted, she wanted an assistance dog to provide her with some of the help that she clearly needs each day, the dog's with her all day 24 hours a day, so that even when there's not a carer calling on her - home carer or a personal assistant with her - they've still got this - she still has the assistance dog there undertaking some of the things that she needs to happen. It doesn't replace the service provided by carers, it's an enhancement to that. ACTUALITY - LIZ MOONEY AND NAOMI Excellent, good girl. There's a good girl. ATKINSON Now we can see Liz here and she's obviously delighted with Naomi the dog but why - you're actually going one step further in becoming the first social services in the country to say we can actually extend this scheme, what are you planning to do? JONES Well the difference I think in terms of what's happening at the moment is that other authorities have already said that someone receiving a direct payment - a cash payment - to organise the services they want from themselves should be able to use that to fund the running costs - the weekly costs of having an assistance dog. We're saying even if someone doesn't receive a direct payment - a cash payment - from us, even if we're organising the services that they need ourselves. If within those services they see the availability of an assistance dog, having an assistance dog with them, as a sensible thing for them and it fits in with our assessment of what they need as well we ought to get ahead and get it organised. MOONEY I think it's brilliant. It shouldn't only be given to people on direct payments, everyone should benefit from having a working dog and also getting financial assistance. I'm getting £15 a week to cover Naomi's costs. Before I was getting the £15 a week I was paying all the costs myself and that was towards insurance, vaccinations - the general costs of keeping Naomi. And obviously it's helping me tremendously. ATKINSON Has it freed you up financially - made life a little easier? MOONEY Yes, most certainly because now the £15 can be spent on other things that I need. KEEN Hi, I'm Wendy Keen and I'm a social worker for the Department of Adult and Community Services in the Devizes area. ATKINSON Liz is one of your clients. When she came to you saying - and by the way I'd like to have some of my running costs of my dog funded - what was your initial reaction? KEEN Well complete shock. It's very new for any social worker, I should imagine, to come across that kind of request but what happened as part of my assessment with Liz and with my colleagues in the occupational therapy department, we actually learnt about the skills of working dogs and what they could offer to Liz and therefore we've built it into the care package. JONES This is literally new ground for all of us and we're all learning but just watching Liz and Naomi together this morning I can see why it's important to Liz. We ought to be flexible and sensitive in the services that we provide or the services that we fund through direct payments. BARCLAY Dr Jones, director of Wiltshire social services. And the latest is that as many as five other local authorities are considering applications from people with assistance dogs. Back to the You and Yours homepage The BBC is not responsible for external websites |
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