SARAH CHAMPION MP BACKS RECOVERY PLAN FOR DISABLED CHILDREN IN ROTHERHAM

Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, has pledged her support for targeted recovery policies to help disabled children, young people and families recover from the pandemic.

New research from the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) – a coalition of over 80 charities – has found that six out of ten families with disabled children in England and Wales are still experiencing delays to health appointments to review and treat long-term conditions. In addition, over 50% of families are still unable to access therapies vital for their children’s health and development.

These delays can have a long-term impact on the management of a child’s development. The DCP has spoken to families where a child has cerebral palsy and hasn’t been able to access appropriate physiotherapy. Due to the lack of therapy, the child’s muscles have weakened and their condition has worsened.  

Sarah Champion MP has signed up to become a Disabled Children’s Champion to make sure that, as the country eases out of lockdown, the disproportionate impact that many disabled children have faced is addressed.

Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, said:

“From my time as CEO of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, I know first-hand the pressures families of disabled children are under, this has been compounded due to Covid 19. I have committed to supporting disabled children and young people in parliament as their voice needs to be heard.

“Research from the DCP clearly shows that they have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic as health services, therapies, respite care and other services have been interrupted by the virus and its restrictions.

“This is why I have signed up to become a Disabled Children’s Champion and am backing calls for a COVID-19 recovery plan for disabled children and families."

Amanda Batten, CEO of Contact and Chair of the Disabled Children’s Partnership, said:

“It is fantastic to have the support of Sarah Champion MP in our campaign for a COVID-19 recovery, representing disabled children and families in Rotherham.

“At the DCP we have been surveying thousands of parent carers of disabled children as part of our ongoing research into the impact of the pandemic on this group.

“Disabled children need our help. We are calling on the government to implement a specific COVID-19 recovery plan that makes up for the absence of therapies which has impacted on disabled children’s physical development and opportunities to develop vital life skills, helping them catch-up with their peers. This plan must also support the wider family with additional respite care, mental health support and activities to tackle social isolation.”

The latest research report – No End In Sight - from the DCP involved over 400 families with disabled children answering survey questions. The report found that, although there has been some improvement for families in terms of accessing support via school or the health service, the breadth of distance between current and pre-pandemic levels of support is vast.

As support has been taken away, the DCP’s research shows that parents of disabled children have had to not only become full-time specialist teachers homeschooling, but also full-time carers. Responsible for tasks such as nursing, providing physiotherapy, administering drugs and attending children throughout the night - often without the necessary support, which was already stretched before the pandemic, resulting in many families feeling burnt out. Many parents have had to do this whilst still quite often working a full-time job or they have had to give up their employment in order to care for their child.

ENDS

Notes to editor

The Disabled Children’s Partnership is a major coalition of more than 80 organisations campaigning for improved health and social care for disabled children, young people and their families. They believe that disabled children, young people and their families should have access to the services they are entitled to, when they need them.

The DCP is led by Mencap, WellChild, Together for Short Lives, The Children’s Trust, Scope, Sense, National Autistic Society, Family Fund, Council for Disabled Children, Ambitious about Autism, Contact and Action for Children. More information is available on their website: https://disabledchildrenspartnership.org.uk/

The Pears Foundation Learning Hub is a partnership between Pears Foundation and the DCP to research the impact of the pandemic on disabled children and their families in England - and evaluate responses to it.

As part of this work, the DCP has established a Parent Survey Panel to carry out a series of surveys during 2021 to track the experiences of disabled children and their families. The panel of 1,200 families has been set up to be broadly demographically representative of the population of families with disabled children across England in terms of geography, disability and ethnicity.

The latest report from the panel “No End In Sight “reveals the findings from the third survey in this series.  This survey was conducted between 1st and 15th April 2021 and included responses from over 400 different families. https://disabledchildrenspartnership.org.uk/no-end-in-sight/

For media enquires please contact: sam.carlisle@causecommunications.co.uk (07850 111213)