Camphill Families and Friends supports the Our Life Our CHOICE campaign for people with learning disabilities to be able to choose to live in well-run shared communities.
We recently agreed to donate a further £15,000 from our donations fund to support the campaign, particularly in its work challenging the Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s view on community-based living.
Our Life Our CHOICE recently called on the CQC to publish the evidence underpinning key aspects of its guidance affecting adults with learning disabilities.
For more than four years, Our Life Our CHOICE has repeatedly asked CQC to explain the evidence supporting a number of statements contained within its Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture guidance. Despite ongoing meetings and correspondence, campaigners have yet to receive a clear explanation.
One example is CQC’s definition of village and congregate settings, which describes them as places that are “separate from communities and without access to the options, choices, dignity and independence that most people take for granted.” Our Life Our CHOICE believes such statements should be supported by robust evidence, particularly when they influence commissioning decisions, provider confidence, and the choices available to families.
You can read the press release in full and find more information about the campaign on the Our Life Our CHOICE website.
