CBF Response to CQC State of Care Report 2022

On the 21st October 2022, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published their latest annual report assessing the state of health and social care in England.  

Within the report services for people with a learning disability and autistic people are listed as a specific area of concern. Failings mentioned include placements great distances from home, breaches of human rights, and the effects of COVID-19 restrictions. It describes what we at the CBF know too well – that this care and support is still not good enough despite multiple reviews and reports over decades.  

The report reflects on the repeated recommendations and goals which have yet to be met, with little progress achieved since their last report, including: people with severe learning disabilities not provided with the right care, their rights not properly understood, they cannot access skilled or specialist staff, and the use of restrictive interventions remains high. The current state of care for individuals and their families includes long waiting lists, a lack of commitment to guidance, use of inappropriate models of care, and a shortage of staff. We share the concerns raised in this report about the quality of physical health care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, reflecting concerns raised in the recent LeDeR report: 6th Annual Learning Disability Mortality Review published – Challenging Behaviour Foundation. 

None of these concerns are new. What we need are urgent actions for deliverable change, but the Building the Right Support Action Plan fails to provide confidence that the government has a grip on how to transform care. We need to see reform, better investment in local support and service provision, and these changes based on evidence and up-to-date models of care.  

This report identifies that the current system in place to uphold the rights of adults and children with severe learning disabilities to access the support they need is not fit for purpose.  

You can find the full report here: State of Care 2021/22 – Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk) 

Our response to the BTRS action plan can be found here: Building the Right Support Action Plan Released – Challenging Behaviour Foundation 

To read the EHRC response to the BTRS action plan: Equality and Human Rights Commission respond to BtRS Action Plan – Challenging Behaviour Foundation

Family Support Service

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this statement, you can call the Family Support Service on 0300 666 0126

Or email us at support@thecbf.org.uk

We are open at the following times:

Monday – Thursday: 9am – 5pm 
Friday: 9am – 3pm

We offer information about challenging behaviour to anyone who provides support to a child, young person or adult with a severe learning disability. We can also signpost you to other specialist organisations and sources of information.

Please note we are a small support service so you may not be able to get support straight away. We will support families with urgent concerns as a priority.

Professionals are also welcome to contact the CBF.