Disabled people ‘suffer negative attitudes’

HEALTH workers were accused yesterday of patronising and negative attitudes towards people with disabilities.

We need a “culture shift” both by individual health workers and within the organisations where the services are provided, according to a report published by the National Disability Authority (NDA).

“People with disabilities often talk to us of experiencing patronising and negative attitudes towards them,” said NDA director Iris Elliott. She described this as a major barrier to adopting a healthier attitude towards people with disabilities as she urged training and guidance for workers within the health sector.

Provision of health services for people with disabilities is inappropriate and inadequate and services vary very greatly across health board areas, the report found.

Speaking at the publication of the report in Dublin yesterday, NDA chairperson Angela Kerins said the extent to which people with disabilities and their families and carers were unable to access health services was “unacceptable”.

It was also unacceptable the extent to which volunteers, disability organisations and family members had to plug service gaps.

Report author Dr Jane Pillinger found that people with disabilities lacked choice and control and that the services available to them were often inadequate and inappropriate. They can also vary across health board areas.

Although expenditure for general health services in Ireland has considerably expanded since 1990, the funding for disability services is declining, the report shows.

Department of Finance figures show 612 million was given for mental health services last year. Spending for intellectual and physical and sensory disability services will amount to €1.1 billion in 2003.

However, the lack of data on the level of disability in the country is a drawback, said Ms Kerins. “The big problem is that at the end of the day that information is not available and we need to do something about it.”

Up to 400,000 people in Ireland have a disability, based on the WHO’s general figure of 10% of a country’s population being affected. “Also, there is an amount of money going in there and we need to know if we are spending it well or not, or spending it in a way that people with disabilities want the services,” said Ms Kerins.

The report also highlights poor co-ordination between sections of the health services in the provision of services for people with disabilities.

It said the Government’s health reform programme must provide opportunities to address this and other issues to ensure that people with disabilities have a leadership role in decisions regarding the development of health services.