The call follows the publishing of a Serious Case Review in Somerset following the death of brain injury survivor Dave Alsbury, who took his own life in 2014 following a string of failures by various health and social care organisations.
Despite numerous contacts with many health and care professionals, and the concerns of family members, Dave was not provided with appropriate support. There was a lack of joined up working across social care, health bodies and drug and alcohol services, and no organisation took a lead role in determining a coordinated, multi-agency response and opportunities to intervene in an integrated way.
The report also singled out Headway Somerset for praise, highlighting the valuable role played by the group in supporting Dave for 13 years.
Headway asked one of its Parliamentary Champions, Ben Bradshaw MP, to ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of a Health Select Committee report on brain injury published in 2001, which included recommendations for ensuring co-ordinated care between agencies.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Steve Brine, responded by stating that the value of a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary approach is included in NHS England's current specification for neuro-rehabilitation. However, each region is responsible for monitoring performance and there is no commitment in his reply to review or improve services.
Headway Chief Executive Peter McCabe said: “The tragic reality is that Dave, a vulnerable adult, was repeatedly failed by agencies whose responsibility it was to protect and support him.
“As long ago as 2001, the Health Select Committee recommended that health authorities, trusts and local authorities put in place a case management or equivalent system which gives head-injured patients and carers an identifiable guide and advocate through the whole care pathway.
“It also recommended that NHS trusts and Adult Social Care departments should be required to identify named managers with responsibility for co-ordinating the service and ensuring inter-agency collaboration.
“Sadly, this was never acted upon by successive governments, with local authorities provided with no additional resources or clearly specified objectives.
“It is vital that all local authorities take time to read and fully digest the Serious Case Review and learn the lessons contained within in order to ensure that no other brain injury survivors are similarly let down.”
How you can help
Headway is urging people to support the push for change by engaging with their local authority and NHS services, highlighting the lack of support for people with brain injury.
Speaking alongside Alyson at The Way Ahead, Peter said to delegates: “I would simply ask you to take a copy of the report and actually go along to your local authority and say ‘What lessons have you learned from this? What changes are you making as a consequence of this?’
“Don’t be afraid to confront them about this because this should not ever be allowed to happen again, and the only people that are going to change it is us, in our own communities, going out and putting pressure on those that need to listen.
“It’s about providing a fair share of national and local resources for survivors of a brain injury and their families.”Back
