Basic human right

On further reflection, my letter might appear solely as a panegyric against the political leadership of the county council, whereas there is much more to this matter.

My own personal concern is the night care service, but these cuts go much deeper. I know of several disabled people who are reliant upon social service carers for their basic care. In the coming months they will lose these carers and the carers will lose their jobs.

These carers should be replaced by private agencies. Now, it may be that they are fortunate with the agency — I certainly am with mine — but equally I do know from personal experience that not all agencies are of a uniformly high quality.

Moreover, there is no reassurance that they will receive the same level of care as at present. Social services has been fulsome in its assurances that the disabled and elderly which have been under the umbrella of their care will continue to receive the same quality of care.

I received such an assurance, saying that someone would come to talk with me to arrange a replacement service ‘within a few days’; that was more than six weeks ago. Is it any wonder that no credibility remains?

Returning to one of the central planks in my first letter, why should we receive such treatment, just because we are disabled or elderly. Were it to be our children who had to put up with such degradation of, say, their education ‘for economic reasons’, society would, rightly, be up in arms. All we ask for is a standard of care which is no more than a basic human right.

Andrew Baker, Oxford