The impact of poor provision
The impact of failing to provide complex equipment appropriately is wide-ranging and affects the service user, carers, staff, the government and their agencies, and many other economic and social issues.
Poor provision can result in:
- Citizen-centred issues, e.g. poor clinical outcomes, developmental implications
- Reams of unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape for families
- Poor quality and unsafe services
- Unmet policy and strategy objectives
- Failing in legal and welfare duties
- Duplication of services across the sectors
- Wasting valuable clinical time chasing equipment
- Confusion over who provides what
- Unclear responsibilities and accountabilities
- No purchasing power
- Large sums of capital tied up in stock
- Inefficient life usage of equipment
Incredibly, it is often the parents of disabled children who have to purchase complex and expensive equipment themselves, resulting in a significant financial outlay which many struggle to afford.
Disabled children require a considerable amount of care and usually, one parent chooses to care for the child at home and therefore loses an income. Many families in the UK find it difficult to meet mortgage payments and the cost of running a home without the added cost burden of funding expensive equipment which needs to be replaced on a regular basis.
Sadly, it is common for families with disabled children to have a very low standard of living in order to meet all of the costs associated with caring for a disabled child.
And the problems don’t stop at home. Sometimes, children are unable to access schools due to a lack of equipment resulting in educational and developmental issues.
In some cases, third sector organisations support parents of disabled children but these organisations then have to fund ‘sunk costs’ for each expensive piece of equipment because no facilities exist for re-using or sharing equipment.
There are also other, less obvious, Social Return On Investment (SROI) issues resulting from poor provision, e.g. inability to access work and education, and the poor health and wellbeing of carers.
