More than £500m could be saved if mental health services in England were run more efficiently, a report says. Better community support, cutting unnecessary hospital stays and reducing sickness absence can all help cut costs, say policy experts.
Some 90% of people surveyed by the BBC believe the government should provide funds to make the workplace accessible for people with disabilities. But 40% felt disabled people turned down job offers even when they were physically capable of doing them. The survey found that attitudes to disability and disabled people's rights varied between age groups and social groups.
The parents of a severely disabled 18-month-old girl from Derby are hoping to build a downstairs specialist sterile treatment room for her.
Oldham Council is proposing to end free parking for disabled blue badge holders in council car parks. The move is part of a series of cost-cutting measures by the council which said it has to save £25m in the next financial year. However the council also proposes to freeze town centre parking fees and rents for market stall holders. The proposals are due to be discussed at the council's full cabinet meeting on 6 December.
A 10-year-old Hartlepool boy with cerebral palsy is learning to do some of the things he has never been able to manage before, like riding a bike, after major surgery. Mitchell's parents thought they had exhausted all the options for treating their son but then stumbled across a procedure called selective dorsal rhizotomy to treat spasticity in people with cerebral palsy.
A man from Redcar has set up a new organisation with the hope of changing discriminatory attitudes towards disabled people. Andrew Clark from Redcar is autistic and has set up a non-profit organisation to educate public bodies and private companies about disability. The newly-formed National Society for the Equal Rights to the Disabled plans to hold a series of events in 2011. Andrew believes education is the key to changing people's opinions.
