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INNOVATION FOR INDEPENDENCE
ISSUE 83 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 £6.95
Code launched for community equipment use By Dominic Musgrave THE first code of practice for community and other disability equipment has been launched in response to a series of critical reviews identifying serious clinical and financial failings. It aims to support public sector organisations to help them commission and provide services more effectively. According to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency every year in the UK there are more than 30 deaths and 1,500 serious incidents as a result of inappropriate and unsafe equipment supplied in the community. The code will be administered by a not-forprofit social enterprise, the chairman of which is the former chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, Sir Bert Massie CBE. He said: “Community equipment is a life saver for hundreds of thousands of people in the UK and is used every day in homes, hospitals, care homes, day centres and special schools. “This is about providing the right equipment at the right time which supports initiatives related to self-determination, independence, rehabilitation, early intervention and prevention, together with end of life care.
“The code should be used everywhere where people use community equipment.” One of the main aims of the Code of Practice is to deliver better clinical outcomes by reducing the number of injuries, illnesses and fatalities caused by unsafe and inappropriate equipment, and by equipment that is delayed or in some cases not provided at all. Author Brian Donnelly added: “Without community equipment or the correct community equipment, people are unable to live their lives as they should. “They may have to stay in hospital or require round-the-clock care provided by their local authority or even family members, which has significant economic and quality of life implications. In many cases, basic human rights are being violated. “Other industries operating in the health and social care arenas have been regulated by codes of practice for decades, such as the pharmaceutical industry, and it’s long overdue for community equipment. There are many fragments of legislation relating to the different aspects of these services, which are overly complex. The new code pulls together all duties and responsibilities into one coherent document.”
Athlete Jonnie Peacock, who is training for the 100 metres in the London 2012 Paralympics, has told national newspapers how meeting David Beckham triggered his sporting ambitions. Jonnie, from Cambridge, contracted meningitis as a child which resulted in his right leg being amputated below the knee when he was just five. When he was about six a local newspaper arranged for him to travel to the Euro 2000 tournament to meet England footballers including David Beckham.