News - Liberal Democrat Disability Association

Haemophiliac deaths 'avoidable'

The supply of contaminated NHS blood products to haemophiliacs in the 1970s and 1980s was "wholly avoidable", an independent public inquiry has heard. Some 5,000 people were exposed to hepatitis C and of these more than 1,200 were also infected with HIV. Victims, and relatives of some of the more than 1,700 patients who died, have been addressing the privately-funded hearing, due to report in late summer. The government has said treatments were given in "good faith".

19 Apr 2007

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Tag dementia sufferers - minister

Elderly people with dementia could be tagged to make it easier to track their movements, a minister has proposed. Science Minister Malcolm Wicks told the BBC the satellite technology could enable them to lead fuller lives and would reassure their families. He said it would give sufferers, who often experience memory loss, "freedom to roam around their communities."

19 Apr 2007

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Listen to the Lords

There can be few more emotive questions than the appropriate protective powers of the state over mentally ill people. Cases like that of Michael Stone - who, 11 years ago, bludgeoned to death Lin Russell and her daughter Megan - arouse deep-seated and understandable fears about dangerous men being allowed out on the loose. But set against such cases are stories like that of Randle McMurphy, who in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was destroyed at the hands of a mental institution. It is a fictional tale, but one which too often finds echoes in real-life reporting, which time and again has exposed how ruinous the behaviour of the over-stretched authorities can become once they are freed of the need to be led by the wishes of the patient.

17 Apr 2007

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Firm defends disabled rail spaces

A rail company has defended a decision to have only two spaces at Shrewsbury station's front car park for members of the public who are not disabled. Arriva Trains Wales, which runs the car park, said it follows resurfacing work and the firm is complying with industry regulations over disabled car spaces.

17 Apr 2007

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Open door

Two requests for deletions from the online archive led to some head scratching recently. The first came from a journalist who, several years ago, wrote about her young son's attitude to clothing. The article caused no bother until her son - by now computer literate - discovered it on the web. He was upset and embarrassed, and was being teased about it. The second request was from the parents of a child who was born with severe disabilities. Our article followed an interview they gave to a Sunday newspaper about the home birth that they had arranged. When they gave that interview they were thinking only about the print publication. It didn't occur to them that the online version might be picked up by other websites, and they didn't anticipate that cyber-bullies would send emails blaming them for their son's condition. They were finding it difficult to cope, and we deleted the article for compassionate reasons.

16 Apr 2007

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'Double blow' for autistic pupils

Children with autism who are from ethnic minorities face a double discrimination in education, campaigners say. A National Autistic Society report on "the reality for families" suggests 62% of parents had no choice over the school their children would attend.

16 Apr 2007

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Haemophiliac deaths 'avoidable'

Tag dementia sufferers - minister

Listen to the Lords

Firm defends disabled rail spaces

Open door

'Double blow' for autistic pupils

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