Care packages halved for most people with learning disabilities during Covid, report carers

Care packages have at least halved for most people with learning disabilities during the Covid-19 lockdown as their needs have increased, carers have reported. The impact has been reduced independence, poorer health and more pressures on carers, found the online survey of 1,069 family members and carers carried out by Mencap in late June and the first half of July. Two-thirds of respondents (65.3%) said the amount of social care support their loved-one received from their local authority had at least halved, in terms of hours, during the lockdown. The lockdown has seen mass closures of day and short break services services, shut special schools and residential colleges, reduced social support and cut home care in line with social distancing requirements. Most carers (67.4%) reported increases in need among the people with learning disabilities they care for during the shutdown, with 35.9% saying it had increased a lot.