by Raymond Sheehy | Aug 25, 2026 | Flexible Support, Independant Living, Uncategorised
Something about how our sector talks about independence has bothered me for a while. We tend to measure it by how little support someone needs — fewer visits, a shorter care plan, eventually a tenancy with no hours attached at all. For a lot of people, that works fine...
by Raymond Sheehy | Jun 25, 2026 | Flexible Support
There’s a version of this conversation that happens in commissioning meetings across the country, and I’ve been in enough of them to know how it goes. Someone flags that a person in the community needs a bit more support — a few extra hours of flexible...
by Raymond Sheehy | Jun 25, 2026 | Flexible Support
Hospital discharge is supposed to mean someone’s better. In a lot of cases, it’s actually when things get risky. I’ve watched it happen more times than I’d like. Someone spends weeks, sometimes months, in hospital with round-the-clock support,...
by Raymond Sheehy | Mar 25, 2026 | Flexible Support
Right now, over 2,100 autistic people and people with learning disabilities are in inpatient mental health hospitals in England. More than half have been there for over two years. Around one in six has been detained for more than a decade. The NHS Long Term Plan set a...
by Raymond Sheehy | Jan 3, 2023 | Flexible Support
Mental health recovery is different for everyone, and it certainly isn’t a straight path. For some people, it takes intensive support before they can safely and confidently live on their own again. Others may manage well for a time but then face setbacks they...
