Care provider Voyage Care welcomed Swindon South MP Sir Robert Buckland on a visit to care home Westwood House last week.

Sir Robert is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism and of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Learning Disability. During the visit, he met people supported by Voyage Care, which works with people with learning and physical disabilities, brain injuries, autism and other complex needs.

Jackie Beddow, regional operations director for Voyage Care and Carole Laurelli, home manager at Westwood House, told Sir Robert about a number of ideas and initiatives that the organisation has to help improve the adult social care system.

Andrew Cannon, chief executive officer at Voyage Care, said: “We see it as our responsibility to raise awareness of the issues that exist within adult social care. By inviting politicians and policy makers to meet and hear directly from the people we support, we can showcase the extraordinary work our colleagues do every day to enable them to live as independently as possible.”

“Enabling access to high quality specialist adult social care is fundamental to the lives of those we support and also helps to reduce the systemwide pressure on wider public services, such as the NHS, housing and other social care.  Among our ideas is calling for the government to introduce a new Commissioner for Adult Social Care with a legal mandate to promote and protect the rights of those relying on the adult social care system.” 

Sir Robert said: “As someone with a long interest in autism and learning disability, this was a valuable opportunity for me to learn more about a number of ideas and initiatives that Voyage Care has to help improve the adult social care system.”