Billy's Story: A Game of Snakes and Ladders

Abstract

Billy's story is told as an experience of care provided by health and social services; the events are taken from the stories of several clients. The story illustrates the failures of a system of care that is not person‐centred. Nor is it integrated. It is a system that has been cobbled together from the stretched and patched remains of old, incompatible systems. Billy's story was used as a central part of a system‐wide review commissioned by Kent's new joint services for people with learning disabilities. By examining the real experiences of a small number of clients and (in the second part of the paper) testing the outcomes against the principles underpinning the plans for a new integrated and person‐centred service, Kent has been able to pinpoint areas of failure and consequently priorities for development and change. The paper ends with a summary of the questions Billy's story raises and the proposals stemming from it.

Citation

Burton, J. (2007), "Billy's Story: A Game of Snakes and Ladders", Tizard Learning Disability Review, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 4-10. https://doi.org/10.1108/13595474200700025