Profile: Summercare has played a huge role in breaking down barriers to people with learning disabilities, says its founder

Asif Raja founded SummerCare Ltd 15 years ago. In this short space of time, he has become an influential voice in the care sector and stacked up a host of awards recognising him as best employer and for care innovation.

Dr Raja runs four residential care homes and eight supported living schemes and also runs day services and supports people in the community across Essex. Summercare helps people with learning disabilities and also those with mental health problems, physical or sensory impairments and older people.

He originally qualified as a doctor and worked with children with learning disabilities at St George’s Hospital in London and has held a deep interest and passion for social care since his childhood. “A lot of my family have worked in care and I also have a personal interest as I have a family member with a learning disability.

“Having a family member with a learning disability gives you an insight into whether things are being done right. The ethos of Summercare is very much to focus on the individual and we are very family oriented.”

Having good staff is essential for any good care provider and Summercare is very careful in how it picks its staff. “There is a huge amount to be said for life experiences. However we also provide comprehensive training augmenting the life skills and experience people have. We are very flexible and we provide training to deal with epilepsy, dementia and bereavement, etc. My staff team are some of the most caring and passionate people in society.”

Inclusion is very important to Dr Raja and he has ensured the services Summercare provides are at the heart of the local community. People with learning disabilities are seen out and about taking an active role in local events. The company plays a big role in the Southend Carnival sponsoring the event, having a float and taking part in the activities on the day. When there are local football tournaments, Summercare enters a team of people it supports. He believes this integration with the community has played a “big part in breaking down barriers to people with learning disabilities in Essex”.

Dr Raja is very passionate about enabling people with learning disabilities to live independently. A recent report from the charity Mencap, ‘Housing for People with a Learning Disability’, found just one in three people with a learning disability lives independently in supported accommodation (as a tenant or as a home owner) while one in four still live in registered care homes.

Finding social housing for people with learning disabilities is tough, but there are even fewer options available if these needs come together with physical disabilities requiring facilities such as accessible wet rooms and specialist baths.

In a bid to change this, Dr Raja bought some apartments four years ago to rent out to people with learning disabilities.

However he says sadly “we have offered them to the local authority and now they have said they don’t have the funding to pay for people with learning disabilities to live there. So I am going to have to rent them out to other people in the private sector. It is sad as they won’t be used for the people they were intended for. They had been adapted with communal areas, etc and rooms for staff if need be but that all has to be undone now.”

Care home providers face an incredibly challenging time at the moment, according to Dr Raja, who says “they have to cope with inadequate fees, poor commissioning processes, red tape and the banks”. Problems are further exacerbated by care providers having “to cope with a hostile media as well”.

“We looked at media reports last year and compared the way they reported health and social care and there was much more negative reporting of social care stories. We have had Winterbourne and Southern Cross and cases where people have had to be held to account. But it seems as though the media has jumped on the band wagon.

“Care providers are coming up with innovations all the time but the tidal wave is very much against them and it won’t change until the Government and the local authorities are singing from the same page.”

The whole issue of social care funding remains a problem with care providers facing cuts or fee freezes from local authorities that are struggling with reduced budgets.

Some care providers hope things may improve when the social care cap comes into force in 2016, with people having to pay up £72,000 of care costs but after that, care costs will be covered by the state.

However many feel the cap is too high and claim many people will find they will not benefit at all or not to the extent they expected.

It is low levels of funding and fee cuts to care providers that is partly attributing to some of the poor care in care homes that has been hitting the headlines over recent years. Inadequate funding means low skilled staff are recruited and paid low wages and there are not enough employed to cover night shifts and give residents a good standard of life.

Dr Raja says: “This is a sector where we are caring for the most vulnerable in society and funding issues means cracks are starting to appear. Sadly I think we are going to have more incidents and problems until something is really done about it. It is very easy for politicians to put all the blame on care homes but there needs to be a joined up and pragmatic approach to this.”

As for the future of Summercare “we will continue to improve the quality of service we provide and continue to promote inclusion. For us, every day is an opportunity to make a difference to someone’s life in a profound way. In terms of our growth and development we will provide more community and home based care. We are also looking to expand our organisation over the next few years.”

Interesting facts

First job: Volunteer in a former geriatric hospital

Favourite book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Favourite film:Star Wars

Favourite piece of music: Con te partirò by Andrea Bocelli

What is the best present you have received:My children – I have twin daughters and three boys

Last holiday: Eurodisney with my family

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