Instead of getting the care sector to help, can't we help people help themselves?

With Viv soon to leave hospital my thoughts have returned to some of the challenges we faced a few weeks ago.

We live in a five year old house on a modern estate. So modern it's still being built, in fact. The ground floor of the house is wheelchair friendly - low threshold on the front door, wide interior doors, downstairs loo with washbasin that can be accessed from a wheelchair.

But ... step (or wheel) outside the front door and the development is a shambles! There is a mini Sainsburys 200 yards away, along a road that has (muddy, rutted) grass verges rather than hard pavements, and cobbles are as difficult to cross on a wheelchair as a cattle grid. Other routes to the supermarket are just as difficult - pavements with no ramps where you need to cross or obstructed by parked cars, or muddy verges to cross where a little thought on the part of the developers / council would have resulted in a hard surface. (You don't want to take a wheelchair across mud, because it all goes indoors with the chair ...).

Elsewhere on the estate are steps where a ramp could be provided, eight inch high kerbs on one side of a road opposite a ramp at a road junction, and muddy water draining off a grassed area over a path, the grassed area badly laid with poor drainage.

I am really surprised at the lack of thought put into the design by the council and developers. After all, nearly all of us will live to grow old, and many will need wheelchairs, strollers or zimmer frames. Are all the designers young? Aren't they taught about The Disablity Discrimination legislation (which requires 'reasonable modifications' to suit disabled people)? Don't the council have a step in their planning process to confirm that plans meet DDA guidelines (which nearly all commercial IT system development processes have)?

If we make it easier for people to get around in a wheelchair or using a stroller they will be less likely to need care services or the NHS, surely? Not just because they can stay in their own (wheelchair-friendly downstairs) home for longer, but also because they are less likely to fall when out and about if the roads and footpaths are properly set out.

I have sent an email to the council asking for them to improve the disabled access around the estate where we live. I sent it on 30 January. I have only a an initial 'we have forwarded your query to the appropriate person' reply so far. Oh, yes, this council is one of thpse claiming it is running short of money to fund care services too... shouldn't they be considering the needs of the disabled (or frail, or elderly) within all of their delivery processes, so the individuals concerned can live independently as much as possible, rather than just shouting 'we need more money'?