John Hall was a disabled person from Edgbaston who was a member of the West Midlands Council of Disabled People in the early to mid 1980s. John wrote this article for Pinpoint magazine with some interesting memories of disabled war veterans who would beg for money in Malvern in the 1930s and also his experience joining a Community Health Council in the 1970s and 1980s, an organisation through which he felt health service users were empowered at that time.
From 'cripples' on the pavements to the Community
Health Council: Experiences of disability
In the 1930's when I was a schoolboy living in
Malvern, Worcester shire, I had my first encounter with disabled people, an
experience which made me very sad. In the main street and ex-merchant Navy hero
from the First World War with no arms and only half his legs squatted on the
pavement every weekday selling matches and shoelaces. He received no pension
and had no other income. I was old enough to not only know that his experience
had been horrific, but also to treat him as a human being, with respect.
I also recall blind George, who walked daily more than
2 miles to play a small organ at St Anne's Well, a building on the way to the
top of the Malvern Hills, which is still standing. Although totally blind, he
gave great pleasure with his music to thousands of people and, quite rightly,
his name has been commemorated with a plaque as a permanent memorial. He was a
good musician, and always bright and cheerful, a man of tremendous strength of
character.
Little did I know at the time, that within 10 years, I
too would become disabled and that, even later, my interest in the cause of
disabled people would be strengthened by activities as a member of the Central
Birmingham Community Health Council.
I make no apology for referring now briefly to my war
experience, this part of my story has a bearing on the social work which has
become an important part of my life.
Like many teenagers, I joined the R.A.F. in 1940,
hoping to do my 'bit' for the country, with no thought of what might lie ahead.
But in 1942 my flying days came to an abrupt end, when I was shot down into the
English Channel, and picked up by a naval air-sea rescue boat. After a short
time at Dover Hospital, I was transferred to Halton R.A.F. Hospital in
Buckinghamshire, where I was given immense care and attention, after countless
operations, by consultants, doctors and not least by the nursing officers of
Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service. I shall never forget or fail
to appreciate their love and help to enable me to tackle civilian life, when
initially I had to learn not only to walk again, but to integrate into a
society, which barely understood or could face physically crippling
disablement. I had to learn that to accept that sport and running would never
again be possible, but with the coming of a happy marriage, and later children,
and a good job to return to, life began to look up. For whatever the pain and
anguish of my war experiences I was lucky to be alive, and appreciate that
there were many men and women far more disabled than I.
I was soon to meet a man blinded in the R.A.F., and to
become a personal friend. He was probably the most brilliant man to pass
through St Dunstan's, and with his immense six sense has done more for the
blind people than any living man today. He is one of many disabled people that
I've met over the years and it is encouraging to know how much is being done by
the growth of so many caring organisations.
Since my retirement, I have been able to further my
interest in this activity through the Central Birmingham Community Health
Council, one of many Councils formed in 1974, which has statutory powers within
the National Health Service. The Council, which is non-political and
non-sectarian in its outlook, consists of appointed members of all classes and
races, nominated by the City Council, the West Midlands Regional Health
Authority, and various charitable and social work bodies. It is known as the
patients' watchdog, and that simply is its brief.
The activities are varied: regular checking visits to
hospitals, membership of health care planning teams, representation as
observers on their District Health Authority, and the Family Practitioner
Committee. The Council has a say in any proposed substantial change to the
local Health Service, e.g. the closure of wards, or even whole hospitals, to
which they have a statutory right to put forward counter-proposals. They can
even organise campaigns e.g. for the improvement of interpreting services in
hospitals, to set up working parties to look at health care for disabled,
elderly and handicapped people. They have advised patients and their families
how to seek information and how to make complaints.
For disabled people, the Council was instrumental in
the issue of the booklet "And how am I supposed to get in?", is
constantly campaigning for better access and services, and continues to
campaign for equal opportunities for employment in the Health Service.
Never let it be said again that a disabled person is
no use in the community. Believe me, in all walks of life they are offering
much, and still have more to offer, and I hope that those of you who have no
impairment of health or limb, who read this article, will have learnt something
of their efforts and in turn consider what they can offer to help many
thousands of people who are less fortunate than themselves.
John Hall
Edgbaston
Birmingham
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