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Are you a disabled person with experience of using social care services, such as home care, a residential or nursing care home, adult placement, respite care or Direct Payments or an Individual Budget?

If so, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) needs your views in their new survey about equality for disabled people using social care services. The information you provide will be confidential and your answers will be anonymous.

Many people using social care services would be viewed as disabled people under laws about treating disabled people equally. CSCI wants the views of a range of disabled people - anyone who faces barriers in society because they have a physical or mental impairment or condition. This includes:

• People with learning difficulties
• People who use mental health services or experience mental distress
• Deaf and hard of hearing people
• Blind and partially sighted people
• People with physical impairments
• People with long term health conditions, such as diabetes, epilepsy, HIV or dementia

There is no age limit on disability equality - the law applies equally to older people who have become disabled people in later life as it does to younger adults.

Why are CSCI doing the  survey?

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) registers, inspects and reports on adult social care services in England. Their job is to improve social care and stamp out bad practice.

CSCI is publishing a series of bulletins on equality and diversity issues to help social care providers improve their services.

The views of disabled people with experience of using social care services will be central to the bulletin on disability equality. As well as the survey, CSCI will be talking to some disabled people in discussion groups.

CSCI will also look at what service providers have said that they are doing to make sure disabled people get fair treatment when using services.

Give CSCI your views

Your views will help CSCI to help social care providers improve services for disabled people.

You can fill in the survey online by going to:

www.csci.org.uk/disabilityequalitysurvey

The survey is also available to download and in different formats, including large print and easy words and pictures.

If you want CSCI to send you a copy of the survey through the post, please contact Robert Marshall on 020 7979 2101 or email: robert.marshall@csci.gsi.gov.uk