Survivors

Caring for a severly disabled child can be exhausting

How does a single mum who has not had a night off for as long as she can remember find the energy to carry on caring for a profoundly disabled child who rarely sits still?

For the last five months, Panorama has experienced the reality of life for two families caring for severely disabled children.

Lives rarely seen on television because they are lived, often literally, behind closed doors.

Lives which not only involve complex emotions but constant battles for help with a system which now openly rations care according to cash not need.

There are thought to be more than half a million severely disabled children alive in Britain today.

In this provocative and moving film, Panorama asks why, in a political climate dominated by targets and priorities, these children and their families appear to be both forgotten and ignored.

Panorama: Survivors, will be broadcast on Sunday, 26 January 2003 at 2215 GMT on BBC One.

Production team:
Reporter: Sarah Barclay
Producer: Aidan Laverty
Camera: Alison Priestley
Editor: Mike Robinson