DLF: Yet another source of independent advice compromised?

At the end of last year, I wrote here about the shocking number of DLCs that had quietly changed their function from provision of independent advice about aids to mobility and daily living, to selling products themselves. The article had a great response, just a fraction of which was added in the form of comments on the blog. Many people working within the organisations phoned or e-mailed to agree with my concerns, but were too afraid of the consequences to make their comments publicly. I also received a number of calls from managers of DLCs who had moved over to selling, justifying their reasons - but again, nobody ready to do so in public.

Although the DLF (Disabled Living Foundation) did not send a reply to my request for information about their activities, it does state very clearly on their website that they don't sell any products, so that seemed unambiguous.

But perhaps I was being naive in adding them to the side of the angels, so to speak. While it is true that the organisation does not sell products, what they do sell is high value sponsorship packages, or advertisements, which enable suppliers with the biggest promotional budgets to ensure that their products are advantageously represented alongside the impartial advice.

The suppliers who support the DLF in this way are all excellent companies with fine products - but there are other good businesses out there, with equally useful products, which are perhaps not so easy to find on the DLF site because, not surprisingly, the commercial sponsors' products seem to be listed first. Times are hard for everybody, and you can understand the DLF giving preference to the businesses that support them, but they really can't claim to provide impartial information when for example, all the variable height profiling beds featured by the side of that advice come from one supplier. Add to the impression given by the website the fact that DLF Factsheets (independent downloadable advice on buying equipment) also carry advertisements from a single supplier of the equipment described, and the notion of impartiality takes a very heavy hit.

Do please let me know what you think: I believe that the most important people here are the individuals who need specialist equipment and depend on organisations which they trust to provide information and guidance in an impartial way. As soon as the lines are blurred between commercial operations and those which claim to be non-commercial, it is the clients who lose out.

That the products promoted are good products is not the point: people are being led to believe that these are the best, or possibly even the only, option, when this is not necessarily the case.

Add your comments here - you can post anonymously, if you prefer, but please don't waste this opportunity to have your thoughts heard.