Jane Campbell is a pro. She meets me in the office of her home, not the living room, and she’s fully alert for her third interview of the day.

Maybe it is this ability to stay focussed that scooped her the post of chair of the new Social Care Institute of Excel-lence (SCIE), a multi-million pound body set up by the Government to promote good practice, like the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Her job will be to supervise new ways of providing social care to service users.

Jane, who has spinal muscular atrophy, applied for the SCIE job expecting to be turned down. "I thought ‘they aren’t going to give me the job’. Let’s face it, I’m a bit of a ‘crippy crip’. I have 24-hour assistance, a ventilator and access needs, so that’s a challenge for non-disabled people."

It is not the only way in which she is challenging. In the past, Jane was usually in opposition to the government as she campaigned with the British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) for disabled people’s rights. She says she had to prove that was not her intention in applying for the post at SCIE.

The government worries are understandable — although she was awarded an MBE for her work in the Queen’s birthday honours last year.

She helped secure direct payments for disabled people to buy their own care, as well as being a founder member and co-director of the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL).

And she is not one to mince her words. When asked about her education, she says her special school was "crap".

But she got a degree in history and politics at university, followed by an MA in political feminism.

"Then I thought ‘why am I doing all this about women’s emancipation when I should be doing it about my own?’"

Jane’s campaigning began in the early 1980s, and her work on behalf of disabled people has earned her an enviable reputation in the disability world. She is widely admired.

"It’s a loss to the disability movement," says Peter Mansell, former chief executive of RADAR where Jane once worked. "But the more influence disabled people have on different bodies the better, and Jane will have a real impact."

Long-time friend Sheila Blair, acting chair of BCODP, says: "Jane is one of the leading lights of the disability movement but she has never forgotten about the fight. She is still very much a campaigner."

Yet some people accuse her of putting her career before disability rights.

Disability consultant Simon Stevens feels that: "She has become a fat cat.

"Jane is using a position to get what she wants," he says. "She doesn’t represent disabled people anymore."

Jane retaliates: "Isn’t this what we fought for? To be listened to, to participate and have a share of the power? It’s no good shooting me now I have managed to worm my way in.

"To critics who say I’m joining the establishment my retort is I’m not joining it, the establishment is coming to me. There are many ways to get things done, and this is my approach."

Jane will remain as a Disability Rights Commis-sioner, though she is leaving NCIL: "They can call on me at any time. I’m not breaking ties."

She feels the SCIE job is a natural progression: "I do like new things," she says. "I like to go in, set something up and move on, and that’s a pattern in my life. I get incredibly inspired by creating."

This need to create spills over into her personal life, too. She’s a keen gardener and has designed her immaculate, fully accessible Tolworth home. She makes time to go out regularly to the cinema, theatre and concerts with husband Roger. She seems unstoppable.

Jane claims SCIE is her last "project" and then she will retire. But I’d be willing to bet that, still only 41, she won’t be able to resist getting involved with something else.

Posted: 30 August, 2001