Senior Responsible Officer: Nic Bailey
This workstream aims to support and lead work to transform services for people with learning disabilities. It is focusing on reducing reliance on hospital beds through a place-based approach to care, building flexible community services and crisis care; as well as improving overall health, reducing inequalities and premature death across the region.
Reducing premature deaths
The North East and Cumbria Learning Disability Network is leading and coordinating implementation of the national learning disability mortality review (LeDeR) in the region and has established a group to stop people with learning disabilities from dying too young. The LeDeR programme has been commissioned by NHS England to review the deaths of people with a learning disability, to identify common themes and learning. Local priorities are based on learning from these reviews and include a focus on: constipation, aspiration pneumonia, health promotion and identifying deteriorating health.
Young people help to design new learning programme
Working with mainstream schools, a learning programme to improve resilience for young people with autism, their families and schools was rolled out to participating sites between January and March 2019. The programme was co-designed with young people and outcomes are currently being evaluated. Feedback so far is that the project has strengthened links with schools and local parent/carer forums, and a peer network has been set up to share learning.
An autism education film and ebook, to explain changes that can be made to the environment to help young people in school, is available at http://tripleaproject.org.uk/media/
And a film encouraging young people aged 14 years and over, who have special educational needs, to access their annual health check, has been made by students from Catcote school in Hartlepool.
Citizenship partnership
The north east and north Cumbria transforming care partnership (TCP) plans to move to a ‘citizenship model’ for working with people with a learning disability. TCPs are made up of clinical commissioning groups, specialised commissioners and local authorities, who work with people with a learning disability, autism (or both) and their families and carers to agree and deliver local plans.
A citizenship model will support people with learning disabilities to take a full and active involvement in community life. It’s about how we can be equal, and live our own life, yet be different. There are seven keys:
- Purpose – having goals, hopes and dreams and a structure for life and a plan to achieve this. Having our own direction.
- Freedom – control and the ability to speak up and be heard and to be legally visible in society. Taking charge of our own life.
- Money – to have money for what people need and control over how that money is spent; especially if it is money to help you get a life. Having enough to live a good life.
- Home – a place that belongs to a person, where they have control over everything that happens there. A place that can be the base for a person’s life.
- Help – good quality help that enhances their gifts, talents and skills and ensures their social standing, freedoms, rights and responsibilities in society.
- Life – that people play an active part in their community including contribution through their love, gifts and talents. Getting stuck in and making a difference. Learning from others and them learning from us.
- Love – rights to a range of loving relationships and with it the responsibilities. Also that the differences in society are revered and respected. Friendship, love and family.
Citizenship is something that many people may not think too deeply about and take for granted. For people in society with disabilities citizenship is something that can seem out of reach and unachievable and often just does not happen.
Transforming care partnership
A significant piece of work is now underway involving senior members of our transforming care partnership, following serious safeguarding allegations involving Whorlton Hall, an independent hospital near Barnard Castle, previously managed by Cygnet Healthcare which is now closed.
Allegations of shocking physical and psychological abuse at Whorlton Hall were raised by the producers of BBC Panorama in May 2019. Immediate steps were taken to ensure the well-being and safety of patients at the hospital and all were moved to alternative care provision within two weeks. As a partnership, and as individual organisations, we are committed to ensuring such a situation does not happen again.
All organisations involved, including the lead commissioner, provider and Durham County Council, are progressing a number of ongoing actions, including a full review by the local Safeguarding Adults Board, and assisting the ongoing police investigation.
For more information, please contact Patricia Churchill at pchurchill@nhs.net
Northumbria University’s first cohort of students to study positive behavioural support have graduated