New draft guidelines to help transform the care of people with learning disabilities
This article profiles a new draft national framework prepared by NHS England, the LGA and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) to improve the care of people with learning difficulties.
Jessica and I are working in Cumbria at the moment on the scope for supported living for people with learning difficulties and the elderly through Extra Care Housing. This article made me reflect on practical cost challenges such areas face arising from their sparsity.
In more general terms the article tells us:
The Service Model sets out nine overarching principles which define what ‘good’ services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism whose behaviour challenges should look like:
1 Providing more proactive, preventative care, with better identification of people at risk and early intervention;
2 Empowering people with a learning disability and/or autism, for instance through the expansion of personal budgets and personal health budgets and independent advocacy;
3 Supporting families to care for their children at home, and the provision of high-quality social care with appropriate skills;
4 Providing greater choice and security in housing;
5 Ensuring access to activities and services that enable people with a learning disability and/or autism to lead a fulfilling, purposeful life (such as education, leisure);
6 Ensuring access to mainstream health services (including mainstream mental health services in the community);
7 Providing specialist multi-disciplinary support in the community, including intensively when necessary to avoid admission to hospital;
8 Ensuring that services aimed at keeping people out of trouble with the criminal justice system are able to address the needs of people with learning disabilities and/or autism, and that the right specialist services are in place in the community to support people with a learning disability and/or autism who pose a risk to others, and;
9 Providing hospital services that are high-quality and assess, treat and discharge people with a learning disability as quickly as possible.