Learning Disability Hospital Service

The Learning Disability service helps people with a learning disability and their carers when visiting our hospitals. We want to improve the care you receive when you visit our services.

We work with adults and children who have a learning disability who need additional support to access our services.

Reasonable adjustments can be made to our services so they meet your individual needs.

We can also co-ordinate care for when you attend hospital. In addition to this, we make sure that all those involved in your care are aware of your additional needs.

We support and advise our staff on personalised care and delivery of services and act as facilitator between agencies.

Our specialist learning disability nurses work across the NCA’ s 4 care organisation hospital sites to help make sure people with a learning disability get the support they need when they visit hospital. They support with the following:

  • Pre-admission and discharge planning
  • Desensitisation planning
  • Communication advice
  • Carer support and advice
  • Ward and clinic visits and meetings.
  • Liaising with GPs, specialist community learning disability teams, families, carers and other relevant organisations
  • Capacity, Consent and DNACPR Advice
  • Accessible and Easy Read information development
  • Advice and support on reasonable adjustments
  • Advice, support and Learning Disability awareness raising training for NCA staff

Going into hospital is a worrying time for any of us. It can be even harder for someone who has a learning disability.

If you know you are going into hospital there are some things you can do to help yourself feel ready. You can:

  • talk through what might happen with family, friends or a health professional
  • read through any information the hospital or doctor has given you – you might need someone to help you with this
  • have a Hospital Passport ready – this will help you tell the hospital staff what reasonable adjustments you need
  • contact the hospital Learning Disability team they will be able to give you advice and support.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/learning-disabilities/going-into-hospital/

https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/health

Hospital Passports

Hospital Passports can be very useful if you have to go into hospital.

A hospital passport is a document about you and your health needs. It is designed to give hospital staff helpful information about you to help make your experience in hospital as good as it can be for you.

It contains useful information, such as your interests, likes, dislikes, preferred method of communication and any reasonable adjustments you may need.

If you would like to complete a hospital passport then please complete it before coming into hospital then hand it to the person looking after you when you arrive at the hospital- they will put a copy in your hospital notes.

Download a Hospital Passport

 

The Learning Disability team accept referrals from anyone - the individual, wards, carers, families, GP’s, other healthcare professions.

To make a referral please contact the team directly by phone or e mail or NCA staff can use the electronic referral form on the Trust intranet.

Accessibility tools

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