Better Outcomes for People with a Learning Disability

Quality Network Public Statements

Claire Cunningham-Hill

Director of Learning Disability Services

0116 295 4511

Our Services

The Learning Disability Service within Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust provides a range of residential and community services to adults with a learning disability in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.  The services we provide are health services, in that the care and support is provided by doctors, nurses, therapists and a range of support and daycare staff.

The Learning Disability Service is undergoing many changes.  Some of those changes are related to some of the national targets set out in Valuing People with regard to developing services for people with a learning disability.  One of these developments is the closure of a long-stay hospital where 58 people currently live.  As part of their plans for the future, they will move into the community within a supported living model, in as independent and as inclusive a way as possible.  Also included in the change are a small number of Social Care Homes, which have been managed by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.  The new supported living arrangements will be commissioned by the Local Authorities, rather than by the Health Commissioners.

As part of our overall project to close the long-stay hospital and to transfer the Social Care Homes to the supported living model of care, we wanted to find a way of evaluating and monitoring the quality aspect of the overall resettlement project.  Therefore it was agreed for the Quality Network Review to be used as part of the quality and evaluating tool for that aspect of the service.

The Quality Network Review took place between April 2003 and June 2003 and included people who are residents of Gorse Hill Hospital and the Social Care Homes managed by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.  In total 9 service users were visited across Gorse Hill Hospital and the Social Care Homes.  The team members, of which there were 9, who undertook the visits and the interviews were made up of advocates, residents, carers, managers, and occupational therapists.  There was wider support from other managers and other professionals including Social Services at a variety of stages in the quality review.  There was also support from the Quality Network itself.

Findings

The visits took place over a period of time, and there were a different number of visits for each person.  The information from those visits was put together and the team members and the wider support team then evaluated it with members of Quality Network.  There were some headlines that were derived from those meetings and 7 points were highlighted as to what was going well in people’s lives and what needed to change.

What was going well for people visited

• It was good health for all

• People are respected

• The Trust is trying

What we need to improve

• Let us join in

• Give us the skills and jobs

• Help me to make choices

• Help me to be safe

Action Plan

Those findings have been translated into an action plan, which looked at the four areas of what needs to be improved.   The main headings were put into a detailed action plan with clear lines of responsibility for who would do what, and when. 

For example, within the aim “Help me be safe” there was a statement “I want to be safe in my own home”. 

How

• The environment is safe and appropriate for my needs

• The people who live with me and support me do not threaten me

• I need to learn to recognise danger and alert someone for help

• The people who support me are able to do so

Who

• Included occupational therapy, members of the resettlement team and working with the new support providers in the resettlement process. 

When

• To be within the resettlement project timescales which is between now and December 2004, when people will move into their new homes.  It may well extend beyond December 2004 as some needs will need to continue to be developed.

Another area to make improvements was “Help me to make choices”.  There was a statement  “I make a choice about my daily activity”. 

How

• Collecting information on each person e.g. person centred plan, community care assessment, information from families, friends, carers, advocacy and communication passport. 

Who

• The resettlement team, social workers, community care assistants and families would gather that information, and various resettlement meetings would be used to identify aspects of someone’s life. 

When

• Again this has to be completed by December 2004 with an interim date for completion of information by September 2004.  This information would then influence the planning for daily activities as part of that person’s resettlement programme.

CONCLUSION

The overall view from team members, the people visited and the wider support group was that the Quality Network Review had been a very stimulating, rewarding and informative experience.  It most certainly gave some really sound information to assist in some of the planning and preparation as part of our resettlement process. 

The work provides a good basis for reviewing the situation with those individual people following their resettlement process into their new home.  It will give an indication of how things have improved, changed and developed for those individual people, some of whom are making their first move into a community setting.  In conclusion it was felt to be a very worthwhile and beneficial process.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Clare Cunningham-Hill

Director of Learning Disability Services

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

George Hine House

Gipsy Lane

Leicester

LE5 0TD

Tel:      0116 295 4511

Email:  clare.cunningham-hill@leicspart.nhs.uk

Date issued:    May 2004