Learning disability in-patient services have come under some scrutiny in recent times.
Here, Tom Crossland looks at an evaluation of the introduction of a care pathway approach in an inpatient service
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Transforming Care, the government’s response to WInterbourne view, set some clear targets for the development of community services and the reduction on specialist inpatient bed numbers.
Here Alix Dixon looks at a paper, which used some illustrative case examples to explore some of the policy and practice issues around these targets.
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People with learning disabilities who have complex and challenging needs may find themselves placed in specialist services, sometimes distant from family and local support networks, often at high cost to the commissioners.
Here Ruth Northway looks at the findings of a survey of commissioning teams in south east England reporting on the nature and costs of such placements.
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Psychotropic medications are prescribed widely to many people with learning disabilities, but there remain many concerns about over, or improper use of such medications.
Here, Kate van Dooren looks at a study which collected data from 100 participants over a period of time to look at psychotropic medication and the relationship between dose, demographic factors and aggression scores.
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Tom Crossland looks at the findings of a review of the literature regarding women with learning disabilities and forensic needs
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Mindfulness has been offered as a way to help reduce stress in family and carers but few studies have as yet looked directly at the effects of offering mindfulness-based interventions to people with learning disabilities themselves.
In her debut blog, Leen Vereenhooghe looks at an attempt to evaluate a mindfulness group in an inpatient assessment and treatment unit through the experiences of those who took part.
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We know that access to accurate information is crucial if people are to make good decisions about the support they get from services. If someone with a learning disability is admitted to a hospital unit for assessment or treatment for a mental health issue or in response to behaviour that is challenging support services, this can be a particularly difficult and confusing time for all concerned.
In her debut blog, Alison Giraud-Saunders, along with co-author Angela Cole, describes a booklet that she co-authored with the involvement of family members which has lots of key information on the law and people’s rights.
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Last week, the Health and Social Care Information Centre published the findings from the 2013 learning disabilities census. The census was commissioned as one of the 63 initiatives in ‘Transforming Care: A national response to Winterbourne View Hospital’ in response to the abuse at Winterbourne View Hospital. The aim was to provide an audit of [read the full story…]
Background The recent position paper by the Royal College of Psychiatrists on the need for in-patient beds for people with learning disabilities was published as part of the response to the Winterbourne View scandal. The paper made it clear that it was important to make a very clear distinction between the function of in-patient support [read the full story…]
Background Offering choice to patients is at the heart of the NHS, supported by a set of legal rights (see the Choice Framework) and patient led assessments of care environments have been introduced (PLACE) applying to hospitals, hospices and day treatment centres providing NHS funded care. At present this covers only care environments, not clinical care [read the full story…]
