The #AVeryDifferentConversation survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part. We’re now reviewing the results and will reconsider the proposed changes in response to the feedback.
These pages contain information about the proposed changes to learning disabilities & autism services. You can still use these pages to learn about the current plans. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us:
Email: wsh-tr.mhprogrammeteam@nhs.net
Phone number: 0800 389 6819
We will now continue to work with our co-production partners until the services have been made live. For learning disabilities & autism services, this is planned for April 2021.
What’s on this page:
- Animated video which explains the changes
- What we’re hoping to achieve with the new service
- Who we’ve worked with
- What the new service will look like
- An example of how the service will work in the real world
- A video message from a project team member discussing the plans
- Frequently asked questions
- The survey
Work in healthcare, social care or education? Take a look at our workforce page, which has some information for professionals.
We’ve tried our best to make sure everyone can take part. The information is presented in captioned videos with written transcripts. Also in written form and diagrams. Information about the Learning Disabilities and Autism Services is available in Easy Read. The survey can also be accessed in an Easy Read format.
If you would prefer to access the information in a different way, please get in touch.
Animated video which explains the changes
Watch our animated video for an overview of what you told us needed to be improved, the changes we’ve planned in response, and examples of how that will affect people living in Suffolk.
View this video full-size on Vimeo or read the full script.
What we’re hoping to achieve with the new service
In 2018, a pioneering engagement process known as #AVeryDifferentConversation took place to develop a Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy for the future of Suffolk.
As part of this we talked with people living in east and west Suffolk about what they think their learning disability and autism services should look like.
Since then, the Suffolk Mental Health Alliance health and care partners have been busy working together to develop four key models. These are:
- Inpatient care
- Intensive Support Team
- Learning Disability Specialist Community Team
- Forensic Support
In autumn 2020, we asked you what you thought about these models, and lots of you completed our survey.
Who have we worked with?
To make sure we could speak to as many people as possible, from as many of our different communities as possible, we worked with the following groups:
- Suffolk County Council
- Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust
- East Suffolk and North East Essex Foundation Trust
- West Suffolk Foundation Trust
- Suffolk GP Federation
- Suffolk Parent Carer Network
- Suffolk User Forum
- Suffolk Family Carers
- ACE Anglia
- 29 providers of Learning Disability care
- Service users
- British Institute of Learning Disabilities
We will continue to work with our co-production partners until the services have been made live. This is planned for April 2021.
What will the Learning Disabilities and Autism Services look like?
View our Easy Read guides to what the new services will look like.
- Inpatient pathway
- Intensive support team pathway
- Specialist community team pathway
- A blue word glossary of terms used
Additionally, the below diagram illustrates how the new services will actually meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and/or autism, and their families.
Ways you can view this:
1. Click on the image to enlarge it
2. View as a PDF
Additional notes on stages of this service (correlating to the numbers on the image):
1. The expectation is that people with learning disabilities, autism or both and their families and carers will receive high quality care. They will receive treatment, care, and support in mainstream services with reasonable adjustments where possible.
2. The Specialist Team will provide healthcare to adults with learning disabilities whose needs cannot be met by mainstream services alone. The team helps to ensure that people with learning disabilities receive the same care and treatment as everyone else when there is a concern about their physical or mental health.
3. The Intensive Support Team is delivered in the community in order to provide effective interventions for those aged 14+ with a learning disability and/or autism who present with behaviours that challenge, placing themselves or others at risk of serious harm. The team will routinely have time limited, solution focused contact with individuals with on-going support being maintained by the LD&A Specialist Community Team.
The Service is available 24/7.
4. The inpatient provision is for adults with a learning disability and/or autism who present an immediate risk to those around them and/or to themselves, and whose behaviour and/or mental state is such that assessment and/or treatment cannot be provided safely and effectively in the community. This pathway is for those for whom reasonably adjusted mainstream inpatient services would be an inappropriate environment, and who therefore require inpatient care specifically designed to support people with a learning disability and/or autism.
The work of the new Intensive Support Team – a real-world example
Here’s a real-world example of how the work of the Intensive Support Team could affect people living in Suffolk.
Kenny was a 17-year-old man with a diagnosis of learning disability and autism. His family had suffered a bereavement the previous year and family dynamics had changed significantly. Kenny’s specialist school had not been able to support his challenging behaviours following this and he was no longer in education. At home, family members were being injured and there was significant environmental damage.
Kenny’s social worker, Leanne, contacted the Intensive Support Team (IST). The team began gathering information to assess the situation alongside a care co-ordinator. This information was then shared with other co-workers.
The IST members were aware Kenny would find it challenging to accept new people. So the team began gradually introducing him to one of the team members (an experienced Learning Disability Nurse) as a regular person in the home. By doing this, Kenny was able to develop a trusted relationship with the nurse, and the nurse was also able to support his family.
It was recognised that Kenny needed to have strong boundaries introduced to reduce his anxiety. But due to the severity of his established behaviours at home, it had become an unsafe environment for Kenny and his family. The IST’s multi-disciplinary team, including Mental Health and Learning Disability Nurses, an Occupational Therapist, Psychologist and Behavioural Therapist contributed towards a plan. The plan included soothing strategies to be put in place. It also included coping and safety plans for the family, until a longer-term solution could be found.
The IST worked closely with Kenny’s family, care co-ordinator and social care worker Leanne to identify a suitable placement elsewhere that would meet Kenny’s and his family’s needs.
Wendy Scott discusses the changes we have planned
Wendy Scott is a member of the Learning Disabilities and Autism Services project team. In this video, she discusses the changes we have planned for the service.
View this video full-size on Vimeo or read the full script.
Frequently asked questions
We’ve put together a list of queries we think you might have. If you’ve got a question that’s not on this list, please email us at wsh-tr.mhprogrammeteam@nhs.net
We’ll answer your question as soon as we can. And if we think your query would be helpful to other people, we’ll add it to this list. Don’t worry, though, all questions asked will be anonymous.
1. Will this transformation mean the learning disability inpatient unit will be closed?
The cohort of learning disability patients under psychiatric care often have multiple-comorbidities and, in turn, are very complex to assess. An acute psychiatric ward is therefore required to provide that intensive and immediate holistic assessment with respect to physical health, neurodevelopmental disorder, functional illness and potentially ‘challenging behaviour’.
In respect of acute inpatient psychiatric services for patients with a moderate learning disability we are suggesting the provision of a Suffolk-based inpatient unit that has between four and six beds and is adequately resourced.
2. How will I access the specialist learning disability and autism teams?
The Specialist Learning Disability and Autism Teams will provide healthcare to adults with learning disabilities whose needs cannot be met by mainstream services alone. The team will help to ensure that people with learning disabilities receive the same care and treatment as everyone else when there is a concern about their physical or mental health. The team will be accessible through community services and GP practices and access to the team will be timely and accessible.
3. Why will people with a learning and disability and/or autism be treated in mainstream services?
Many people with a learning disability and/or autism should be able to access ‘mainstream’ mental health services, with reasonable adjustments being made as necessary. In accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, people with a learning disability and/or autism who need to be admitted to hospital should be assessed and treated in mainstream inpatient services wherever this is reasonably practicable. This means health inequalities are reduced and those with a learning disability and/or ASD can access the right services at the right time, in the right place by the right person.
4. How old do I have to be to access specialist learning disability and autism services?
The learning disability and autism services are for people of all ages, however the Intensive Support Team which is delivered in the community will provide effective interventions for those aged 14 and over.
Please note, this survey is now closed
The survey was available to complete digitally and in Easy Read format.
What happens now?
These plans are not yet finalised. We need to understand how the suggested service developments will feel for service users, carers and the workforce. That’s why your comments are so important to us. Your feedback will support the development of the plans for the future of Suffolk’s mental health services.
From November 2020, once we’ve heard what everybody thinks, we will work with our co-production partners to see if we need to adapt the plans and make changes. We’ll then let you know what changes have been made as a result of the feedback we received. This will be early 2021.
The next stage will be to take these plans and make them a reality for service users, carers and staff. This will all take some time. The new Learning Disabilities and Autism Services will start to become available from April 2021. The Children’s, young people’s and families mental health services, Community mental health services and Crisis mental health services will become available a little later, from summer 2021.
Go back to the main #AVeryDifferentConversation page, or visit one of the other priority pages:
