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More learning disability nurses equals better care for service users

Survey by directors of social services sets out devastating effect of the pandemic as ‘an avalanche of need’ 

Survey by directors of social services sets out the devastating effect of the pandemic as ‘an avalanche of need’ for people with learning disabilities and/or autism

More nurses equals better care for people with learning disabilites and/or autism
Picture: iStock

Amid all the hullabaloo of the so-called COVID-19 ‘freedom day’ several news stories have been largely overlooked by the mainstream media.

One is a call by the charity Mencap for those with learning disabilities and autistic people to be prioritised for the COVID-19 vaccine booster.

Detention in secure units for service users ‘matter of national shame’

Another is former health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s call for a ban on institutional care.

‘The evidence shows that people are wrongly admitted to inpatient facilities where they might stay, on average, six years and that physical restraint, seclusion and long-term segregation are still all too common’

Mr Hunt has described it as a ‘matter of national shame’ that ten years on from Winterbourne View, people are still being detained in secure units and there was a totally inadequate level of community provision’.

The evidence shows that people are wrongly admitted to inpatient facilities where they might stay, on average, six years and that physical restraint, seclusion and long-term segregation are still common.

The Commons health committee report has recommended that assessment and treatment units should be closed within two years and a new model of care – the Trieste Model – should be adopted.

‘Dire’ shortage of learning disability nurses

A survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services set out the devastating effect of the pandemic on people with disabilities, which it referred to as ‘an avalanche of need’ at a time when already cash-strapped councils in England need to save £600m this year.

There has also been a stark warning from the RCN about how vulnerable people are at risk from the ‘dire’ shortages of learning disability nurses which you will be all too aware of.

The RCN’s report looks at many issues facing the profession across the UK, including cuts to community teams, social care nursing development, careers and the inconsistency of liaison nurse provision in hospitals. It makes several recommendations and is worth a read.

The evidence has been there for years, more nurses equals better care.


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