Supporting people with learning disabilities in acute care

It is recognised that people with learning disabilities fail to access health screening and that in the past, hospital services failed to meet the needs of this group of patients. This article explains how, through a partnership between the health facilitation and acute liaison team at Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust and staff at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, these issues have been addressed. The article discusses the protocols, systems and training that have been introduced to raise awareness of the needs of people with learning disabilities, and focuses on the working partnership between the community and hospital settings.