Agenda item

Members to receive an update report on the work being done in partnership to improve the outcomes for people with a Learning Disability or Neuro-developmental need.

Members will be asked to note the successes and challenges within LLR and to champion joint focus on people who need support and the importance of supporting all people across LLR.

Members received a report giving an update on the work being done in partnership to improve the outcomes for people with a learning disability or neuro-developmental need.

Mark Roberts, Asst. Director Leicestershire Partnership Trust (LPT) introduced the report giving an overview of the aims of the programme, details of the collaborative formalised between the ICB and LPT and the close work with local authority colleagues as well as the significant improvements in the services provided and priorities moving forward.

Members were advised this work took forward the successes of the Transforming Care Programme from 2021-22 and sought to address inequalities in a fundamental way whilst also reviewing the delegated duties from NHS England to local systems too.

Attention was drawn to the key target areas namely: reducing the need for inpatient care; learning from the lives and deaths of people with a learning disability;  and Annual Health Checks for people with a learning disability along with the successes, challenges and opportunities in those areas.

In summary it was noted there were fewer local adults with a learning disability or neuro-developmental need requiring care in hospital, although there had been an increase to the number of children with a learning disability or neuro-developmental need being in hospital than previously; in terms of learning this was developing well and the learning about aspiration pneumonia had gathered interest at a national level. As regards health checks it was hoped there would be more progress on completion of annual health checks for those with a learning disability.

Members welcomed the report although there was some disappointment that the number of children with a learning disability or neuro-developmental need in hospital had risen, and it was suggested there should be more emphasis on the work around children and exploring the reasons for that.

In relation to the annual health checks members enquired about the definition of a person with a learning disability or neuro-developmental need and how those that should be health checked were being captured in the data.

Responding to the points made it was advised that annual health checks were focused on those with a learning disability and the definition was a certain level of IQ, this was relatively easy to define in the community, however autism was more challenging to identify, and a formal diagnosis defined whether someone was autistic.

As far as people engaging with primary care networks, it was advised that the collaborative had stimulated some improvements, such as in North West Leicestershire where a hub was being developed, however some people had more significant needs that made the annual health check more challenging to undertake. The team had commissioned some additional capacity to address the 200 people without a health check last year and who hadn’t one this year either and those were being targeted through GP’s to make sure they had a health check.

Members noted that other areas of the East Midlands hade turned towards a more centralised process for the annual health checks, but the team were fundamentally opposed to that approach as it was a mainstream process that GPs should be engaged in with that part of community.

The Chair concluded the discussion and was pleased that changes in arrangements had led to improvements and that was as a result of strong partnership working between the NHS and local authorities across LLR.

The Chair thanked officers for the report and noted the successes and challenges of the work and commented that given the targets set for 2023-24 a further update should be brought to scrutiny in 12 months.

AGREED:

1.    That the contents of the report be noted,

2.    That the Committee shall champion the joint focus on people who need support to help ensure people receive timely and high-quality care enabling people to lead a fulfilling life,

3.    That the Committee shall champion the importance of supporting all our people across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland,

4.    That a further update report should be brought to scrutiny in 12 months to provide details of progress against the targets set for 2023-24.