North Cumbria Learning Disability Community Nursing Team – CNTW246

Services for adults with learning disabilities are delivered by a range of learning disability specialist professionals which include:

• Physiotherapists
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Speech and Language Therapists
• Registered Learning Disability Nurses
• Support staff

The team have extensive experience in the health needs of people who have a learning disability and the health inequalities they can face.

Separate pathways have been developed to focus on physical health, mental health, challenging behaviour and offending behaviour and each one includes the need to ensure that people with a learning disability are encouraged to have an annual health check and develop a health action plan.

As well as assessment and developing care and treatment plans, we can provide direct hands on support working with the individual or build capacity with those staff who are supporting the individual whether this is mainstream health services or staff working in the independent or voluntary sector.

How to refer?

The service has an open referral system which means that anyone can refer in to  the service including people with learning disabilities and family or carers. The service can be contacted:

• through your GP
• by contacting the team. See below for contact details.

What happens next?

• Your first appointment will be with a health worker who is specially trained in learning disabilities.
• Your appointments will be at a place you agree, which may be your home.
• When you first meet your health worker, you may want someone who knows you to be there. This could be a friend or someone in your family.
• The health worker will talk about your needs and how they may be able to help you.
• Please feel free to ask any questions. It is important that you understand any care or advice, before you agree to it.
• The health worker will need to write down some information about you.
• In most cases, the health worker will not tell anyone what you have told them, unless you say it is OK.
• Sometimes they might need to share information about you if you or someone else is at risk.
• If you have any special requirements, such as needing an interpreter or wheelchair access, please let us know when you book your appointment.