This booklet provides information for families of people with learning disabilitiesabout the scope and process of NHS continuing healthcare, together with possible implications and questions they may want to ask.

Click here to download the booklet

A Guide to UK-based Free Mental Health Helplines by Cassiobury Court.

Care and Treatment Reviews (CTR) have been developed as part of NHS England’s commitment to transforming the services for people with learning disabilities and/ or autism who display behaviour that challenges, including those with a mental health condition.

The CTR ensures that individuals get the right care, in the right place that meets their needs, and they are involved in any decisions about their care.

NHS England has published final CTR policy and guidance (CTR policy and guidance in easy read also available) that outlines what a CTR is, the required standards, and how they should be done, along with a toolkit for commissioners and easy read leaflets for people with learning disabilities and/or autism, and their families or carers.

Read the full story on the NHS England website (opens in new window)

This document contains all the information you should need to allow you to support people with learning disabilities on a day-to-day basis, to help them to improve and maintain their health. We do not think health should be seen as something separate, something we think about when we have time or when someone is ill. We should be more proactive than that. We should use every day routines to observe people’s health and wellbeing, to ensure we are doing everything we can to support them.

Download the Learning Disability Health Toolkit here (opens in a new window) http://www.turning-point.co.uk/media/1098784/11643-healthcaretoolkit-lr.pdf

Sarah Maguire BA (Hons), M.A, CIPD, Fellow of Centre for Welfare Reform

Sarah has worked with people with learning disabilities for almost 30 years. Her work began supported people with challenging needs to move out of long stay institutions in the 1980’s.  Sarah has worked as a training manager where she pioneered new initiatives to take training into the work place. Following completion of her MA in Applied Psychology of Learning Disability Services, Sarah worked as an Operations Director of a large national learning disability charity developing direct payments and supported living services for adults with learning disabilities. Sarah currently works as the Director of Quality and Safeguarding for Choice Support where she continues to support people to take control of their lives.  Sarah is part of the steering committee for the Driving up Quality Alliance and is a founder member of the Association of Quality Checkers which will launch in 2015.

Gav and Karen,  experts in nothing but experience of lots. Gav and Karen have both previously worked in Adult Social Care and have tried to change the system from the inside.  We have experience in negotiating and managing the journey through adult care to health including continuing health care. This includes using and managing a direct payment using a personal budget within adult social care and we now manage a personal health budget with a staff team creatively support planning to get the best health and well being outcomes for a good life from our perspective. We have some knowledge of the legal frameworks around assessment including the care act and positive risk management and the right to take risks.  We also have a great support network and connections to lots of like minded people who want to change the system pro actively rather than reactively.

Jane Byford has worked all her working life in the care sector. She started in residential and nursing care and eventually qualified as a manager with a registered 5 qualification with Ling Trust. Since those days she has been one of the major hands on managers with many people coming out of assessment and treatment units, providing hands on help and support and getting people back into the community. Jane is highly respected by many of the people who receive services, professional practitioners and families/carers as a very knowledgeable and practical " doer" with a passion to see people receiving the most effective and genuinely person centred services.

Jane lives in Colchester in Essex. Her own family situation has taught her the values of good care and support. Jane is passionate about her work and will assist you on line in anyway that she can. She may also be able to offer some telephone advice. 

Sam is a registered social worker with 25 years of extensive experience working in regulation, health and social care as a field worker, commissioner and provider. She has an MSc in the regulation of health & social care. Sam is currently doing consultancy work for In Control, NHS England, NDTi and NEW Devon CCG. She spent the previous four years working with NEW Devon CCG on a project carrying out person-centred planning with people with learning disabilities detained in Assessment & Treatment Units and then providing bespoke services for them on return to their local communities. This also involved transforming commissioning processes. This project has gained national recognition. Before this Sam was part of the Change team in Cornwall who transformed health and social care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour post the Budock Hospital scandal. She also managed the NHS campus re-provision in Bournemouth for B&P PCT. Sam has extensive knowledge and skills in the provision of community based services for people who have labels of mental health needs and challenging behaviour. Sam has extensive experience of quality assurance systems development. She is also very passionate about involving people and families in developing their services. Sam is an advisor to Cornwall People First, a Director of the Association for Quality Checkers, a Fellow of the Centre for Welfare Reform, a columnist for Learning Disability Today, writes for several journals and is a Trustee for a small local housing charity for people with learning disabilities.