The health facilitation team are a team of nurses and nurse associates who are specialised in facilitating health care for people with learning disabilities of all ages. The team work with doctors in GP practices across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
The team make sure that doctors write a health action plan for you and make sure information is written is a way that is easy for someone with a learning disability to understand and that any reasonablee adjustments are made so those with a learning disability can attend an appointment.
What the team offer:
- We work with GPs and other health services to help them to understand the needs of people with learning disabilities. One key function of health facilitators is as educators. It is really important that advice and education is available, especially for those staff within mainstream services who may have spent little or no time with a person who has a learning disability
- We work closely with GPs to review practice registers of people with learning disabilities to make sure everyone is invited for an annual health check
- We work in partnership with learning disability community services, partner organisations and family carers to provide a source of accessible information, advice and training around reasonable adjustments and health inequalities awareness
- We provide support with increasing the uptake of annual health checks and health action plans
- We provide advice on missed health appointments
- We support services with the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act and best interest decision making processes, to ensure equitable access to healthcare
- We work as part of a whole learning disability service and will offer specific support to those people who find it very difficult to access their annual health check
- We adopt a co-production model and work alongside our peer support workers, people with learning disabilities and their families and carers
- We support people with a learning disability to better understand their health needs, helping to reduce poorer health outcomes
Annual health checks
The team also make sure everybody with a learning disability gets an annual health check. The learning disability register is for anyone of any age with a learning disability (not a learning difficulty) and from age 14 they are invited for an annual health check.
Information for parents and carers about the GP annual health checks for children and young adults with a learning disability
More information about healthcare for young people with a learning disability.
Email HFinbox@lscft.nhs.uk or call 01772 695 300. The teams works Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm.