Building on the learning disability needs articulation work started in December 2019, we are delighted to announce that we have been successful in securing £30,000 through the Q Exchange.

One of the key themes that arose from the Learning Disability Network event in December 2019 was an ask for reasonable adjustments to become more mainstream to help people access care.

Blended approach to annual health checks

During the pandemic, when many services have been paused to provide additional capacity, people with learning disabilities have experienced poorer outcomes than the general population for both mental and physical health.

This funding will deliver a project focusing on supporting GPs to restart essential annual health checks using a blended approach of digital training and innovative social models from Surrey and Sussex ICSs.

The primary aim for the project is to build collaborative relationships across health, social and third sector partners to improve outcomes for people with learning disabilities, by ensuring reasonable adjustments underpin the annual health checks process, as well changing how people access parts of the health check depending on individual needs.

To ensure we continue to meet identified needs, new pathways will be co-produced with everyone who is involved in health checks including service users, working in partnership with the Surrey People’s group, Sussex’s Learning Disability Program Board and the KSS Learning Disability Community of Practice.

The successful My Social Time model, currently a virtual social engagement forum for young adults to provide peer to peer support, emotional health and wellbeing, will be expanded to include adults with learning disabilities. The model will be further strengthened by including SEN co-ordinators, Learning Disability Liaison Nurses and GP champions to deliver bespoke sessions to underpin the annual health check process.

Q funding

This is one of 30 projects that have been selected for funding through Q Exchange, the Q community’s collaborative grant programme.

Q Exchange aims to activate the knowledge of improvement experts across the UK by providing a space where teams can collaboratively develop ideas for improvement projects and submit bids for up to £30,000 of funding. This round, Q asked teams to develop ideas under the theme ‘Embedding positive changes emerging through new collaborations or partnerships during COVID-19.’

The final projects were selected using the expertise of the community through member-led panels, who reviewed 122 submitted proposals to select 30.  Each project is committed to tackling the challenges of COVID-19 using a range of quality improvement methods.

Tracy Webb, Associate Director for Collaborative Change – Q, The Health Foundation, said:
‘We’re delighted to be able to provide funding to 50% more projects this year to support the health system to respond to COVID; investing in supporting positive changes at a time when it’s needed most.’

Further details

You can read more about our successful bid here.

There is information about the Q Exchange and all the successful bids here.

For more information, please email Athina Lockyer, Programme Manager, KSS AHSN.