Adult Learning Disability Services

Some people with a learning disability may not need our help but for others who do, a range of health and social care services are available Trust wide. We assist adults with a learning disability to have control over their own lives and the support they receive, enabling them to live healthy, active lives to maximise their potential.

Multi-Disciplinary Teams provide learning disability services.  These are groups of professionals who work together to provide services to people with learning disabilities and their carers in a coordinated, integrated way.

The team includes:

• Social workers
• Nursing
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and other Allied Health Professionals.

Community Nursing Learning Disability Service

The service provides a community nursing service to adults who have a learning disability and reside within the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust area. The aim of the service is to ensure the health and social care needs of the adult with a learning disability is met by appropriate services, and to work collaboratively with families/carers and other professionals to ensure that the person receives access to the same healthcare services as the general population.

We aim to provide a professional service, which promotes our Trust values of working together, excellence, openness and honesty and compassion.

Epilepsy Specialist Learning Disability Nursing Service

The Epilepsy Specialist Learning Disability Nursing Service aims to provide assessment, treatment and care planning to maximise the health and wellbeing of individuals with a learning disability who have epilepsy.

Individuals referred to the service will receive an in-depth Epilepsy Nursing Assessment and an individual care plan will be completed based on assessed need.

Health Facilitator Nurse Specialist

The Trust Health Facilitator Nurse works with GP practices across the Trust area to encourage attendance at health screening and ensure individuals with a learning disability have an equal right of access to primary health care services. The service provides an annual health check for people with learning disabilities, which allows GPs and the Health Care Facilitator to provide a detailed annual physical and mental health check for adults with a learning disability.

Intensive Support Service (ISS)

ISS is a multidisciplinary team that supports adults with a learning disability, their families and care providers, who experience behaviours of such frequency, duration and intensity, that it places themselves or others at risk. The service promotes Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) working with psychology and focuses on the reduction of behaviours of concern and an increase in quality of life for all concerned.

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• Referral into Learning Disability Services

  Referrals can be made by GP’s, other professions or self-referral.

• Day Service Facilities

  Day Service facilities promote a person centred approach with an individually tailored programme based on each persons need and best outcomes. Community inclusion and partnership working are central to the services, which includes working alongside service providers, local councils, community groups, Disability Sports NI and many others to provide a wide and varied range of activities and programme. There are a number of Day Service Facilities available throughout the Trust.

  Day opportunities are services outside of Day Service facilities for people who may not need as much support. These services are delivered by partner providers and are primarily based on:

  • Employment experience
  • Training opportunities
  • Leisure and community
  • Social enterprise
  • Some examples of day opportunity services are – Social Farming, Horticulture, Men’s Shed and Community Drop in groups.

  Some of these services are detailed below:

  Downpatrick

  Mountview Adult Resource Centre

  Tel: (028) 4451 3818

  Lisburn

  Lisburn Assessment & Resource Centre,

  Tel: (028) 9263 3535

  North Down/Ards

  Balloo Training & Resource Centre

  Tel: (028) 9145 0505

  Ravara Training & Resource Centre

  Tel: (028) 9127 1304

  Ards Training & Resource Centre

  Tel: (028) 9181 5364

  Community teams through day care panels in each area make referral for all day services.

   

• Residential and Short Term Respite Services

  Residential and short-term respite services offer families and carer’s a break where their loved one will be cared for in one of the Trust’s facilities. Each facility will meet the client’s individually assessed needs in a person-centred approach

  Bangor – Croft Community

  Tel (028) 9145 9784

  Hillhall Residential and Resource Centre – Lisburn

  Tel: (028) 9267 9364

  Struell Lodge – Downpatrick

  Tel: (028) 4451 3850

  Ward House – Bangor

  Tel: (028) 9127 1497

• Carers Support Service

  This service is open to those who provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis to a family member, friend or neighbour who has any illness or disability or is frail due to being older; and who could not manage without help.

  More information on the Carer’s Support Service can be found on the following link: https://setrust.hscni.net/service/carers-support-service/

• Other Learning Disability Specialist Practices

  Advanced Learning Disability Nurse Practitioner

  In the field of learning disability nursing, advanced nurse practitioner will often specialise in a particular field of learning disabilities and autism, such as physical health inequality, challenging behaviour, and forensics. The Advanced Nurse Practitioner will have high levels of autonomy in clinical practice, and in the leadership, they provide to ensure good outcomes for the people they support. (NHS England)

  Consultant Learning Disability Nurse

  The Consultant Nurse Learning Disability is a highly experienced nurse who has specialised in the practice of Learning Disability Nursing. The role of the Consultant Nurse Learning Disability

  • To provide clinical nurse leadership and an expert practice in learning disabilities.
  • To provide advanced levels of theoretical and practical knowledge of learning disability and specialist practice across the South Eastern Trust.
  • To manage a clinical caseload/clinical area, with complex and severe learning disability and specialist needs, delivering highly specialised, evidence based interventions.
  • To influence the strategic direction of services towards a whole systems and integrated approach to the health and social care needs of individuals with a learning disability.
  • To promote awareness of research and new evidential findings and advising colleagues on the impact of practice and implementation of such practice.