19-25 June is Learning Disability Week. It aims to raise awareness of what it’s like to live with a learning disability. Learning Disability Week is also an opportunity to showcase the support available for people and their families.
This year’s campaign aims to bust myths as to what it’s like to love with a learning disability.
Living with a learning disability
The Improving Together Team, (formally Shadow Quag), are a group of people with learning disabilities in North Yorkshire, York and Selby. The team work closely with the Trust to provide feedback on and help to improve learning disability services in the region.
As part of Learning Disability Week, the team wanted to share what it means to them to live with a learning disability. They also wanted to bust some of the common misconceptions that people may have. Watch this short video below to find out more.
Working in learning disability services
We’ve also asked some of our wonderful staff that work in our learning disability services to share what they love about their role and working within this area. Take a look below and see if you recognise any familiar faces.
Laura Simmonds, advanced nurse practitioner, North Yorkshire and York Learning Disability Services
How long have your worked in your role?
I’ve worked in TEWV community learning disability services for six years as a qualified nurse and two years as a student nurse.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
Working in LD services is the best job. I love the people I care for. You meet the most amazing passionate people. Every day is different, and it is a very rewarding role. Some small steps can take a long time but when you achieve them it’s a brilliant feeling. It’s amazing to know you are making a real difference for people with a learning disability because they can be a severely marginalised group of people.
What does your role involve?
In my current role I lead and supervise other staff members. However I still get to work on a 1:1 basis with service users, which is my favourite part of the job.
What would you say to anyone wanting to work in learning disability services?
Just do it because it’s the best job in the world, and I can’t overstate that enough. There are difficult days, but you will always have a supportive team around you.
Tracy Brownlee, health care assistant, Aysgarth day and respite services, Stockton-on-Tees
How long have your worked in your role?
I’ve worked in learning disabilities services for 33 years
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
I’m grateful to have worked with a fantastic team of dedicated people who provide the best care for the people who use our respite services.
Our staff are the best. They’ve always been a massive support in and out of work and I hope that I’ve helped to make the time that people spend in respite a positive experience.
I’m very lucky to have a job that I love, and I hope that over the years I’ve made a difference to people’s lives.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
The people that I’ve looked after over the many years, have helped to shape my life. They are inspirational, funny and a pleasure to look after and spend time with.
Bethany Bullock, staff nurse, Kilton View day services, Brotton
How long have your worked in your role?
I’ve worked in the NHS since I started my training in 2011 and have had various nursing roles. I always wanted to work at Kilton View and in learning disability services and I’ve been in this role since January 2021.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
I love working with other professionals who display care and compassion and who continue to strive to do the best for the people we support. The people I care for make each day fun and rewarding. They each have their own individual personalities and ways of communicating. That’s something I love.
What does your role involve?
My current role involves working with adults who have difficulties with understanding, seeing, hearing, speaking and moving. I support individuals to attend health appointments, eat and drink, move around and go to the bathroom.
In my role I work with families, carers, healthcare assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers and other professionals. I also provide care, therapies and treatments such as medication, postural support, rebound therapy, and physiotherapy.
We have lots of fun with themed days where we all dress up and we do lots of arts and crafts. Something everyone enjoys is the visits from a Shetland pony and a therapy dog, as well as the local owl sanctuary. We learn all about and animals, stroking barn owls, spiders and snakes!
Sharon Spink, nursing associate, community learning disability service, Northallerton
How long have your worked in your role?
I’ve been a nursing associate for six months. Prior to this I was a health care assistant with the Northallerton learning disability team. I had been with them since 1991.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
It gives me a lot of satisfaction knowing I’m supporting vulnerable people in achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. My role has real variety and gives me the opportunity to develop and increase my knowledge in learning disability services.
What does your role involve?
Part of my role involves supporting people to access mainstream health services. I work with people to address their fears or worries. By liaising with primary care services I can also request reasonable adjustments to help people have a positive experience. In addition I also provide health promotion which includes coordinating and running a weight monitoring clinic and looking at healthy choices and lifestyle. I’m also involved in the Mental Health Medication Monitoring Clinic so I can monitor side effects from antipsychotic medication.
What would you say to anyone wanting to work in learning disability services?
I would highly recommend working with the learning disabilities service. It’s a rewarding job knowing you are providing a service to people who don’t always get the assistance or adjustments that they need. We can help people to maintain a healthy lifestyle and have a good quality of life.
Vicki Garrity, learning disability nurse health facilitator, community learning disability service, Teesside
How long have your worked in your role?
I’ve worked as a learning disability nurse for 15 years and before this I worked as a health care assistant within learning disabilities.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
People with learning disabilities are my passion and vocation. I especially love working with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). A learning disability should not be a barrier to access the same things that I can access. Everyone, no matter their disability, should be able to live their life to the full.
I love that I can make small differences that improve the lives of people with learning disabilities, meeting them face to face and being hands on. In this service I can promote and challenge the rights of people with learning disabilities to better health. I can also encourage reasonable adjustments and challenge diagnostic overshadowing.
There is a story of the boy on the beach full of star fish, which I love. He starts to throw them back into the sea one at a time. His friends told him to stop as he would not be able to help them all. He refused and as he picked up one star fish at a time. He said I can help this one, and this one. This is my motto. I might not be able to help everyone with a learning disability, but I can help one person at a time to meet their needs and live to the full.
What does your role involve?
My role involves me promoting good physical health and supporting, empowering, and educating adults with learning disabilities and their families and carers. I work with people to over come anxiety around going to the doctors or hospital for treatment. By liaising with other health professionals I can also ensure that the person I am supporting gets the correct treatment and isn’t overlooked.
My role also involves delivering group health promotion sessions. These include breast awareness, cervical screening, prostate care, healthy eating, and annual health checks. I deliver these in a fun and easy format so that the people I’m working with can understand. By working with GP practices and other professionals I can support them to understand what a learning disability. I can also advise on how they can implement reasonable adjustments. This helps to break down some of the barriers for people with learning disabilities
What would you say to anyone wanting to work in learning disability services?
There are many areas of learning disability services that you can work in. If you have a passion to make a difference in someone’s life, then this is the service to go into.
Lesley Richardson, associate practitioner, community learning disability service, York
How long have your worked in your role?
I’ve worked in adult learning disability services for 32 years. 16 years were in a community unit, 13 years in an assessment and treatment unit and five years at York community learning disability service.
I was a health care assistant most of my career and became an associate practitioner in 2018. It’s one of the best things I have achieved.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
Simply put, I love the everything about it.
What does your role involve?
My role is really varied and involves health facilitation, so I work with people to encourage a healthy lifestyle. This includes supporting them to monitor their mood and address anxiety, as well as helping them address their worries or fears around health and health care appointments. I also facilitate group sessions and support the Improving Together team. The team are a group of people who use our services that work closely with the Trust to provide feedback on and help to improve learning disability services in the region so it’s really rewarding. I’m also a wellbeing champion.
What would you say to anyone wanting to work in learning disability services?
Do it, it’s so rewarding.
Corinne Davies, team manager, Durham and Darlington health facilitation team
How long have your worked in your role?
I started my career with the trust 22 years ago. I began as community support worker and I then had the opportunity to train in learning disability nursing. My first role as a learning disability nurse was in adult respite service and I then joined the health facilitation team as a health facilitator. This role gave me the knowledge and skills required to become a learning disability acute liaison nurse covering County Durham and Darlington. I worked in this role for 10 years and then made the move to team manager. I’ve been the team manager for the last 18 months and a registered learning disability nurse for the last 15 years.
Why do you love working in learning disability services?
I love that I can make a difference to someone’s health and help them to achieve the same access to health care that you or I would expect to receive. I enjoy working alongside others for those we support. Everyday has its challenges but it’s nothing that can’t be overcome when we all work together.
What does your role involve?
My role involves working alongside primary and secondary care to promote good health care and equal access. So, I support services with facilitating reasonable adjustments to ensure people can access them. This also includes supporting social care providers, delivering learning disability awareness training to the GP practices across County Durham and Darlington and promoting the role of learning disability services and how we can support them. In addition, I manage an incredibly passionate team who all share the same desire of reducing health inequalities and achieving better health outcomes.
What would you say to anyone wanting to work in learning disability services?
It really is one of the most rewarding jobs and there are so many development opportunities. On the odd tough day, you’re part of a supportive team who always have tea and cake and will help no matter what.
40 years of Aysgarth
Past and present staff, people who use Aysgarth day and respite services, and their families and carers celebrated 40 years of learning disability services being delivered from the site on Saturday 10 June.
The building was officially opened on 9 June 1983 and it has been providing respite care for people with learning disabilities ever since.
To celebrate the occasion staff organised a garden party with a host of fun activities. These included animal petting and a splash your staff station, to fun stalls such as guess the sweets and a raffle.
Having worked in respite services throughout my career, I have seen the importance of the role respite services offers in supporting people with learning disabilities, complex health needs and their families. The delivery of respite care provision from Aysgarth for 40 years marks a significant milestone for the service. It was lovely to see past and current staff and service users coming together to celebrate this occasion. I'm proud of the work the service and staff have done, and continue to do, to support the evolving needs of the people accessing respite care at Aysgarth. Their ongoing commitment to the delivery of compassionate, quality care is wonderful.
Susan Burns, team manager at Aysgarth
Watch the short video below to see more of the day
