Community learning disability service

Who are we?

We are a specialist multi-disciplinary team of health professionals working across Fife with adults with a learning disability.

Who do we work with?

 We work with adults with a learning disability and their families and carers, to identify and help manage any unmet physical and/or mental health needs.

What do we do?

People with a learning disability often need extra support to identify and manage their own health needs. It might be more challenging to access and get the right help from mainstream health services.

The team has specialist knowledge and skills about issues that may have an impact on people with a learning disability. The team aim to minimise any barriers that might be faced in accessing healthcare. We try to support people to work towards achieving their desired health outcomes.

We can help other professionals consider and implement reasonable adjustments to help people with a learning disability engage with mainstream services where possible. We regularly provide advice and education for families and carers, Social Workers, Support Staff and other healthcare professionals.

We can also help with learning disability diagnosis. If you suspect the person you support has a learning disability but they haven’t participated in an assessment to confirm this.

We have a specialist multidisciplinary team (Enhanced Support Team) who aim to provide assessment and support for people with learning disabilities and their families experiencing periods of significant crisis.

Who is in our team and what is their role?

Clinical Psychology – support with emotions and behaviour, talking therapy, learning disability assessments, autism assessments.

Community Learning Disability Nursing – assess physical and mental health needs, promoting health and wellbeing, whilst supporting people with learning disabilities to access health services.

Dietetics – support with concerns about diet and nutrition such as: weight management, nutrition support or gastrostomy feeding.

Learning Disability Epilepsy Specialist Nursing – support around epilepsy diagnosis and treatment including medication advice and support.

Acute/Primary Care Liaison Nursing – support around pre-admission and predischarge planning for hospital patients, facilitating health appointments, advice to hospital and community staff such as GPs. To make sure people have their health needs met.

Occupational Therapy – support with activities of daily living and occupation, environmental assessments, assessing and supporting sensory integration needs.

Pharmacy – support with medication.

Physiotherapy – provide specialist assessment, treatment and management in 24 hr postural care, mobility problems, rehabilitation of acute injuries and/or long-term conditions, community respiratory care and falls prevention/intervention.

Podiatry – assessment and management of feet and lower limb problems.

Psychiatry – mental health and behaviour management, prescribing medication, capacity assessments, treatment orders.

Speech and Language Therapy – support with eating, drinking and swallowing needs, assessment, advice and support of communication needs.

We also run the following specialist clinics and pathways

Down Syndrome clinic – a multidisciplinary team who provide health-checks specifically tailored to address the health needs of people with Down Syndrome.

Dementia Pathway – a multidisciplinary team approach for people with a learning disability who require specialist assessment for symptoms of possible dementia.

Physical Health Screening Clinics – Health screening is undertaken for those currently open to the Learning Disability service, aiming to identify and address health problems early, promoting better health and well-being.

(For more information about these clinics please see the contact details for the Learning Disability Referral Co-ordinator on the back of this leaflet)

Social work enquiries

If your require help with social care/support, self-directed support, structural adaptations or equipment for your home or housing support: you will need to contact Social Work to discuss these.

If you feel you need assessment for structural adaptations or equipment for your home, such as specialist equipment to help with access to the bath, ramps, handrails, consideration for a wet room etc, the Social Work Occupational Therapy Team will be able to provide advice around this.

 Please phone Social Work Enquiries on 03451 55 15 03 to access Social Work and Social Work Occupational Therapy.

How does the referral process work?

We have one referral form for all of the professionals and clinics within the Learning Disability team. If you are seeking support for a range of different health concerns you can put this information on the same form.

We operate an open referral system; this means that anyone can make a referral (including the service user themselves) or someone close to them.

Please be aware that you need consent from the service user and/or their Guardian before making a referral to the team.

When referrals are received by the team we discuss these together on a weekly basis to try to decide who would be best placed to support the service user. Sometimes it can be helpful for more than one professional to work with the service user to help address their health needs.

We may contact the referrer to ask for more information before making a decision about how best to support the service user.

If you are unsure whether a referral to the team would be helpful for the person you support, please phone the Learning Disability Referral Co-ordinator on: 01383 565230 to ask for more information and a team member will contact you to discuss this further.

Alternatively you can go to the person’s GP to discuss your concerns and ask them to submit a referral on your behalf. You can access our referral form on the NHS Fife webpage (please scan the QR code on the next page for a direct link to the webpage) and return it to:

fife.ldreferrals@nhs.scot

or by post:

Learning Disability Referral Co-ordinator, 
Lynebank Hospital,
Halbeath Road,
Dunfermline,
KY11 8JH

You can also contact the Learning Disability Referral Co-ordinator if you require a paper copy of the referral form or if you have any other questions about any of the services we provide.

You can find out more about the Learning Disability service and some of the  professionals who work in the team on the NHS Fife webpage:

Learning disabilities team in Fife

Some information you might find helpful 

Free information and training resources for anyone working with someone with a learning disability are available from NHS Education for Scotland.

https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/59009

The Scottish Government worked with people with a learning disability to find out what they want health professionals to know about. You can find the films and resources they produced here https://www.theassembly.scot/

The Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD) is dedicated to improving the lives of people with learning disabilities. You can find more information about their work here www.scld.org.uk