A nurse-led project has developed a tool to support people with a learning disability to more easily access urgent and emergency care.
It comes as part of a quality improvement project commissioned by the RCN Foundation, to support people with learning disabilities to access the care they need in times of ill-health.
“We know from our research that accessing care can be challenging when you are unwell”
Dale Nixon
Researchers from Keele University, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, NHS Grampian, as well as an independent advisor consultant nurse, Gwen Moulster, were given funding for the project.
Urgent Care Access Now (UCAN) commenced in August 2024 and was led by Dale Nixon, learning disability nurse at Keele University.
The study focused on the lived experience of people with a learning disability and, in particularly, their experience when recently having accessed urgent and emergency care.
The findings led to the co-development of the careLeD tool, which includes interactive content and educational resources to support people with a learning disability to prepare for when they, or someone they are with, needs access to this care.
While the tool is primarily aimed at people with a learning disability who live independently, it can also be helpful for family, carers or healthcare professionals.
It raises awareness about the difficulties people with a learning disability may face when accessing this care and how it might be made easier.
Mr Nixon said: “We hope this tool is valuable to help people with a learning disability prepare in advance for when they might need to access urgent or emergency care.
“We know from our research that accessing care can be challenging when you are unwell,” he said.
“From knowing who to call, to being able to communicate specific needs, participants explained that they could not always access the care they needed when they required it.
“Our group of co-producers were very clear about what is needed to help make things easier,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deepa Korea, RCN Foundation director, said the charity was “incredibly please” to see the launch of the careLeD tool.
She said: “The UCAN project spoke to people with lived experience from across the UK and listened to their experiences and asked them what they need. It has been a true collaborative effort throughout the project.
“At a time when NHS resources are stretched, we hope the new tool will provide a much-needed resource to support people with a learning disability in accessing urgent and emergency care.”
