Learning Disability England exists to make life better with people with Learning Disabilities and their families. We are a not for profit membership organisation bringing together people with learning disabilities, families, professionals and organisations.

Membership is open to any person, organisation or group that supports Learning Disability England’s aims and wants to be part of making them happen.

The aims are:

1. What is important to people with Learning Disabilities is heard and understood:

2. There is a change in behaviour in service design and delivery that builds on rights

3. Demonstrate coproduction and real collaborative working making a difference

4. Live our values and model the change we want

@WeLDNurses is a social learning community and part of the wider WeCommunities. We aim to promote positive health and wellbeing for people with learning disabilities and professionals and families supporting people with learning disabilities. We engage the community through regular twitter conversations on topical subjects, often chosen by the community we serve, forming outcomes, including data analytics and transcripts which we make freely available. This model is built on transparency and has been utilised to develop reports, research and policy.

The Learning Disability Professional Senate is made up of members of the various Colleges and Societies that represent groups of clinical professionals who provide specialist health support to children and adults who have learning disabilities. It covers the jurisdictions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The aim of the Learning Disability Professional Senate is to provide a voice through which we can lead and inform NHS England, Department of Health and other strategy leads about the needs of children and adults with learning disabilities. It brings together professional leaders from across the UK, to provide a collective voice of specialist health and social care practitioners.

Skills for Care are also working with us to develop a career and competency framework for Learning Disability Nurses. This will help show both aspiring and existing Learning Disability nurses what great career choices and options they have, and showcase the diversity of areas they can work in from Hospital Liaison to working as an Approved Mental Health Professionals.

The Florence Nightingale Foundation Policy Unit is so proud to support Learning Disability nurses and to work collaboratively with HEE and other partners towards the All England plan for Leaning Disability nursing. This plan will refocus the future of Learning Disability nurses and improve the lives for all people with Learning disability, together, collectively, in partnership, we will make this happen.

LD nurses are highly skilled and should be front and centre of any workforce reforms. The All England Plan will ensure this is the case. Get it right for Learning Disability Nursing, get it right for the entire profession”.

Collaboration is key for us to progress the Learning Disability Nursing profession and ensure our population is cared and advocated for within a human rights framework.

FoNS will be playing our part by leading the Creating Caring Cultures Fellowship during 2020, where early career LD nurses will have the opportunity to develop facilitative leadership skills, build confidence and embed person-centred cultures of care in their workplaces

Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI)– as part of work to develop Learning Disability nurses the QNI are developing ‘Voluntary Standards for Community Learning Disability Nurse Education and Practice’, which will raise the standards of quality of nurse education in the community.

The Florence Nightingale trust are helping to develop the leadership skills of learning disability nurses, by

Foundation of nursing Studies are undertaking work entitled Creating Caring Cultures Fellowship, for aspiring and early career frontline Registered Learning Disability Nurses (RNLD). Ensuring the development of facilitative leadership skills, confidence, methods and approaches in leading the development of person-centred cultures of care within Learning Disability services.

Health Education England are increasing the numbers of people accessing both Nursing Associate and Registered Learning Disability Nurse training through the apprenticeship route. We are also developing a career and competency framework for Learning Disability Nurses, which will show how they can enjoy both a managerial and clinical career.

We are pleased to be involved in this important work. We remain concerned about the dramatic reduction in the number of learning disability nurses employed by the NHS, and the support they receive. Alongside the work we are involved with in the NHS Long Term People Plan, we hope that this work will contribute positively to an increase in their numbers. People with learning disabilities deserve better from our society and we know that employing learning disability nurses is one step to delivering on this.

As we begin this year of international celebration for 2020 it is amazing to see the profession strengthen its commitment to us and the people we serve.

On close scrutiny, the skill base of the LD nurse lies at the solution of many of the health and social care challenges facing the UK and is arguably the field that best demonstrates care across lifespan and settings as advocated in the NMC standards.

Which is why we initiated this plan for Learning Disability Nursing and continue to support its development, thanks to #TeamCNO and HEE this is now firmly rooted in the way forward.

United Kingdom Learning Disability Consultant Nurse Network UKLDCNN

The Network was established in 1999 and seeks to represent the views of learning disability nursing within the four UK countries, its membership includes all learning disability consultant nurses known to be in post in any organisation or working independently. The Network also has a number of associate members who are typically senior nurses who support the work of the UKLDCNN. The Network has clear links and works closely with key learning disability organisations.

UKLDCNN members share their work through various means and are available to support local forum meetings, offer coaching and mentoring and much more. Make contact directly with a Network member or via another senior nurse you know.

Follow us on Twitter @UKLDCNN

Health Education England (HEE) exists for one reason only: to support the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement to the patients and public of England by ensuring that the workforce of today and tomorrow has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours, at the right time and in the right place.

As part of work to retain learning disability nurses in the workforce, the college are undertaking a piece of work that will help us better understand how to support and retain Learning Disability nurses.

Content coming soon!

NHS England and NHS Improvement leads the National Health Service (NHS) in England and work together as a single organisation to better support the NHS to deliver improved care for the population. The organisations work to one single operating model which is designed to support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan. Through the support of seven integrated regional teams we work to ensure local health systems to secure the best outcomes for patients.

The RCN Foundation is an independent charity that is committed to supporting and strengthening nursing and midwifery to improve the health and wellbeing of the public. The Foundation exists to support any nurse, midwife or health care support worker across the UK.