Learning disabilities and autism

What we are doing

Our main goal is to help people stay out of hospital by providing flexible, personalised support that adapts to people's needs. Our transformation team works closely with local support teams, the complex care team, the Learning Disability Network, the performance team, and our clinical leads to ensure we focus on the right priorities.

We also focus on early intervention, offering help before a person’s needs become more serious. Our aim is to ensure people with a learning disability and autistic people receive high-quality care, experience better health, and are treated fairly when accessing support. We collaborate with key partners and groups to make this happen.

A female member of staff with two people with learning disabilities

Our priorities

Best start in life

Valued families

Living well with good support

Good health for longer lives

Good care and treatment in specialist hospitals

Together, our main goals are:

Develop better local services so more people can receive care where they live, reducing the need for hospital stays.

Create flexible, responsive services that adapt to people’s needs, providing early support to prevent problems from escalating.

Collaborate with teams and partners to ensure care is well-coordinated and works smoothly for the people who need it.

Ensure autistic people and those with a learning disability receive the right care and support to stay healthy within their communities.

Make sure everyone, no matter where they live, has equal access to the support they need, reducing differences in care between areas.

Involve autistic people, those with a learning disability, and their families in decisions about their care to ensure it meets their needs.

Provide help at the right time to prevent issues from worsening, reducing hospital visits and ensuring better care sooner.

Use feedback and data to continuously learn and improve services, making care better for everyone over time.

Senior leadership involvement

Senior Responsible Officer: Levi Buckley

Director of transformation for mental health, learning disabilities, neurodiversity and wider determinants: Peter Rooney

Deputy director of transformation for mental health, learning disabilities, neurodiversity and wider determinants: Linda Reiling

Other useful information

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Dynamic Support Register (DSR)
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Learning Disability impact statement 23/24
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Learning Disability & Autism Awareness Mandatory Training
Download

Autism plan for Newcastle

Ask, Listen, Do