Enable Cares showcases learning disability expertise at House of Lords RCN Foundation report launch

The report, Reducing Inequalities, Improving Lives: The contribution, impact and value of learning disability nursing, brings together research findings from the RCN Foundation, the charity linked to the Royal College of Nursing. It sets out the difference learning disability nursing makes to people’s lives, and why that specialist expertise matters for the future of health and social care across the UK.

Tracey Gilchrist, Head of Practice Development, and Liam Campbell, Senior Practice Development Nurse, contributed to the report and RCN Foundation funded activity. Enable members took part in the focus groups, and Tracey was asked to contribute her own professional views to help inform the report. Liam also received a Master’s scholarship through the RCN Foundation programme, which will in turn benefit the people we support.

The report draws on key findings from three research studies within the RCN Foundation’s Learning Disability Nursing Grants Programme. It concludes that learning disability nursing, and the Registered Nurse Learning Disabilities (RNLD) role in particular, are vital assets to the health and social care system, providing support, expertise and advocacy that benefit people with learning disabilities, their families and carers, and wider society. Based on these findings, the Foundation proposes that a National Learning Disability Nursing Strategy is developed and implemented across the UK.

Tracey Gilchrist said:

“Enable community members contributed directly to RCN Foundation-funded research, participating in focus groups to inform what people with lived experience need from learning disability nursing. As a member of the Scottish Learning Disability Nurse Leads, I was delighted to be asked to contribute my views to help inform the report.”

Enable Cares is one of Scotland’s largest and most successful health and social care providers, and is home to a unique person-centred model of support, the Enable PA Model. Under the model, the people Enable Cares works for are in control of their own support: they design their own service, choose their own outcomes and recruit their own team of Personal Assistants (PAs) to live the life they choose. Having learning disability nurses within Enable helps ensure equal access to good health for the people we support.

Liam Campbell, Senior Practice Development Nurse, added:

“The report highlights the impact of learning disability nurses in tackling the health inequalities faced by people with learning disabilities. I am delighted to have received a Masters scholarship through the RCN Foundation’s Funding Programme. This will benefit the people we support through application of advanced nursing practice.”

Mari Galletly, Director of Enable Cares, added:

“Enable Cares is increasingly sought out by partners to share learning and the expertise of our model with governments and service providers who share our values. This report is being brought to the attention of a wide range of attendees from parliament, health, education and social care and, most importantly, people with lived experience and their families.”