From making reasonable adjustments to enhancing communication skills and understanding of mental capacity, we signpost you to the most up-to-date resources available. 

Please note: NHS England initiatives may not apply UK-wide.

A learning disability is a significant intellectual impairment that can affect someone throughout their life. Often, people who have a learning disability will need support to live independently.  

They may also experience difficulties with everyday activities, such as household tasks, socialising, or managing money. However, with the right support, many people with learning disabilities live fulfilling lives that maximises their independence.  

The intellectual impairment needs to have started before the age of 18 to be considered a learning disability, reflecting that it has affected formative years.

Watch ‘This is Nursing – Peter’s story’ (YouTube), which highlights the need for learning disability nurses in a time of cuts.

This resource was developed following a literature review by the General Practice Nursing Forum, which highlighted a lack of evidence-based guidance on the holistic support for people with a learning disability for nurses in primary care.

To ensure that any resources produced were relevant, the General Practice Nursing Forum conducted a survey to identify key areas where further training and education were needed. The survey revealed that 232 out of 285 GP nurses felt that they did not currently have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of patients with a learning disability. 

49% of respondents did not know how to contact the local learning disability service and 65% had not received any learning disability training or education. Additional information from the survey indicated that health care professionals wanted access to resources where they could find all the required information easily in one place.

Since this survey was undertaken it is recognised that statutory and mandatory training regarding learning disabilities has been implemented in various forms across the UK. There will be benefit to the GP Nurses forum revisiting this survey to identify whether this training has changed knowledge and confidence.