Workforce update for

services that support people with a learning disability and/or autistic people

Welcome to this workforce development update for adult social care services that support people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. It shares the latest news, resources, events and funding opportunities from Skills for Care and partners.

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News from Skills for Care

Recognising Behaviour as Distress in Practice – a discussion paper

With the National Autistic Taskforce, we’ve developed a discussion paper that examines approaches to supporting people at risk of distressed or challenging behaviour. Skills for Care is delighted that this paper is written from an autistic perspective.

While the discussion paper is fully supported by Skills for Care, it does not necessarily represent Skills for Care’s position and should not be considered guidance or advice from Skills for Care.

⇨ Find the discussion paper

Invitation to join Skills for Care’s experts by experience list

Skills for Care has a list for people who have experience of using social care, and unpaid family carers. This is so we can keep people informed about our work and invite people to work with us in coproduction.

If you join the list, we may contact you about things like sharing information or working on projects about social care or health workforce development.

Join the list by either:

completing this form
calling 0113 241 1279 to talk to us.

If you need any help or have any questions about this, contact innovation@skillsforcare.org.uk

Keeping and managing your information

The information you give us in this form will be treated in confidence and processed by Skills for Care in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UKGDPR). We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside of Skills for Care, unless we have to share information due to a safeguarding issue being raised.

We will keep the personal data you give us for up to 24 months (two years). At that time, we will contact you and invite you to stay on or leave the list. If you don’t opt in, then your data will be deleted. At any time, you can withdraw your consent, if you do that then we will delete the data about you.

Creating a workforce strategy for adult social care

Skills for Care is working with partners to develop a workforce strategy for adult social care, due to be published in the summer of 2024. The strategy will set out a plan to make sure we have the right people with the right skills working in adult social care, supporting those who draw on care and support.

We need a workforce strategy because having the right people working in care and staying in their roles is important. We know we don’t have enough people working in adult social care, and many leave their jobs every year. In the future, we are going to need a lot more people working in the sector as people are living longer with long-term conditions or a disability.

⇨ Read more

Guidance and resources from the Government, regulators and advisory bodies

Support for people in employment who have a disability

Access To Work is government funded and is available to help people who have a disability or mental health condition to remain in their employment. Applications are made direct to Access to Work and each case is assessed individually. They can provide funding and support for a wide range of things. This may include specialist equipment or software, support workers, a job coach, and costs of travelling to and from work. Access To Work does not affect any other benefits.

⇨ Find out more

People who have a disability or mental health condition can also apply to Access To Work for communication support within a job interview.

⇨ Find information about the communication supportG

New NHS guidance on meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services

The NHS has published guidance for integrated care boards (ICBs) and system partners on how to improve the quality, accessibility and acceptability of care and support for autistic adults to meet their mental health needs. It sets out ten key principles and provides practical examples of how the principles can be applied in both community and inpatient settings.

System partners can use the guidance to think strategically about the inter-relationship between different services to inform commissioning decisions. The guidance supports the recently published national guidance aimed at all mental health services.

⇨ Read ‘Meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services’

News from the sector

Beyond Words – free picture books available

Beyond Words have produced a variety of picture books on lots of different subjects connected to health. Topics include breast screening, bowel cancer screening and having a colonoscopy. There are also picture books available on other topics that could be used within schools and within different community settings.

⇨ Find the books, which can be downloaded for free

Helping support people with a learning disability with ReSPECT plans

Working jointly with people with lived experience of learning disability, a research team at Warwick University has co-produced new guidance to be used by health and social care professionals. It aims to support a person with a learning disability to think about and prepare for making a ReSPECT plan.

ReSPECT plans let people know what you do or do not want to happen if you need emergency care or treatment. These can be things like giving you CPR (a process to try and start your heart beating again) if your heart stops.

⇨ Access the resources for free

A brighter social care future: co-producing the evidence to make five key changes

Research in Practice has published an evidence review in which groups of people with different experiences of social care have worked together. In it, they discuss issues related to social care that are important to them, while reflecting on and interpreting research on these issues.

⇨ Find the evidence review

A Reasonably Adjusted Clinic for Patients with a Learning Disability: Toolkit

This new toolkit is aimed at anyone working within health and social care. It was developed by the North East and Cumbria Learning Disability Network and NHS South Tyneside and Sunderland Foundation Trust.

The toolkit includes a range of practical resources, guidance and information as well as data to help health and social care professionals better support their patients with a learning disability. The toolkit and accompanying videos are based on the celebrated work of Sister Sharon Stothard from the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust. Although asthma focused, the toolkit is transferable across many other long term condition areas.

⇨ Find the toolkit

Blog: ‘Autism awareness or acceptance or embodiment?’

In this thought-provoking blog, Jane Green MBE, Founder and Chair of SEDSConnective, explains why autistic people want acceptance because it means accepting autism as a natural part of the human experience (this is the neurodiversity paradigm).

She says:

“People are different. Everyone can be aware, but this doesn’t lead to acceptance in school, in employment and in the community.”

⇨ Read Jane’s blog

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