Learning Disabilities Hospital Liaison Nurses
The Learning Disability Hospital Liaison Nurses are highly trained and experienced learning disability nurses, who work across the acute hospitals; Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital.
Who is the service for?
The service is for adults and children with learning disabilities, who are having, or due to have, hospital treatment and may need advice and support.
Who can refer to us?
Anyone with a learning disability, or a person involved in their care can refer to us. For example; parents, relatives, care workers, GPs, hospital staff and community services.
How to refer to us
Please telephone the Learning Disabilities Hospital Liaison Nurses on:
Tel: 0300 422 4985
Tel: 0300 422 4953
If we are not able to take your call, please leave a message with your name, contact number and the name of the person you wish to refer to us. We will call you back as soon as possible.
We work Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm (but not bank holidays).
Alternatively, you email us at ghn-tr.learningdisability@nhs.net
When to refer to us
You can refer to us at any time before or during any hospital contact. This includes emergency and planned hospital admissions, pre-admission visits and outpatient appointments.
The earlier you make the referral, the easier it is for us to make plans and prepare to support the patient with a learning disability when they come to hospital.
How can we help?
We want to make sure that people with learning disabilities have good experiences of using hospital services.
We can help to make this happen by making sure ‘reasonable adjustments’ are made to meet the individual needs of people with learning disabilities. Some examples of ‘reasonable adjustments’ include:
- Visiting the patient at home to assess their needs before their hospital visit
- Giving advice and support to carers and care workers
- Talking with ward/department staff about the individual patient’s needs
- Working with the ward/department to make the adjustments needed to meet the individual patient’s needs:
- Reducing the waiting time to avoid increased anxiety, or providing a quiet waiting area
- Providing information in a format the patient can understand
- Making small changes to treatment to meet the patient’s needs
- Making it possible for a carer to support the patient during investigations or when going to theatre for example
- Arranging for a carer to stay with the patient if needed
- Helping with communication between the patient, carers and hospital staff when needed
- Helping the ward/department staff with discharge planning
Additional information
A patient information leaflet GHPI1044 ‘Information for carers attending Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’, is available on all wards and is full of useful information for carers.