31/07/09
Faculty lecturer appointed as UK's first Consultant Nurse in Learning Disabilities
Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences Senior Lecturer Jim Blair has been appointed as St George's Healthcare Trust's Consultant Nurse in Learning Disabilities - the UK's first person in this role in an acute care setting.
"People with learning disabilities have a higher than average attendance at hospital but their experience of care and their outcomes are often poor", says Jim. "Even more seriously, people with learning disabilities have died unnecessarily in hospital because of failures to understand or address their particular needs, as well as a lack of accountability and leadership." Jim's post seeks to address these concerns.
"I accept referrals by phone or email about any patient who has, or is suspected of having, a learning disability." He explains, "The majority of referrals I receive are from acute Mmedicine but other referrals come from learning disability nurses, doctors, therapists and social workers in the community, and from parents and people with learning disabilities."
Using close relationships with learning disability professionals working in other settings, Jim can identify the patients who come under their care, and information can be quickly shared. This in turn ensures that clinical staff at St George's understand a patient's particular needs, contributing to better and safer care.
Since joining the Trust last October on an interim basis, Jim has already made an impact helping to develop and implement the award-winning hospital passport scheme. These passports have already been used to improve patients' care and their experiences of being in hospital.
Jim's role also incorporates challenging attitudes and discrimination, and has included recruiting Learning Disability Champions from among clinical staff who can take forward the aim of raising awareness and challenging and shaping practice.
"A central focus of my work is to embed systematic structures to enhance the care experience." He says, "Working closely with Trust colleagues, we can get it right for everyone."
- Find out more about our courses in learning disability nursing
(Source: Communications Unit, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust 
)