People with a Learning Disability and their families to visit hospital blood team
Staff from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust Learning Disabilities team based in Nuneaton, alongside colleagues from George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust will be supporting a number of people making a visit to the Blood Test department at the George Eliot Hospital (GEH) site on 25 April 2019.
Those attending will be taking part in a desensitisation session, designed to support people with a learning disability and/or associated specialist needs. The team has created 15 minute appointments in order to support reasonable adjustments in line with the equalities act. Supported by the blood team from GEH, the session is designed to help people become desensitised, comfortable with the surroundings, the equipment and the processes, reducing stress and anxiety when a patient needs to attend.
Team members, Emma Ward (Assistant practitioner) and Amy Crofts, Learning Disability Acute liaison nurse from the Community Learning Disability Team based at the Loft in Nuneaton are holding these managed sessions for those people already known to the service alongside their family/support workers.
Emma Ward, Learning Disability Assistant Practitioner commented: “The client groups we care for have specialist needs. We have to ensure as individuals their needs are met with dignity, compassion and kindness, creating a positive experience for them and their families, helping reduce the anxiety these types of procedures can bring when faced with unfamiliar processes and surroundings.
“The team at the Loft is reaching out to colleagues across other Trusts and organisations including our own services to help further establish these types of desensitisation sessions, to better equip our clients and their families to the types of procedures and interventions they are likely to need when receiving an integrated care package.”
If successful the teams from the Loft want to extend these types of sessions so others can benefit from such visits.
For further information regarding these visits please contact the Learning Disabilities team at The Loft in Nuneaton in the first instance by telephone: 02476 315867 who will be on hand to offer advice.