Sandwell and Birmingham hospitals vow better support for disabled

A lead nurse, specialising in learning disabilities, will be based at Sandwell Hospital and City Hospital in Birmingham from next month.

The previous model had seen one nurse based at Sandwell five days a week while staff at City had to rely on calling a "health care facilitator team" for advice over the phone.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, will also open talks with local GP surgeries to access their learning disability registers on a trial basis.

Chief nurse Colin Ovington, speaking during the trust's monthly board meeting on Thursday, said historically the trust's performance of looking after people with mental health issues or learning disabilities had been "variable".

He said: "We do not perform consistently and City had a very different model to Sandwell.

"That has now changed and we will be recruiting a second lead nurse so both sites will be fully covered.

"An action plan has been set up to deal with inquiries and comments made in 2014 and we will also audit our own care of people with learning disabilities.

"Once everything is in place we can then see where the gaps are and how we can make any further necessary improvements, with education and training outlining what our expectations are."

Interviews for a second lead nurse to provide cover for Birmingham residents will take place on January 13 after funding was released by the trust.

The trust has planned a relaunch of the services provided for those with learning disabilities, which will include ward and department visits, and extra training.

A learning disabilities intranet page will also be updated with information, key contacts, national and local documents, and care plans.

More than 800 patients were admitted to Sandwell Hospital between April 2014 and April 2015 potentially requiring access to nurses with expert knowledge and skills.

Toby Lewis, chief executive of the trust, said had been left "immensely frustrated" that the hospital had not managed to create a learning disabilities register similar to those used by GPs.

He said: "It's extraordinary really because it feels improbable that any patient who has agreed to be registered with a GP would object to being on the same list in a hospital.

"I have been going round the houses with this for two-and-a-half years. We need to find a group of GPs who are willing to give it a go and see what happens."

Mr Ovington said hospitals currently relied on families telling medical staff about any mental health or learning disability requirements, which could be "hit or miss".