Review of Day Opportunities for People with Learning Disabilities - Social Care

• Most people with learning disabilities attend traditional day centres which were established around 30 years ago and, in terms of service design, have not changed substantially since.
• Recent services developed in the Council area had secured a range of alternatives for some people with learning disabilities such as supported employment, but had not focused attention on existing services.
• The national strategy for people with learning disabilities "The Same As You" and the strategy for Lanarkshire "We Want A Life" both advocated the modernisation of day services and increasing choice for service users and their families.
• People with learning disabilities, during consultation on the above strategies and in quality reviews, expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of the services they received.
• Younger families had significantly increased expectations of the services their sons and daughters should receive on leaving school.
• Day Centres were not designed in ways that can readily support people with high levels of needs.

In short, life for a majority of people with learning disabilities still involved attending day centre services that had not sufficiently developed in ways that reflected their changing needs and aspirations and those of their families. The Council, as the major service provider of a number of these services as well as the lead agency in community care planning, accepted responsibility to work in partnership with other agencies and improve this situation.

The review group first met in February 2002 with representation from elected members, service users of day centres, carers of people with learning disabilities, officers from the Social Work Department, Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust, Further Education Colleges, and Unison.  The group's remit was:

• To examine and make recommendations on the range of day opportunities available for people with learning disabilities in North Lanarkshire.
• To be informed by best practice and make recommendations to ensure services are designed to meet individual need.
• To be informed by the views, experiences and aspirations of service users and carers in determining future approaches to service delivery.
• To pay specific attention to the needs of people at times of major life transition, such as, young people leaving school and older people with increasing frailty and health problems and make recommendations on service planning and delivery.
• To make recommendations for improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of day services provided or funded by North Lanarkshire Council and other relevant agencies.

The group met on a monthly basis throughout 2002 and received a number of presentations from service users, carers and staff. A major consultation process took place in August and September 2002. 123 people with learning disabilities and 128 carers participated in this. Questionnaires seeking their views on current and future services were also completed by 193 carers and 78 staff working in day centres.

The report of the member/officer group on the review of day opportunities for people with learning disabilities presents a series of recommendations designed to modernise and expand the range of day opportunities available to people with learning disabilities and their families. It reflects the commitment of the Council and its partners make widespread service improvements for people who, for many years, were largely forgotten or ignored.

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