The Transforming Care Delivery Board, comprising NHS England, the Local Government Association (LGA), the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Health Education England (HEE) and the Department of Health has today published a Progress Report (also in easy read (this document is no longer available here but can be found on the National Archives website)) on the steps taken towards improving services for people with learning disabilities.

The report sets out progress made towards achieving the joint ambitions laid out in Transforming Care for People with Learning Disabilities – Next Steps. The milestones achieved include:

• a public consultation on the Government’s Green paper to strengthen individuals rights;
• developing care and treatment reviews and an admissions gateway for people with learning disabilities to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and lengthy hospital stays, with an onus on finding more appropriate community-based care;
• launching the Fast-Track programme to test and accelerate service re-design, including a new Service Model for commissioners that describes what good services should look like;
• testing a new competency framework for staff, to ensure we have staff with the right skills in the right place;
• ensuring that we have a more robust way of collecting and sharing data to track progress.

The report is clear that while progress is being made, there is still much more to do to ensure that where it is appropriate, people are cared for in the community and close to home. NHS England and our delivery partners on the Transforming Care Delivery Board will continue to ensure that key stakeholders, including people with learning disabilities and their families, are actively engaged in shaping all our work.

For more details see the Transforming Care page.