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Helping people to find the right home with the right support

One of six NHS England Housing Leads explains the work being done with Transforming Care Partnerships (TCP) across the country to deliver the right housing options for people with a learning disability, autism or both:

I started my new job at the beginning of 2018 working as part of the housing team who are supporting the transforming care programme for people with a learning disability, autism or both.

There are six housing leads employed by NHS England across the country along with eight local authority regional advisers. Together we are working to expand the housing options which are available for people with a learning disability, autism or both so that as many people as possible can live in their own homes with the support that they need.

My background is in housing and partnership development and some of my previous roles have included working with local authorities in the North East to improve their partnership working around tackling homelessness; leading on specialist housing developments for people with support needs including people with a learning disability, autism or both and managing the care and repair services which delivered the housing adaptation services on behalf of local authorities.

My experience means I know all too well how important the right home with the right support is for people and, in some cases, had it been available closer to home, hospital admissions might not have been needed.

In this role I am working with the six transforming care partnerships in Yorkshire and Humber to understand what accommodation they need for local people until the end of the programme and beyond.

The right housing is not always easy to find and it is rarely developed quickly, so it’s crucial to understand what housing will be needed in the future in each of the TCP areas so that we can plan effectively and make best use of our resources.

NHS England has £20million of capital money to spend each year on accommodation and a big part of my role is getting providers interested in this and helping commissioners access the grant.

I try to help them make sense of the world of housing – who’s who, legislation, what resources are out there and how to work with housing teams – and then reporting back to the programme board and making sure we make the progress we need to.

Through the housing developments I have led on in the past, I know the real tangible difference that the right home, designed sensitively with the right support services in place can reduce the incidents of behaviours which challenge, improve someone’s wellbeing, life skills, confidence and independence.

I am really enjoying working with my clinical commissioning groups and adult services colleagues and hopefully they are finding having housing leads in their area to support their efforts is making their jobs a little easier.

Philippa Hughes

Philippa Hughes is regional housing lead for the north region and sub regional housing lead for Yorkshire and Humber working on the Transforming Care Learning Disabilities programme.

As well as this, Philippa is a volunteer for a local community association and hospice and North East regional ambassador for the Housing Learning and Improvement so brings a real passion to her new role.

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5 comments

  1. Mike Dickinson says:

    Good afternoon Phillipa,
    My company has spent the last 3 years developing a housing concept (patent pending) which allows the property to change with the changing physical and mental needs of the owners/ occupants. It stemmed from personal experiences of reduced physical mobility, family dementia and care issues, unsuitable living accommodation , impact on family,NHS beds,carers and Social services.We are looking to develop the concept with agencies including the NHS as we believe it will lead to substantial improvements in health of people and increase the length of time they can live in their home.
    I would very much appreciate a meeting in the very near future at which I can expand and demonstrate the concept.
    My company has worked on many projects with the NHS Trusts and with Social Services in Darlington.We in fact developed a bungalow in Merrybent specifically designed for 5 people with various levels of learning and physical disabilities.

    Kindest regards

  2. Margaret Lee says:

    Hi Philippa my name is Margaret Lee I am from DARLINGTON I have a daughter who is 40 yrs old She HAS learning difficulties and Autismn
    At this point in time she is living with myself and her Dad in Darlington
    It has come to the point when we feel she needs to move to somewhere close to us
    as Rebecca needs support at all times we would like to know what is available to her and begin the process of looking into options please get in touch if you can help me in any way Kind regards Margaret Lee

    • NHS England says:

      Hi Margaret, thank you for contacting us with your request for assistance. As a first step, you should make contact with your local authority adult services as they will be able to advise you on the options available in your local area that can best meet the needs of you and your daughter. If further assistance is needed then please get in touch with nicola.bailey5@nhs.net who is the lead for the transforming care programme in your area. We hope this will help you on the way to finding a home for your daughter.
      Kind regards,
      NHS England

  3. Jacky Martel says:

    My son is 20 and has just been assessed as 100% CHC due to his autism related behaviour and profound learning disability. There is no suitable housing provision for him near our home town – which is essential – there is a great parent run residential setting which is a cluster of houses – it would be ideal for him if they had single person robust bungalow for him. They are very person centred and part of the community but their bid for funding was turned down as a residential setting. I know all the pros and cons and actually feel this provider could enable my son to have a good life with proper social interaction – much more than a house on his own in a “normal” street. Please don’t exclude options that have a bad press because of bad providers

    • NHS England says:

      Hi Jacky, thank you for contacting us. We would be very interested to know a little more about your situation so we can know how best to assist you. Please can you contact andrew.kyle3@nhs.net who will take this forward with you.
      Kind regards,
      NHS England