‘Care trusts should look at wider needs’

Rob Greig, the Department of Health’s learning
difficulty director of implementation, has warned that care trusts
may not be the best route for providing services for people with
learning difficulties.

While acknowledging that the secretary of
state retains the power to impose partnerships where existing
arrangements are failing, Greig said that any partnership would
need to look at the wider needs of people with learning
difficulties, not just their health and social care needs.

“If people are proposing care trusts for
learning difficulties, they need to think carefully how care trusts
could deliver on education, housing, employment and leisure
priorities in Valuing People, which are as important as
health and traditional social care priorities,” he said.

Greig said that guidance on Learning
Disability Partnership Boards and on person-centred planning would
be published around Christmas.

He said he also intended to produce guidance
on housing for people with learning difficulties, but did not
believe there was a need for further advice on modernising day
services given the amount of material already available.

Greig added that his implementation support
team of eight regional officers had now been appointed and would be
available to help with LDPBs’ queries – including questions about
day services and accessing funds – from January.