CNO Newsletter March 2011 - Department of Health, Social ...

NEWSLearning disabilityframework– a fourcountry approachA UK-wide project has been established by the 4 UKChief Nursing Officers to inform the future practice,roles, career pathways and image of learning disabilitynursing in the changing health and social carelandscape. The project will be led by Ros Moore,CNO Scotland, who will chair the UK Project Board.The project is timely for a number of reasonsincluding:• the significant and increasing health needs ofchildren, adults and older people with learningdisabilities• the changing and challenging demographicswithin the learning disabled population• changing health and social care structures acrossthe UK• immediate workforce planning challenges withinthis specialist workforce.The project will develop a UK wide professionalframework for the learning disability nursingprofession targeted at maximising the contributionof learning disability nurses, whilst fullyacknowledging the multi-professional and multiagencycontext within which learning disabilitynurses work.Maurice Devine (Nursing Officer, Mental Health,Learning Disability and Older People) will coordinatethe Northern Ireland workstream, which will bechaired by Mr. Francis Rice, Executive Director ofNursing, Southern Health and Social Care Trust.Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland MartinBradley said: “People with a learning disability facea range of challenges in terms of education, socialinclusion, employment and health. This requiresmulti-professional and multi-agency intervention andcollaboration. Learning Disability nurses have a keyrole to play in ensuring that people with a learningdisability have equal access to everyday healthservices and that they can access specialist health16