The contacts which people with learning disabilities have with health and social services. for Nursing, Health and Social care

This study summarises all the documented service inputs which people with learning disabilities received from one community Health and Social Services Trust in N. Ireland during a twelve month period. Using data obtained from two computer-based recording systems used in N. Ireland, the extent and type of service provision for this population is described. In all, ten different health professionals were mainly involved with some inputs from a further six health workers while social services offered a further eight service inputs. However the services provided varied across different age groupings and levels of dependency. Three key issues are discussed; the number of different professionals involved; the co-ordination of service inputs and the criteria used to determine which persons receive a service and those who do not. The difficulties involved in undertaking an audit of this type are outlined but the potential contribution to achieving more cost-beneficial services are noted.