Secure inpatient services for people with intellectual disability: lessons from developing a new service

Authors:
HALL Ian, YACOUB Evan, YUSUFI Babur
Journal article citation:
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 4(4), December 2010, pp.15-24.
Publisher:
Emerald

Secure inpatient services for people with intellectual disability are provided in a piecemeal way, often without strategic commissioning. Such people are often placed in remote and costly units because suitable local facilities do not exist. This article describes the development of a new secure inpatient service led by the local NHS foundation trust for men with intellectual disability who often had substantial additional mental health needs. In particular, the article describes the needs assessment of 27 people using specialist inpatient services who originated from the local service area, which comprised 4 inner London boroughs. Consulting with all stakeholders was found to be essential, with the service user and family perspectives particularly helpful. The finding of this service development project were: that foundation trusts that are able to develop services at financial risk, before contracts are signed, enabled development to take place at a faster pace; good relationships with community teams are essential, as is true integration with mainstream forensic services; and maintaining a relationship with commissioners was a particularly challenging aspect, perhaps because the development was provider-led. Despite these challenges, the new service has enabled many people with intellectual disability with very high needs to be supported much nearer to home.

Subject terms:
learning disabilities, mental health problems, needs assessment, secure units, user views, commissioning;
Content type:
practice example
Location(s):
England
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN online:
2044-1290
ISSN print:
2044-1282

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