Joint Commissioning
strategy: adults with
learning disabilities in
Powys
Accessible Version
2015-2020
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Foreword
We are pleased to present this first integrated plan for learning disability
services in Powys. It was produced after talking to people about what they said
they need.
Purpose
The purpose of this plan is to say how Powys County Council Adult Social Care
and Powys Teaching Health Board will meet the needs of adults with learning
disabilities.
Aim
Our aim is to change the health care and wellbeing for people with learning
disabilities over the next five years. Powys wants to make the lives for people
with learning disabilities better. We will do this by using person centred
planning to meet their needs and choices.
Consultation with People with a Learning Disability and Carers
To find out what is important to people we met with a number of people to ask
them to help us with this plan.
Now that the plan is complete we will be meeting with people again to ask
what they think of it. We need to make sure we have ways of finding out what
people want. We also want to involve people in producing services.
What have we done?
 We asked people in 2007 and 2011/12. We got an idea of what was
important to them.
 We looked at national information.
 We looked at the number of people we support now and in the future.
 We looked at where there are gaps in services.
 We looked at the amount of money and staff available to us.
 We looked at services currently available.
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From these consultations we have been able to identify the things that are
important for people who use services, and also for carers.
Priorities for Service Users and Carers
1. Information
People have said that they do not always know what
services or support is available. People need
information that they can understand. They need to
know what is available in Powys.
To do this we want to:
 Make information available in ways people understand. By 2016/2017
 Increase the number of places where information is available.
2016/2017
By
 Work with colleagues in Health to make information easier to
understand. By 2015/2016
2. Staying healthy.
People with learning disabilities have said they want to
be able to access health services in their own
communities.
To do this, we want to:
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 Make sure that everyone is working together to find out what people
with a learning disability need and that they are involved in all decisions.
By 2016/2017
 Develop a complex care pathway for finding out what is wrong with
someone and making sure people with a learning disability get the right
medication and the right treatment.
 Better support and advice on complex health issues and ongoing sensory
loss. Ongoing
 Better access to doctors and nurses in the community. By 2015/2016
 Better access and support within acute healthcare services. Ongoing
 Improved access to Mental Health services. By 2016/2017
 To direct people into specialist services provided locally and nationally.
Services will be developed based on a person’s needs. By 2015/2016
 Support for people with complex needs. These should be based on
sustaining long term local placements. Ongoing
3. Choice, control and relationships.
People have said that they want to able to have
choice and control over the way they are
supported and treated. It is important that
people’s voices are heard.
People say they want to develop relationships and
have a choice in how they live their lives. People
said they want to be able to build friendships. To have services that will
support them using person centred planning and high quality advocacy.
People with a learning disability need long term support to be involved in the
community and to gain confidence. We need to make sure services to support
people to make choices in their lives are being provided are working well.
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To do this, we want to:
 Make resources available to support and improve advocacy services. By
2015/2016
 Develop better Person Centred Planning. By 2016/2017
 Continue to develop Direct Payment schemes and use of assistive
technology. By 2015/2016
 Be more flexible in the way we provide services. By 2019/2020
4. Right Time, Right Place.
People said that having a range of service options is
important to them. We need to make sure that
support is local and right for the person.
We need to have a range of services and responses.
Some services are provided locally whilst most
residential services are provided out of Powys.
People should be able to live locally where
possible.
To do this, we want to:
 Look at what we are providing now. We want to make sure people are
given choices and options about the way they are supported. By
2014/2015
 Make sure we are getting value for money in meeting people’s eligible
needs. By 2014/2015
 Look at where people live outside of Powys. We want to make sure they
are getting the best service available as close to home as possible. We
will support people to move back to Powys if they want to. By
2014/2015
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 Make sure that for people who are being supported outside of Powys
support is of a good quality; it should meet people’s needs and be value
for money. By 2016/2017
 Use our money in a way that allows people to return to Powys to live.
Also to support more people in Powys. By 2017/2018
 Make sure that respite services are fairly available across Powys. By
2015/2016
5. Somewhere to live
People said they wanted a range of good
quality places to live. They want:
 Choice of places to live.
 Suitable local places to live.
 Extra care type small schemes.
 Floating support.
Identify the right level of support for personal care. We want to offer flexible
options to meet housing needs.
An accommodation plan is being produced together with this learning
disability plan.
To do this, we want to:
 Work with housing staff and managers to make sure that people’s
current and future needs will be met. By 2015/2016
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 Develop Core and Cluster Accommodation. This is where one team will
support a number of people who live independently in a local
community. By 2017/2018
 Explore the potential for “key ring” schemes. This should aim to support
members to build real and lasting relationships. They will be less
dependent on paid support. By 2017/2018
 Find ways of developing extra care accommodation in Powys. By
2015/2016
6. Opportunities for work, leisure and learning
People with learning disabilities have
said they want the same chances as
other people to work and learn new
skills.
Work enables people to develop
relationships, gain confidence and to play a part in society. To do this people
must have a choice of:
 Work
 Education
 Leisure
 Day services.
These can be provided directly or by use of Direct Payments.
Access to transport can be difficult for people and they will need support to
access a range of options such as:
 Easy read transport information
 Accessible public transport
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 Travel training
 Access to Personal Independence Payments.
To do this we want to:
 Develop services over 7 days. By 2016/2017
 Look at transport and access to services. By 2016/2017
 Explore volunteering choices. By 2016/2017
 Look at how Direct Payments can be used to support people to take part
in activities that are meaningful. By 2016/2017
 Work with local colleges to improve courses for people with learning
disabilities. By 2016/2017
 Look at a wider range of choices including those within universal
services. By 2016/2017
 Work with other organisations locally to find other ways to offer
services. By 2016/2017
 Develop more social enterprises and trading companies. By 2016/2017
 Develop better links with colleges. By 2016/2017
7. Staying safe
Everyone wants to be able to feel safe in their
community and the service they receive. This is a
major concern of all people.
The Community Safety Partnership is already
looking at this issue. We need to improve links
with the Community Safety Partnership. We want
to make sure the needs of people with learning disabilities are properly
looked at.
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Adult Protection in Powys is managed through the Adult Protection
Committee. They have worked with organisations and service users to develop
Keeping Safe courses.
We need to check services to make sure people are safe. Powys Council has
agreed to put more funding into this service. This should make sure that
people are supported to be safe.
To do this, we want to:
 Work with the Stronger Communities Board. By 2015/2016
 Carry on working with advocacy services to promote safeguarding issues.
By 2015/2016
 Make sure people are trained to be able to understand how to keep
themselves safe from abuse. They should also know how to report
incidents. Ongoing
 Make sure lessons learned from the Winterbourne View abuse inquiry
are taken into account when developing services. Ongoing
 Develop a means of checking services provided by organisations that
support people with a learning disability. By 2015/2016
 Make sure all safety needs of people with learning disabilities are met by
support providers. Ongoing
8. Moving on and transition.
People with learning disabilities and carers say
that have had problems when moving from
children’s services to adult services.
We need to make sure that people have a well
planned transition from child to adult services.
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They will also need well planned transitions for other major life events, such as
moving home, marriage and retirement.
To do this, we want to:
 Make sure strong, clear transition plans are put in place. They should be
agreed by:
1. Adult social care
2. The Teaching Health Board
3. Children’s services
4. Education.
By 2017/2018
 Make sure we learn from the experiences of all who have been through
the transition process. By 2017/2018
 Develop closer working between learning disability and mental health
services, around transition. By 2016/2017
 Develop new social worker posts around transition. By 2015/2016
9. Good Support.
People have said that it is important for staff to
be:
 Qualified,
 Well trained
 Competent.
They also wanted support to be delivered safely
and to good standards.
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Carers also play a vital role in supporting people with learning disabilities. They
need information with a range of training and support options to enable them
to work effectively. Support for Carers needs to be in line with the Welsh
Government Carers’ Strategies Measure.
To do this, we want to:
 Make sure that training is developed and delivered jointly with
providers. This will make sure that all staff can develop within their
roles. Ongoing
 Make sure that the tendering process, contracts and contract monitoring
processes includes specific requirements about staff training and
development. By 2016/2017
 Make sure the Welsh Governments Carers’ Strategy Measure links with a
local strategy. Ongoing
10.Consultation and co-production.
People said they want to be involved in
developing services at all levels.
People with learning disabilities have been
involved in developing this plan. We want to
maintain this level of involvement.
To do this, we want to:
 Make sure when changes are made to services, or when new services
are introduced that we talk to the people affected. Ongoing
 Service users and Carers to continue to take part in the Learning
Disability Forum. Ongoing
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 Use a person centred approach to planning and giving people a chance
to take part in group discussions. This will allow them to have a say in
how services are developed. Ongoing
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