Adult Learning Disability Service of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Monday, 11 May 2020

Lecture about the Mental Capacity Act

A lecture back from Learning Disability Today Exhibition and Conference 2013. The talk is about the 'Mental Capacity Act and People with Learning Disabilities: Practical Implications'

Saturday, 2 May 2020

VLOG 3 - Pete's experience of support and much more

Pete's third VLOG and his experience of support. Plus he answers your questions about this crisis.

Friday, 24 April 2020

Peter's interview regarding Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training

Pete is interviewed about Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training for NHS and Social Care Staff.

Friday, 17 April 2020

Pete interviewed about coronavirus

We tried to do a podcast but unfortunately technology won this time. Don't worry its not just looking at my face, as Pete speaks I give you a selected taste of Peter's achievements! It last for 8 minutes.

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Webinar - Staying healthy at home

A webinar hosted by In-Control and was delivered by Steve Hardy and Matthew Roberts.

Wednesday, 21 August 2019

Thursday, 8 August 2019

Arriving into Atlas House on day one the first thing I was given was a set of keys with an emergency alarm attached. This felt both reassuring and slightly concerning and it really emphasised the how different the new setting I was stepping into would be. My previous role was within the Occupational Therapy Team of a Community Paediatric Clinic – a place which was overflowing light, colour and noise. As I entered Atlas House seemed quiet and was, quite deliberately, a simple and uncluttered physical space where anything that could be used as a weapon had been removed. I asked why the televisions on the walls needed protective casing and was informed that a former patient had ripped one off. While my early interactions gave me some cause for concern I was determined not to let patient’s past behaviours affect my view of the patients and to build a to work with people based on their current presentation rather than their history. I came into the role hoping to learn about challenging behaviour, mental health problems and the purpose of assessment and treatment units but in my limited time here I learned much more.

It has been a challenging environment for me both personally and professionally as some of the patients are in acute periods of crisis especially around the time of their initial admission. Many have both a mental health and a learning disability diagnosis and different approaches are often adopted by staff that are either trained in one specialism or the other. Some staff have been resistant to change, communication has been ineffective at times and we have also been hampered by inconsistency in the way we work with patients on occasion.

As part of the role I have attended numerous meetings where a dozen highly skilled professionals go back and forth over complex issues affecting patients who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. I sometimes sit back in these meetings and think about how amazing it is that these discussions are being held in the first place and being struck by the overwhelming desire from all involved to get the best for the patients we support. As you walk into the ward there a quote on the wall reads “the smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention” and I am proud to work in a place where I see dozens of these acts every day. Like any workplace it is not perfect – communication and team work are regularly identified as an area for improvement in team meetings and there are great challenges to overcome due to split roles, varied shift patterns and supervision structures among other things. However the willingness of staff to help each other out, listen and value one another’s contributions and work towards a common goal will be one of my lasting memories of my time on the ward.

Since I started here I have been struck by the progressive approach that some members of the staff team have adopted; it really does feel like the unit is changing month by month. Staff are always thinking about what we could be doing better and reassessing the way in which we support our patients. We had our first away day in 8 years which helped staff to see each other in a different light. We used workshops and activities to bring people together as a team in the truest sense. There have also been changes to staff’s shift patterns, bank pay, the structure of team meetings and approach to daily handovers, and while change takes time in these types of organizations I believe the team are approaching the issues positively and producing results.

The role of an OT Specialist Support Worker has also produced a host of interesting challenges and opportunities. It is a split role working 4 days a week with the OT team and 1 day a week with the support workers and it has given me a more holistic view of the organization. I have tried to act as an intermediary between the Multi-Disciplinary Team and the Support Workers with some success. I have tried to highlight the things that both need to learn from each other and we are in the process of trying to facilitate an increase in joint working and cooperation between the two. Working the split role has also made me aware of the shared values and common goals that the whole team have and despite the personal, professional and cultural differences. Personally I have felt valued and appreciated by all of my colleagues and have appreciated the recognition of my efforts. My proudest achievement is boosting the profile of OT within the organisation and trying to get people more interested and involved in a field that I care passionately about.

Finally I have felt connected to the organisation as a whole and I have felt part of a larger project. I have been encouraged to undertake both internal and external training as part of my continuing professional development. I have felt connected with Occupational Therapists across Greenwich, Bromley and Bexley through monthly Sensory Forum’s and Tri Borough meetings, and with Therapists across the trust at the annual Therapies Conference. At the conference they identified feeling valued and listened to as being one of the key factors in staff workplace satisfaction and at Atlas House I have always found this to be the case.

Looking again at the ward in my final week I am encouraged by what I see. The place is in the process of being repainted and renovated, pictures on the wall now show the smiling faces of current patients and attitudes of staff and our ability to work together are undoubtedly moving in the right direction. There is still a long way to go but I look forward to keeping in touch see the place continue to develop, modernise and harness the varied skills of the staff and patients who call it home.

Matthew Roberts

Specialist Occupational Therapy Support Worker

Friday, 10 May 2019

(Un)Ordinary Conference

On the 26th March, I attended the (Un)Ordinary conference in Streatham with Laura, one of our Greenwich ALD Research Net Volunteers. Laura was selected out of hundreds of applications to be one of the speakers of the day and chose to speak about how “Being a Mum is the Best Thing in the World”.

This event was organised by the ‘Stay Up Late’ charity. They came up with an idea to host a conference with a difference. They felt that there were lots of conferences about people with learning disabilities but very few speakers actually with learning disabilities. This time, they wanted all the delegates to be composed of professionals and all of those on the platform making speeches to be people with learning disabilities. This was them telling us how they can live ordinary lives.

We arrived to a fully packed auditorium – Laura said she couldn’t believe how many people there were! The event was hosted by Tilly, who has Asperger’s Syndrome and her best friend Del, a beautiful pink stuffed pig. Tilly discovered Del in Clinton Cards and they’ve been inseparable ever since. They opened by saying the emphasis is on the ‘Un’ in this (Un)Ordinary conference but that they preferred the word extraordinary. They explained that this conference was going to cover three key themes; communities, relationships and work.

All the speakers were given centre stage to express themselves in a variety of ways - some chose to speak, some chose to represent themselves through videos and there was even some singing. William decided to sing the “Bare Necessities” song to demonstrate how it should be a ‘bare necessity’ for people with learning disabilities to have jobs. We also had Ben, who showed a video of how he had found solace in the Bashment music scene after difficulties at school and is now well known in this scene.

It was then Laura’s turn. She was understandably very nervous about getting up in front of a big audience but as soon as she got up there it looked as though she had done this hundreds of times before! Laura naturally finds the words to describe the relationship her and her son have. She talked about the fun things they do together and why being a parent is the best thing in the world. She also mentioned her recent work, writing a blog with Sandra Baum, one of our Consultant Psychologists, on the positives of being a parent. Laura received a big round of applause at the end, as well as lots of questions from the audience (6 in total she counted!). Tilly congratulated Laura and described how inspiring she had found Laura’s presentation having always wanted to be a mum herself and being told it wasn’t possible because of her disability.

After lunch we heard from Scott. Scott was told at school he
would never be able to get a job. He proved them wrong by
not only getting a job but now being in a senior position. He
also received a British Empire Medal in the 2017 and as he
quite rightly said, he is “…now waiting for his
Knighthood...!!”.

I would like to say a huge thanks to the Stay Up Late team
for inviting Laura to speak and organising hands down the
best conference I’ve been to. Laura described the experience
as giving her more confidence and she wants to do lots more
presentations now! She also said she is famous now
because her talk was mentioned in the Guardian and
Learning Disability Today! I learnt a lot from each speaker
and loved the uniqueness of each one. It is clear that this
type conference should be the norm. How else can we learn
about the changes we need to make except by hearing it
from people with learning disabilities directly? They can
share their stories and educate if given a platform. It also
made me and Laura reflect on the different ways Research
Net could present in future as it was great to see such a
variety. It made me realise the importance of the right
support as well. A lot of the speakers explained that with the
right support (and they all had completely different kinds of
support!) that they can lead “ordinary lives”. Rightly so as a
member of the audience asked at the end “When is the next
conference going to be…?!” and I’ll be at the front of the
queue waiting to buy a ticket!

Amelia Ralph-Lewis (Assistant Psychologist, Greenwich CLDT) and Laura (Research Net member)

To read Laura’s Blog click on the link below:

https://aldatoxleas.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-positives-of-being-parent.html

To see Laura’s mention in the Guardian and Learning Disability Today please see below:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/23/sister-fragile-x-syndrome-barriers-ordinary-life-institional-learning-disability

https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/2019/never-mind-the-bstarstarstarstarstarstars-just-support-me-to-lead-an-ordinary-life

Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Oxleas Learning Disability and Autism Bulletin for April 2019

Welcome! The purpose of this bulletin is to keep you in touch with news from the learning disability world in a monthly digest. We hope to include information on the latest policy and research along with easy read information. If you have any requests for information or if you want to share with the Oxleas learning disability community please send them to Steve Hardy or Jill Davies.

If you would like to receive an email alert about future bulletins please send an email to Steve Hardy.

All links are written in blue or grey and worked on the 15th April.

Stories of the month!

Speak Up! Be Heard!

The government wants to know how we can make sure that health and social care staff have the right training to understand the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people, and make reasonable adjustments to support them. They to hear your thoughts about the training, what it will look like and who will deliver it. Have your say at the consultation here.