Autism and Learning Disability: Temporary Accommodation

(asked on 26th January 2024) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of alternative short-term accommodation provided by integrated care systems for (i) autistic people and (ii) people with a learning disability.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 31st January 2024

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis, and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and to reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.

NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems to continue developing and implementing these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges to implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.

NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.

Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.

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