Mandatory training in learning disabilities and autism for all NHS nurses

Mandatory training in learning disabilities and autism for all NHS nurses

All nurses working in the NHS and social care in England will receive mandatory training in caring for people with learning disabilities and autism from next year.

The training programme, backed by £1.4 million of government funding, will be named in memory of Bristol teenager Oliver McGowan, who had autism and died after being given an antipsychotic drug that caused him to suffer a rare side effect. His parents have campaigned for better staff training since his death in 2016.

Inequalities in care and premature deaths in people with autism and learning disabilities

His mother, Paula McGowan, said: ‘I believe my son Oliver died an avoidable death, and if the medics looking after him had had a better understanding of his needs, it may never have happened.

‘We have never had mandatory training like this before and I believe this is a very important first step in addressing the inequalities of healthcare and premature deaths in people who have autism and learning disabilities.’

A trial of the new training package for all health and social care staff will begin in 2020 and run until March 2021.

Data on inpatients who have learning disabilities or autism will also be published by the government as part of its commitment to ‘greater transparency’, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

But the chief executive of disability charity Sense, Richard Kramer, said: ‘For many young people with learning disabilities and autism, this is too little, too late.’

Case reviews for mental health hospital inpatients

The mandatory training announcement follows the government’s commitment to review the care of every mental healthcare inpatient with a learning disability or autism over the next 12 months.

Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock said the case reviews for all 2,250 inpatients will mean every individual is given a hospital discharge date or a plan to move them closer towards one.

The decision comes after a report by parliament’s joint committee on human rights, which said mental health legislation must be overhauled to stop the ‘horrific’ and inappropriate detention of young people with autism or learning disabilities.

The report said the human rights of many young people were being breached in mental health hospitals and called for the criteria for detention under the Mental Health Act to be narrowed.

Nurse safety: boosting numbers 'helps protect against aggression or harassment'

Staff safety found to increase when registered nurse numbers are higher than the clinical requirement

The risk of staff experiencing aggression from patients in mental health settings is influenced by how many registered nurses are on shift, a new study has revealed.  

Researchers from Birmingham City University (BCU) reviewed incidents of patient aggression in inpatient settings, recorded between September 2014 and March 2017, by an NHS mental healthcare provider in England that offers acute and community services. The data were culled from 10 locations (totalling 51 wards) and across the early, late and night shifts. 

They found that fewer incidents were reported by all staff groups when nurse numbers were higher than the clinical requirement, which is calculated according to the condition and number of patients admitted to wards.

Over the time period, 6,520 incidents of aggression by patients towards staff members were reported, affecting 12,138 members of staff.   

A total of 1,762 events characterised as ‘inappropriate behaviour’ were logged, affecting 4,058 members of staff.

There were 298 events classed as ‘sexual incidents’ reported, affecting 493 members of staff.

The study authors analysed the data and found that, on aggregate, each additional registered nurse on the early and late shifts led to a 9% decrease in adverse events reported.

More staff reduces rate of adverse events

BCU’s senior research fellow in health and social care, and one of the study’s authors, Sarahjane Jones, said: ‘There is strong evidence that having more registered nurses to, or above, the clinically required levels does reduce the rate of adverse events.

‘However, this is not consistent across all locations and all shifts, so the message would be that we need to understand what goes on in the wards and shifts. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

‘These findings offer an opportunity for a tightening-up of policy on workforce safety and retention.’

Responding to the findings, a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: ‘No one should have to face the threat of violence or aggression at work.’

They added that the interim NHS People Plan outlines steps to reduce vacancies, and that the department was committed to increasing the nursing workforce.

There are now 36,101 mental health nurses in the NHS, said the DHSC spokesperson, adding that this was more than 750 than in June 2017. 

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