Learning disabilities needs assessment (2015) - Publications

The Learning Disabilities Needs Assessment was produced as part of the JSNA programme of ongoing work and has recently been approved and signed off by the Coventry and Warwickshire Learning Disabilities and Autism Commissioners Group. It has informed the production of a new Learning Disabilities Statement of Intent for Warwickshire covering the period from 2015 to 2020, focusing on adults and young people in transition.

Commissioners have benefited by having access to robust evidence to support or question the applicability of suggested models of care for people with learning disabilities now and in the future. Many of the recommendations from the needs assessment have already been actioned through the development of Warwickshire’s Learning Disability Self-Assessment Framework Action Plan, Warwickshire’s Learning Disability Statement of Intent and Warwickshire’s recent Transforming Care Fast Track bid.

Individuals with a learning disability are described in the 2001 Government White Paper ‘Valuing People’ as having a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information and learn new skills (impaired intelligence), with a reduced ability to cope independently (impaired social functioning), which started before adulthood and had a lasting effect on their development. Rights, independence, choice and inclusion are the overarching messages within national policies. However, people with learning disabilities often experience many disadvantages and poor outcomes and are a vulnerable group in society.

The true picture of the number and identity of people with learning disabilities in Warwickshire is poorly understood. Figures based on social care returns and/or school census data alone significantly underestimate the true prevalence of learning disabilities due to limited school-level reporting and the likelihood of a ‘lost’ population with a learning disability who are unknown to social services.

Warwickshire has an older resident population than the England average and this, combined with reduced mortality among older adults with learning disabilities, is likely to lead to higher demand for services over the next decade.

Key messages from the needs assessment include:

• The total estimated prevalence of all people with a learning disability in Warwickshire in 2013 was 11,030 of whom 9,469 are adults aged 18+ and 1,561 are children & young people aged 0-17 years.
• Approximately two-thirds of adults with learning disabilities expected to be in contact with social services are receiving a service from social care in Warwickshire.
• People with learning disabilities have significantly worse health than their non-disabled peers.
• In 2013/14, 57.5% of adults with learning disabilities in Warwickshire received an Annual Health Check.
• The number of people with a learning disability is likely to increase by 1% per year over the next 15 years due to increased life expectancy & increasing numbers of children with complex needs surviving into adulthood.
• The number of adults with learning disabilities with a critical or substantial need using social care services is estimated to increase by 1.7% year on year to 2030.

• Learning Disabilities JSNA Needs Assessment (PDF, 825 KB)

• Learning Disabilities JSNA Needs Assessment – Key Messages presentation