A massive thank you to our colleagues in non-patient-facing roles who have stepped up to support the pilot of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism, which will be rolled out nationally next year.

Flexible Workforce Colleague, Sadiyah Shafi-Qadri, is one of those who has. She said: “I signed up to the training programme because my son has autism and learning disabilities. 

“We are all proud of our NHS staff, clinical and non-clinical. However, for patients with autism and/ or learning disabilities, trying to access the service can result in a lot of distress, or prolonged suffering.

“This isn't just the case for the patient, but for hard working, well-intentioned staff members too, who can sense the patient's frustration and distress, but do not have the right tools to do anything about it.

“This training is so important to me because it gives colleagues some basic tools, awareness and understanding to help meet the needs of our patients with autism and/or learning disabilities.”

Anyone in a non-patient facing role can help.

Nurse Consultant for Learning Disabilities, Amanda McKie, is seeking yet more volunteers from Workforce, Finance, Health Informatics and Corporate teams who all play a vital role supporting our patient-facing colleagues.

They will take part in Tier 1 training which is a 90-minute e-learning session, with an accompanying handbook, as well as an hour-long event (online or in person), with an autistic person and someone with a learning disability as experts by experience.

If you can help Amanda and want to register for a place, please email: learningdisabilities.chft@nhs.net 

Or if you have any questions, call her on 07827 084120 or HRI 35 5741.

*The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is named after Oliver McGowan, whose death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training.