A UK postgraduate course designed to improve medical care for adults with learning disabilities has been singled out by the World Health Organisation as an example of good disability-inclusive practice.
The one-year certificate was co-designed by North Middlesex consultant Dr Charly Annesley with the Royal College of Physicians and Edge Hill University, with NHS England funding. It trains doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to provide more person-centred care and recognise problems such as diagnostic overshadowing.
About 80 healthcare professionals have completed the programme since it began in 2022. The WHO report noted improved confidence and competence among participants as well as changes to workplace culture, peer education and service development.
The course grew from a gap Dr Annesley noticed in ordinary hospital practice. Four years later, a local attempt to improve care has become something an international health body is pointing other systems towards.