During the COVID-19 pandemic the Grace Eyre Ambassadors became even more aware of the poor or inconsistent healthcare experienced by people with a learning disability, autism, or both. So they decided to do something about it.
They teamed up with Speak Out, an independent advocacy charity in Brighton, and got funding from the NHS to find out people’s experiences of healthcare during COVID-19.
The ambassadors found out that some people did not know about the Learning Disability Register and that Annual Health Checks had been inconsistently offered with varying quality.
The ambassadors then met with departments across Grace Eyre to discuss what they wanted to do about it. We decided to run a campaign called “Improving Our Health”.
The campaign focuses on two things:
- supporting people onto their GP’s Learning Disability Register and
- having good quality Annual Health Checks
So far, staff and the people they support in Brighton & Hove have had the opportunity for training on the Learning Disability Register and good quality Annual Health Checks. This will also be offered this to Grace Eyre staff in West Sussex in January 2022.
Our Voices and the Grace Eyre Ambassadors have also supported the NHS with developing Easy Read resources on using the NHS App. They are also working with the local NHS team to make sure GP surgeries are doing their bit.
- NHS App support resources for volunteers – NHS East Sussex CCG
- NHS App support resources for volunteers – NHS West Sussex CCG
- NHS App support resources for volunteers – NHS Brighton and Hove CCG
Healthcare packs
Click the image to download a Healthcare Pack
Healthcare packs have now been sent to every person Grace Eyre supports so they have more information on their health. These packs include:
- Preparing for my Annual Health Check – From Sussex NHS Commissioners
- Learning Disability Register Info – From Speak Out
- Flu Vaccine info – From NHS
- Covid Booster info – From NHS
- Taking Control of food portions and labels – From British Heart Foundation
- Understanding Physical Activity – From British Heart Foundation
Information on the Learning Disability Register
Support from your GP if you have a learning disability.
Campaign summary
- 30 staff trained across our services in good quality Annual Health Checks,
- Increased the amount of people who have had Annual Health Checks,
- Sent healthcare packs out to everyone we support, plus
- Supported or created a number of useful resources that can be used in the future!
- NHS Brighton and Hove CCG NHS West Sussex CCG NHS East Sussex CCG for funding and Brighton and Hove Speak Out for leading on the Inclusion and Engagement project we were involved in that gave us the aims of the campaign,
- Mencap for funding a project to support people with a Learning Disability from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to get resources to access the Learning Disability Register
- The Race Equality Foundation, The Trust for Developing Communities Sussex Interpreting Services Brighton and Hove and West Sussex Learning Disability Health Facilitators, the NHS Vaccine Inequity project and Learning Disability Mortality review – for their time spent speaking to us and supporting our aims.
Find out more
For more information, contact Cleo:
07921 095492