RJAH are rolling out the Oliver McGowan mandatory training on learning disability and autism.

The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice sets the national standard for training all health and social care staff in learning disability and autism awareness. Its aim is to ensure that every member of staff has the right skills, knowledge, and confidence to provide safe, respectful, and person‑centred care.

More about the training can be found here.

Ask Listen Do – feedback, concerns and complaints

Improving experiences and outcomes for children and adults who are autistic or have a learning disability, their families and carers.

Ask Listen Do resources are designed to:

• support organisations to listen, learn from and improve the experiences of children and adults who are autistic or have a learning disability, their families and carers

• make it easier for people, families and paid carers to give feedback, raise concerns and complain.

Some of these resources can be found here.

What is a learning disability?

A learning disability is a lifelong condition caused by an impairment of the brain. It affects how a person understands information, learns new skills, and manages everyday tasks (NHS 2025). This can mean needing extra time or support with communication, understanding complex information, or daily living — but everyone’s abilities are different.

A learning disability is diagnosed before adulthood. If you have a learning disability, it should be recorded on your GP’s Learning Disability Register. Being on this register entitles you to an Annual Health Check, which you should have every year.

What is autism?

Autistic people experience the world in a different way to non-autistic peers and this may be most pronounced in the areas of communication, social interaction and sensory processing (Autistic Girls' Network, 2024).

Reasonable adjustments and access requirements

We will make reasonable adjustments, as required by the Equality Act (2010) and the NHS Long Term Plan (2019), to ensure our services are fully accessible to you. Reasonable adjustments are changes that remove barriers to your care — such as longer appointments, easier‑to‑read information, or quieter spaces. These are personal to each patient, so please tell us what you need.

The NHS Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag will eventually help record people’s support needs across NHS services. Although it isn’t in use here yet, putting it in place is a future priority for us.

There are also links on at the bottom of this page to help you to get the most out of your hospital visit. In particular, a choice of health/hospital passports where you can document information relevant to you, three questions for better health and get ready to talk about your health.

Safeguarding and keeping people safe

Children, young people and adults who are autistic or have a learning disability have the same right to live safely and be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination as everyone else.

Some people may experience additional barriers to recognising, communicating or reporting concerns. They may need extra time, accessible information, communication support or reasonable adjustments to help them explain what has happened or how they are feeling.

Please speak to a member of staff if you feel unsafe or are worried about someone else, you are concerned about abuse, neglect, exploitation or poor care, someone appears frightened, distressed, controlled or unusually withdrawn or someone needs additional support to communicate a safeguarding concern.

You do not need to be certain that abuse or neglect has taken place before sharing a concern. Staff will listen, take the concern seriously and help make sure appropriate support is provided.

Mental capacity and consent

Mental capacity means being able to understand, think about, and communicate a decision about your care.

You’re always assumed to have capacity unless there’s a clear reason to think otherwise.

Consent means you agree to a treatment after it’s been explained to you.

It must be:

• Voluntary – your choice

• Informed – you understand what it involves

• Made with capacity – you’re able to decide

You can give consent by speaking, signing a form, or showing you agree (like offering your arm for a blood test).

If you’re unable to make a decision at that moment, staff will:

• Involve you as much as possible

• Check if you’ve chosen someone to decide for you

• Make a decision based on your best interests

Below is a link to the My Adult Still My Child website. It provides information for anyone caring for a person aged 16 or over who cannot make some decisions for themselves.

Coming to RJAH 

At RJAH, we have a fully accessible Changing Places toilet. Details of which can be found here.

Feedback

We would be grateful for your feedback on both this page and on your experience at RJAH to our Patient Advice and Liaison Team and our #ImproveTheNextJourney initiative.

Please direct any feedback to Bethan Mallen, Adult Safeguarding Practitioner, at bethan.mallen@nhs.net.