Learning Disability Awareness Week takes place from Monday 20 June to Sunday 26 June.

To mark the occasion and raise awareness of the support available, we wanted to share a story from one of our patients with a learning disability.

Here is a story from Sharon, who was diagnosed with cancer. She and her mum and carer Penny were supported by our learning disability liaison nurses at NDDH and the RD&E throughout Sharon’s cancer journey.

In this video, Sharon talks about the support she received, and how they helped her cope with what could have been a very frightening time for her.

Sharon and her mum/carer Penny

Our learning disability liaison service is provided by a dedicated team of experienced learning disability healthcare professionals. They provide support to people with learning disabilities when accessing our services, which could be in hospital or in the community.

The team provide holistic support of patients and their family and carers, and tailor the support to the individual.

This could include:

• Support at outpatient appointments
• Support if admitted to hospital as an inpatient
• Planning for a hospital admission e.g. an operation
• Putting in place Reasonable Adjustments e.g. easy read information, appointment times
• De-sensitisation

Find out more at https://royaldevon.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/accessibility-support-learning-disability/