Hartlepool Borough Council chiefs to lobby Wes Streeting in fight to protect Learning Disability Nursing
Hartlepool Borough Council has joined a fight to protect learning disability nursing and will lobby the government to tackle the "crisis" it faces.
It comes after a motion to the latest full meeting of the full council which highlighted how experts have warned the profession is facing “imminent collapse”.
Put forward by Labour councillors, it noted the number of registered learning disability nurses in England has declined by 43% since 2009.
Projections indicate the supply of newly qualified nurses could cease by as early as 2028 if urgent intervention is not taken.
A recent national review highlighted that people with a learning disability die on average 20 years earlier than the general population and are twice as likely to die avoidably.
In proposing the motion, Councillor Gary Allen, himself a qualified learning disability (LD) nurse, said: “This is a huge thing for people with learning disabilities and it will raise huge health inequalities.
“If this profession collapses the impact it would have would be catastrophic, the most vulnerable towns and people like ours would suffer.
“This is about protecting a profession that protects lives, it’s about standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves.”
It comes after a coalition of leading health and disability organisations, spearheaded by learning disability charity Mencap, wrote to the Heakth Secretary Wes Streeting warning of the “imminent collapse” of the profession.
Councillor Rachel Creevy, seconding the motion, added: “We can’t solve the national crisis, but we can lead locally, we can champion the profession, challenge our partners and make sure that the voices of people with a learning disability are not lost.
“We are not prepared to stand by while the specialist profession, one that protects the rights, the health, the dignity and the minds of some of our most vulnerable residents, is pushed to the brink.”
The motion was unanimously approved, meaning the council will now write to the Health Secretary and the Chief Nursing Officer for England urging them to take action.
The council will also promote the work of learning disability nursing in the community and highlight the benefits of it as a profession.
Finally, the local authority will encourage Teesside University to continue their pre-registration LD nursing degree route.