Support for people with learning disabilities – assessment treatment units (ATUs)

In line with NHS England’s Transforming Care Programmes, colleagues working in learning disability services are looking at how best we can provide and deliver community services, including homes and housing, support and care so people can live the life they chose with the support they need.  In order to do this colleagues are working together with three Transforming Care programmes across West Yorkshire and Harrogate with the aim to support people with learning disabilities as close to home as possible and to keep them well and out of hospital.

In West Yorkshire there are three Transforming Care Partnerships. They cover Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield and Barnsley.

If and when somebody does need an admission for specialist hospital care (such as assessment and treatment) colleagues will work to ensure that specialist staff are available and that people are not staying in units any longer than needed. 

There are three ATUs in West Yorkshire. These are in Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield. Over the past few months we have been looking at the way in which care is provided across the three ATUs and how as a region we make the best collective use of our services. There are currently 22 specialist hospital beds in West Yorkshire. We need to look at reducing this number of beds, so that we can support people with learning disabilities and acute complex needs/challenging behaviour in their local community.

ATU steering group colleagues are looking at how we can work across organisational and geographical boundaries in relation to assessment, treatment unit services and are engaging with people who are currently living in an ATU, their families/carers and staff and also people with previous lived experience of an assessment and treatment centre and their families/carers.

You can find out more here.