2.     Activities

3.     Employment

4.     Housing

5.     Social Exclusion

6.     Security

Issue 1.  Primary Care Services:

Many people, let along those with learning disabilities, have difficulty contacting the NHS or even talking with their GP.  The Forum believes there is sometimes a lack of awareness of how to communicate with people with a learning disability.  There have been experiences of doctors being dismissive.

*        Regular health checks should be ‘diaried-in with the GP, on the same lines as regular dentist appointments 

*        There should be use of pictures to help patients. 

*        More time is needed during GPs’ consultations. 

*        Advocacy support should be available to make a complaint.

Issue 2.  Activities:

Activities are often guided by what the person knows, such as going to cafes or shopping. There’s also an all round lack of focus when planning what to do. Getting support during holiday time is difficult when services grind to a halt.

There are very few weekend and evening activities. It would be great if there were evening group activities such as bowling, but someone needs to organise.

*        Support workers should get better at person centred planning and using it as a tool to introduce new activities to people.

*        A guide about what kinds of activities are available in East Lothian would be really helpful.

*       Day Centres should be more imaginative and open at weekends and evenings.

*       An East Lothian activities co-ordinator should be appointed to draw together information on activities and travel, and pass it on to day centres.

*        More support to provide opportunities for exercise; for example, a different coloured pass which could be produced at a leisure centre so staff can help integration without embarrassment.

*        More help is needed on one-to-one basis in various issues such as eating, smoking and sexual matters.

Issue 3.  Employment:

Better employment opportunities, and more support for people with higher dependency needs to get into work. Jobcentres should help in this.

Issue 4.  Housing:

*        There should be a stepping stone between leaving home and moving to independent living with life planning support and flexible accommodation available.

Issue 5.  Social exclusion:

Transport is a big issue particularly for people with more profound difficulties.

Issue 6.  Security: