Improving health outcomes for people with learning disabilities
People with learning disabilities and autism often report poor experiences when they give feedback, raise a concern or make a complaint.
When asked, two out of every three people said they did not know how to do this and seven out of ten people felt that their complaint had not changed the way the organisation concerned supported people as a result.
Why is Ask Listen Do important?
Everyone has the right to receive good quality care and support, and the right to say how they feel about the care and support they are getting.
An NHS England survey showed that 45% of people with learning disabilities’ complaints were about healthcare (55% social care and education). Only nine per cent of people who complained felt that their complaint had made a difference in the way the organisation concerned worked.
Ask Listen Do is an NHS England project to improve services for children, young people and adults with a learning disability, autism or both, and their families and carers. It is led by partners across health, social care and education, working with people and families.
Ask Listen Do is about changing how things are done so people have their voices heard and have better experiences of services. Public sector organisations have a legal duty to do this under the Equality Act (2010).
Ask Listen Do principles
Ask
- Ask all groups of people about their experiences
- Make sure everyone knows how to make a complaint or give feedback
- Make it easy for everyone to do it
- Ask in ways that all people will understand
Listen
- Really listen to what is said and don’t be defensive
- What is it like to walk in their shoes?
- Make sure staff have the skills to listen and really understand how the person feels
- Know when a concern is a safeguarding or criminal issue and what to do about it
Do
- Do something about it, in good time
- Tell the person what you are going to do about it
- Learn from the feedback and make service improvements
- Improve the service by working with the people that use it, listen and learn from people’s experiences
Moving from ideas to action
Partnership
- Ask and really listen to people
- Be empathetic, understanding and thoughtful - raising a concern or complaint can be difficult for people, empathy helps people feel more at ease
- Make sure you involve everyone equally - make sure people get the support they need to be equally involved in discussions
- Always be person-centred - the person needs to remain at the centre of everything. They are the real experts in what they need and want in any situation
Communication
- Clear and accessible information - provide information in accessible formats about how to raise a concern, make a complaint or give feedback
How do I Ask Listen Do?
- Communicate in a way that works - make reasonable adjustments and think about what makes it easier to communicate; reduce noise, consider accessibility or give more time
- Don’t talk service-land − talk real life - using technical terms and jargon makes people feel out of their depth; explain what you mean
Processes
- Always seek to learn and improve - make sure quality assurance processes and procedures are in place and are being followed in practice
- Keep up-to-date on requirements
- ignorance of the law is not a defence
- know the regulations you need to follow
- practitioners are bound by codes of conduct
- Know if it is a complaint or a safeguarding issue
- a concern about someone’s safety may also be a safeguarding matter
- make sure there are clear processes and all staff know how and when to use them
Leadership and culture
- Lead from the top
- a senior person should take the lead on Ask Listen Do and monitor feedback, concerns and complaints and not just look at statistics
- check learning and changes have taken place
- Empower frontline staff
- empower staff to work at improving quality on the frontline to get things right the first time
- empower staff to respond positively and timely to people’s feedback
- Culture - ensure staff are trained, skilled and have the values to Ask Listen Do
Ask Listen Do resources
You can visit the Ask Listen Do You page on the NHS England website for further information and useful resources, including:
You can also visit the Speakup Self Advocacy website for additional resources including:
The website also includes easy read materials for people with autism.
Do you want to know more about THiNK learning disabilities or become one of our champions?
Email us at thinkld@bradford.nhs.uk for more information
This information is produced by NHS Bradford district and Craven CCGs — a quality team initiative