People we Support Attend Learning Disability Partnership Event

Maureen and Anjum who we support in Newcastle were delighted to recently attend the Learning Disability Partnership event at the Civic Centre in Newcastle, hosted by Skills for People and Collaborative Newcastle.

The event, entitled ‘Your Voice, Your Health: Building Better Services Together’ explored what health issues are important to people, the challenges people face, and how organisations can work together to come up with solutions to help people with learning disabilities live longer and healthier lives.

Along with discussions about health and presentations from guest speakers, local services and organisations held information stalls where participants were able to ask questions about services and gather information.

Both Maureen and Anjum enjoyed taking part in the talks with other organisations and expressed their own challenges when accessing health care services. Maureen explained, “I felt good that day that I was able to give feedback. Sometimes I feel invisible but I had my voice heard.” During discussions Maureen described how when attending appointments, healthcare professionals do not speak directly to her, but to her staff, despite the appointment being about her and her health.

During the event, a video was played about an individual who had difficulty expressing requirements they needed when attending appointments due to them being non-verbal. Amber Waiting, Scheduling Assistant in Newcastle explained, “Maureen referred back to the video quite a bit during discussions and stated she knew now that she might find it difficult when attending appointments in healthcare but she still had her voice and could tell people when she was not happy. She didn’t realise there were people who “had it worse than her”. 

Anjum explained his key highlights from the event included “Watching the videos, talking to people and listening to what they said about going to appointments.”

The valuable feedback from both Maureen and Anjum will play a vital part in positively shaping healthcare services across Newcastle. The pair are excited for the next event and plan on attending again to voice their opinions on a variety of topics.