At the 2023 Community of Practice Conference, Jonathan Beebee – Royal College of Nursing presented a challenging picture of the state of Learning Disability Nursing across the UK, specifically in the South East of England. This has since been further highlighted in the 2026 RCN Publication – Safety, Equity and Expertise: A UK review of Learning Disability Nursing https://ldcop.org.uk/new-rcn-publication-safety-equity-and-expertise-a-uk-review-of-learning-disability-nursing

The Learning Disability Nursing workforce crisis was also previously acknowledged in a range of reports such as:

The Nursing Times– ‘Decimated’ learning disability nurse numbers must be tackled | Nursing Times

Lord Darzi’s report cited here-  Learning disabilities: what Lord Darzi says should change | RCNi

And the NHS England » NHS Long Term Workforce Plan which states the goal of increasing training places for Learning Disability nursing by 46 %, by 2028/29.

Being the only professional qualification directly associated with the health and wellbeing of people with Learning Disabilities, the reduced opportunities to train as a Learning Disability Nurse and data indicating the current workforce is rapidly diminishing, presents a significant concern to the KSS LD Community of Practice.

In the South East of England, we are significantly impacted by limited access to Learning Disability Nursing programmes; with only 1 Higher Education Institute currently providing a Learning Disability Nursing courses across the whole region. As a result, in October 2024 we created the:

“South East RNLD Workforce & Education Community of Practice” 

This collaborative project is facilitated by Registered Learning Disability Nurse Daisy Hack (Professional Nurse Educator – Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust).

To this end, we acknowledge the important role that Learning Disabilities Nurses can play in supporting people to live healthy, safe and fulfilled lives and as a consequence were keen to support Daisy Hack with this initiative.

This newer community is an opportunity for those affected by the workforce crisis to come together in a professional space, to review current education & workforce challenges, share ideas/new initiatives and to influence change.

 The Community of Practice (CoP) is open to:

• Learning Disability representatives from NHS Trusts, Social Care, and Private, Voluntary & Independent providers.
• Higher Education Institutes, Integrated Care Board and NHS England representatives across the South East region, who have Learning Disability responsibility in their portfolio.
• Any individuals interested in LD Nursing workforce/education (members do not need to be Learning Disability registrants to attend.

Meetings are held online on a quarterly basis in January, April, July & October.

Recent activity conducted by the Community includes a ‘Values Clarification Exercise’ to identify the purpose and future priorities of the CoP. This has been a collaborative piece of work that has provided members with opportunity to express their views, bring fresh perspectives and help develop a shared mission:

If you, or someone you know is interested in joining or would like more info please contact: daisy.hack@nhs.net