People with learning disabilities face challenges in accessing healthcare services, particularly testing, screening and monitoring, which means that common conditions are often missed. Like anyone, people with learning disabilities develop conditions that require diagnosis, assessment and monitoring through the laboratory analysis of blood samples, so learning disability nurses need to be skilled at performing venesection. Obtaining informed consent and preparing the person psychologically and emotionally for the procedure is as important to its success as getting the clinical aspects right. This article discusses venesection in people with learning disabilities, explaining how nurses can support them before, during and after the procedure and describing a step-by-step approach to performing venesection in a person with a learning disability.