Owen Doody discusses elements of care that are central to learning disability nurses’ work with clients who have recently transferred to community based-care

Over recent years there have been changes to service provision for people with learning disabilities and their families; moving from the outdated custodial model to a social model that supports the person to live a life of their choosing. Nurses can play an important part in this and this article highlights the specific contribution of the learning disability nurse. Based on a study conducted by the author that captured the views of families of clients who moved from a long-stay psychiatric institution to a community-based learning disability service. This article discusses the concept of VIPs that arose from interviews with family members and shows four distinct themes that can be explored under the VIP acronym: very important people; various individual plans; visibly integrated people; and versatile interactive professionals. The importance of person-centred care alongside a family-centred approach is also discussed.