Adapting to learning disability course closures
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Adapting to learning disability course closures

Nick Evans Health journalist

Other routes into the specialty should be promoted as a good nurse career choice

The University of East Anglia has announced it is closing its learning disability undergraduate degree programme. This comes after similar moves by other institutions in recent years, including London South Bank University.

Learning Disability Practice. 25, 2, 6-7. doi: 10.7748/ldp.25.2.6.s2

Published: 07 April 2022

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Picture credit: iStock

For a sector that is working hard to boost numbers coming in, it means there are now no learning disability nursing BSc courses in the whole of East Anglia. It comes just two years after the publication of the All-England Plan for Learning Disability Nursing, which was meant to act as a springboard for the sector.

Is this a sign of a wider problem?

The University of East Anglia said it had to act after a drop in student numbers, which started in 2016, had left the course unviable. The programme was geared up to take 20 students per year, but during the last two intakes there had been fewer than ten.

But for those involved locally, the writing had been on the wall for some time.

Learning disability consultant nurse Sue Bridges has worked with the university in her role as chair of the East of England learning disability nursing steering group.

It was set up in partnership with local trusts, Health Education England and the RCN to promote the sector.

Ms Bridges, who works for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, says: ‘We could see it was coming because the numbers were dropping. We had been working to attract new people onto the course so it was a blow when they made the announcement.’

But she still believes ‘all is not lost’, pointing out that a master’s degree course is being set up in its place and later this year the east of England will launch its first learning disability apprenticeship roles. The aim is to get about 25 in post.

Social media campaign

‘There is a diversity of routes into learning disability nursing, which is good to see. We still need the BSc courses, but overall there are more positive than negative signs.

‘And we have an agreement with the University of Hertfordshire that if we have people from Norfolk and Suffolk wanting to do an undergraduate degree they can do their placements here and study there.’

She has helped to establish a social media campaign called #chooseLDNursing and has organised career stalls in Norwich city centre to promote the specialty.

Her NHS trust has asked her to spend two days a week working on promoting learning disability nursing – and it was through this role that she set up the steering group.

Ms Bridges believes the sector needs to get better at promoting itself. ‘We are a small part of the nursing workforce and have to work hard to make sure people are aware of learning disability nursing and what we do.’

A series of videos is being launched in partnership with Health Education England, with nurses from the region talking about their roles and passions.

The east of England is not the only region starting to do more to promote learning disability nursing. Similar work is being done elsewhere, with national promotion being coordinated by the National Learning Disability Nursing Forum.

The impact in terms of the overall figures for applications and acceptances to undergraduate courses appears to be positive. Applications to UK courses topped 3,500 in 2021 – a rise of 1,000 over two years. This led to 845 acceptances for September 2021, compared with 660 in 2019, according to data from UCAS.

Other fields of nursing are seeing similar rises, and it is part of a wider trend rather than representing a sea change towards learning disability nursing.

But this increase is a major reason why Helen Laverty, facilitator for the Positive Choices network, a forum for learning disability nurses, lecturers and students, cautions against reading too much into the move by the University of East Anglia. She describes it as more of a sidestep.

Ms Laverty says: ‘It is disappointing when courses close. But overall numbers are going up and we are seeing new routes into learning disability nursing developing with apprenticeships and nursing associate routes.’

She also says the development of a master’s degree course at the University of East Anglia is another avenue that is increasingly opening up, including at the University of Nottingham, where she is the professional lead for learning disability nursing.

‘We shut our undergraduate programme five years ago, but have since developed a two-year master’s programme. We take ten on each year.

‘The people come from a variety of backgrounds – we have people who have done a degree in psychology, in creative arts and IT. But in learning disability nursing we do lose out to the big courses at undergraduate level.’

UCAS data show there are 74 different learning disability BSc courses in the UK, but they are offered by just 38 providers.

Learning Disability Consultant Nurse Network chair Rebecca Chester is particularly concerned about the support available to mature students.

‘I’d like to see further national-level conversations taking place so that we maximise opportunities for experienced and committed staff to become registered learning disability nurses,’ she says.

Fast facts

74 undergraduate learning disability courses are on offer at 38 UK providers

3,530 applications for UK undergraduate courses in 2021, up from 2,565 in 2019

845 acceptances on to UK undergraduate courses in 2021, up from 660 in 2019

Source: UCAS

Ensure flexible approach

She also says the increase in nursing student numbers is creating challenges in terms of finding placements.

‘It is essential that the NHS and the private and voluntary sectors ensure that flexible approaches are used to support practice placements for students,’ says Ms Chester.

‘Practice placement providers need to be creative to ensure that high-quality placements and experiences are maintained to prepare the future workforce.’

The trends in undergraduate numbers into learning disability nursing needs to be viewed in a wider context.

As Ms Chester says: ‘The number of people retiring and leaving the workforce means that there is still a significant deficit despite the increase in student applications. This is further impacted by the employability of learning disability nurses across other clinical services.

‘As a shortfall in numbers remains, more needs to be done to meet the workforce needs.’

This is an abridged version of an article at rcni.com/course-closures

Find out more

Health Education England (2020) All-England Plan for Learning Disability Nursing tinyurl.com/HEE-nursing-plan

Learning and Intellectual Disability Nursing Academic Network. facebook.com/groups/1176665819010632

National Learning Disability Nursing Forum learningdisabilitynurse.co.uk

Positive Choices positive-choices.com

UK Learning Disability Consultant Nurse Network tinyurl.com/UKLDCNN-network

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