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Health Education England are now seeking nominations from learning disabilities / autism service leads of colleagues working within their organisation to access funding for studying the multi-professional credential in learning disabilities and autism for advanced practice.

To understand the impact of the pandemic on the physiotherapy needs of adults with a learning disability and explore how services are managing the changes in people’s physical and functional presentation a survey was developed. This was sent to the ACPPLD membership to complete between the 4th to the 30th November 2020. 88 people responded to the survey from across to UK. The survey was completed before the UK entered the latest lockdown therefore, a secondary aim of the results is to inform how specialist learning disability physiotherapy services manage the next phase of the pandemic.

Advanced Clinical practice is an emerging role in healthcare. Physiotherapists have been at the forefront of the development of the role in many areas of clinical practice. Health Education England are currently expanding the advanced clinical practice role within a number of specific areas of healthcare. One of these is in Learning Disability and Autism.

The National Executive Committee are currently working with the Health Education England to support the development of the framework into a Masters level unit of assessed learning and the implementation of the advanced clinical practice role into learning disability and/or autism services.

Adults with a learning disability have been significantly impacted by the measures used to control the pandemic. In response, the NEC has developed another survey to better understand the indirect impact of the pandemic on the physiotherapy needs of adults with a learning disability. And to explore the rehabilitation required to restore their pre COVID presentation.

Afternoons of Tuesday 10th & Wednesday 11th November 2020

Online registration now open, ACPPLD member rate is £30.

The programme incorporates plenary sessions with national and international expert speakers, parallel sessions focussed on different speciality areas and the ACPPLD AGM. There should be an opportunity to watch recorded sessions later.

If you would like to present or share work please submit an abstract.

Results of a short survey exploring how specialist learning disability physiotherapy services responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by the National Executive Committee 

The ACPPLD has representatives on a variety of UK wide steering groups and expert panels. One of these is the Growing Old with Learning Disabilities (GOLD) National Steering Group, which brings experts, practitioners and service user representatives together to help guide work in this area. This group meets approximately 4/5 times a year and have just resumed ‘virtually’ following a break due to the COVID- 19 pandemic.

We would like to advise you of 2 excellent Webinars which are taking place this week for you to join. Unfortunately they are on the same day which may have caused a little confusion for those of you that might have received via email from another source. Both events will be held on Wednesday 22nd July but they are at different times so hopefully some of you will be able to join in with both.

The Office of the Public Guardian holds a register of everyone who has a lasting or enduring power of attorney (LPA and EPA), or who has a deputy acting for them. This can be searched to find the contact details of those involved.

On March 11th 2020 the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a pandemic. On March the 21st the UK government announced unprecedented measures to control and manage the corona virus pandemic including ‘shielding’ the most vulnerable. These measures will inevitably have had a significant impact on both demand for and capacity to deliver services to adults with a learning disability.