LD Dietetics

About our service

The Nutrition and Dietetic Service works across Birmingham providing a specialist service for adults aged 19 and above with Learning Disabilities. Our team consists of Registered Dietitians, Nutrition Nurses and Dietetic Practitioners.
 

We provide a city-wide community service and offer face to face, virtual and telephone appointments, according to the needs of the service users.  We offer consultations in clinics, the person's own home, day centres, respite, colleges and care homes.

 

 

What services do we provide?

Dietitians interpret the complexities of disease management into practical and understandable dietary treatment for adults with Learning Disabilities, families and carers to follow on a day-to-day basis.  This includes adults struggling to gain weight, managing restricted diets and those who require home enteral feeding (tube feeding) managed in the community.

• We conduct individualised nutritional assessments and implement nutritional care plans to support people with complex physical health needs who are unable to access mainstream Dietetic services, despite reasonable adjustments being made.
• We provide nutrition services for conditions including malnutrition or at risk of becoming malnourished (undernourished), due to disease, stomach and digestive problems, diabetes, allergies and food sensitivity.  We also support people who are overweight/obese and have other co-morbidities, such as cardiovascular disease.
• We work closely with Nutrition Nurses to provide specialist feeding tube care support and advice to service users and their families.
• We work closely with local hospitals to help in the discharge of patients with feeding tubes and undertake pre-feeding tube assessments in the community.
• We provide training and support to families, day centres, colleges, nursing homes, residential homes and other agencies to help prevent hospital admissions, where possible.
• We work closely with the Paediatric Dietetic Team to support the transition of clients from Children's services into Learning Disability Adult services, to ensure an individualised and holistic approach to their care.

 

 

Referrals

Eligibility criteria:

• Aged 19 years and over (or within 6 weeks of their 19th birthday).
• Diagnosed learning disability and needs specialist health support that cannot be met through mainstream services even with the use of reasonable adjustments.
• Registered with a Birmingham GP.
• Moving into the Birmingham area with a Birmingham residential postcode and an identified Birmingham GP, but are unable to register with the GP until they have moved into their property (for example, a service user discharged from hospital or a complex case moving into the area and going through the transfer or handover of care process). Confirmation will be required for service users eligible for s117 that the transferring Learning Disability Service have had a conversation with the local Integrated Care Board (ICB).

 

A referral to the service can be made through a number of means including a patient’s GP, carer, or family member.

 

You can make a referral by calling the Learning Disability’s Single Point of Access:

• Phone: 0121 466 4980
• Email:  BCHNT.ldreferrals@nhs.net.

 

This will require completion of a referral form that needs to be sent through.