Health Action Plan supports personalised care for people with learning disabilities

15 Jun 26

A new Health Action Plan developed by HPFT is helping community nursing teams across Essex support people with learning disabilities through more personalised care.

The questionnaire was developed in response to feedback from nurses who needed a more accessible, user friendly way to gather and record important health information. The original template designed by the nurses has been recreated, tested and co-produced with service users, the community nursing teams and Tendring Mental Health Services. This redevelopment has made sure it is practical, accessible and easy to use.

Physical Health Action Plan form from HPFT, with sections for personal details, emergency contact, allergies, hospital passport, and medication. Includes tick boxes, blank fields for information, and illustrations of a person labelled “Me” and medication bottles.

The Health Action Plan can be completed electronically and printed during or after an appointment, giving service users, carers and professionals an immediate, EasyRead record of what has been discussed and agreed.

It brings together key information in one place, including medical history and current conditions, medication and allergies, lifestyle and risk factors, screening and health checks and mental health and wellbeing. This helps build a clear, joined-up view of a person’s overall health.

The Health Action Plan supports community nurses by:

· providing key health information before appointments

· highlighting priority areas for review, such as breathing, diet or mental health

· identifying risks and support needs, including mobility or swallowing concerns

· supporting structured assessments so important information is not missed

It also supports programmes such as annual health checks for people with a learning disability by enabling consistent and thorough information gathering.

Feedback from teams and service users has been positive. One nurse said:

“A lot of service users, their parents and carers are happy to be given something on the day which details what we discussed in easy read format, so they don't have to wait for the typed letter to be processed and sent to them.”

The development of the Health Action Plan reflects HPFT’s commitment to improving physical health care, supporting early identification of need and delivering personalised, accessible services. If you need help making information more accessible contact the ICE team at ice.resource@nhs.net.

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Health Action Plan supports personalised care for people with learning disabilities