Learning Disability Centenary Westminster Event

Sara Mayer one of our 3rd year learning disability students writes:

The week of 17 June this year was learning disability week, and 21st June marked 100 years of learning disability nursing! I was amazed to hear I was privileged enough to be nominated by Uni to attend an event in the Houses of Parliament to celebrate this. Here is an account of the day:

It was over whelming to arrive at Westminster, faced straight away by Big Ben as I got off the tube, then humbled by a memorial for PC Palmer, who lost his life defending his country just a few steps away from the Cromwell Green entrance I was instructed to go to. Walking through security and waiting to go in I started chatting to people, the buzz of celebrating the event and the passion of all those involved was already clear!

Walking through parliament was breathtaking! I was greeted by David Harling, head of Learning Disability at NHS Improvement, who made a special effort to greet each person individually as they entered The Strangers Dining Room where the event was situated. The event was chaired by Jim Blair (independent nurse consultant) and Lloyd Page (expert with lived experience from Mencap) who did an excellent job timing all the speeches!

The event was hosted also by Baroness Sheila Hollins, professor of the psychiatry of learning disability, assisted by her son Nigel. We were told a heart-warming story of how he had met Hugh Grant through his acting and they remain great friends! The day was delivered in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England, Beyond Words and the British Institute of Learning Disabilities.

It was very inspiring to be in a room with all these very important people, and the best thing about this was that everyone was so down to earth! There was many speeches saying thank you to service users who inspired people in the room to do the job they do, and what validated their role, this was so heart-warming. I remember a particular speech from a nurse who said that she always felt a bit different, that she wanted to take alternate approaches with people she cared for, getting to know them well and putting her whole self into their care. She said that when she discovered learning disability nursing this enabled her to be herself and work in this way, this rang true to myself and was so well received throughout the room. Another message I remember especially was to keep doing what we do! To be proud and realise the importance of it. To have so many people in one room that “got it” around learning disability nursing really confirmed its significance, especially at the houses of parliament! There was a special performance from Jen Blackwell from DanceSyndrome also. This was a personal highlight for me, a very emotional performance. If you follow the link below it should take you to a video of the dance. Jen’s family set up DanceSyndrome as Jen loved to dance however main stream dance services did not fit the bill! View it here.

Lastly, thank you so much to Debbie, Mary and Ros for this wonderful opportunity, here’s to
the future of learning disability nursing!