Building the right support: A national implementation plan to develop community services and close inpatient facilities

In October 2015, NHS England published a national plan and service model which set out how people with a learning disability and/or autism will be supported to lead more independent lives and have greater say about the support they receive and radically improve learning disability services.

The plan predicted that, as these services are put in place, there will be a reduction of up to 50 per cent in the number of inpatient beds, meaning that some units will close altogether. The plan also highlighted the need to work closely with housing to develop innovative models of community based care and support at home for people with a learning disability. To facilitate this, NHS England made £15m capital fund available over 3 years.

In August 2016, NHS England published 48 local Transforming Care Partnerships (opens new window) (TCPs) - see Links below) which are made up of people who use the services, their families, providers of services, Clinical Commissioning Groups, local authorities and NHS England specialised commissioning hubs. TCPs are tasked with taking forward these intentions and designing new, high-quality, community-based services which reflect the wishes and circumstances of local residents. To this end, £100m of capital funding will now be available over five years to support these projects.