New campaign promotes leadership in learning disability services

Health Education England (HEE) has launched a new campaign to improve services for people with learning disabilities by encouraging leadership in the learning disability workforce.

The campaign comes in response to Sir Stephen Bubb’s report ‘Winterbourne View – Time for Change’, which highlighted lack of leadership as a contributing factor to the abuse at Winterbourne view.

The stories of leaders who work across learning disability services, in both health and social care, will be shared across social media and digital platforms, and a central hub has been created on the HEE website to outline leadership courses and resources that are available.

HEE recognises that strong leadership is vital to the delivery of change needed to achieve the aims of the transforming care programme, and hopes that staff working in learning disability services will be inspired by the stories they see and the potential change they can make to people’s lives.

Dr Teresa Hewitt-Moran, Learning Disabilities programme lead at HEE said:

Being a leader isn’t just about management. Anyone, at any level can show leadership by focusing on what really matters, having the courage to do the right thing and taking responsibility. We want to inspire people working in learning disabilities to become leaders in their field and to be bold enough to lead service change and the innovation required to empower people with learning disabilities to shape their care.