Health · England
A nurse who helps with hospital support
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This information is about hospitals in England.
Ask about the learning disability liaison nurse.
Contact the liaison team
This nurse helps you and hospital staff work together.
They help staff understand your support needs.
Contact the team before your planned hospital visit.
Your GP or hospital can help you find them.
Already in hospital?
Ask ward staff to contact the team.
Ask what help is available now.
Explain your support needs
Tell staff what would make care easier.
You might need more time or a quiet space.
You can ask for someone you trust to support you.
Tell staff how you communicate.
Explain how you show pain or say stop.
Keep your communication aids nearby.
Bring your hospital passport if you use one.
Ask staff to read it and talk with you.
Ask them to record your support needs.
Decisions and advocacy
You should get support to make your own decisions.
Staff should help you understand treatment choices.
Ask who will make each decision.
A liaison nurse cannot automatically consent for you.
You can ask about an independent advocate.
They help you understand and share your views.
The liaison nurse has a different job.
Ward care and going home
Ward staff remain responsible for your care.
The liaison team may not work nights or weekends.
Ask who will help when they are away.
Tell ward staff straight away if you feel worse.
Do not wait for the liaison nurse.
Ask what information staff are recording about you.
Ask who needs to see it.
Tell staff if something is wrong.
Ask for help planning to leave hospital.
Check that your support and equipment will be ready.
Ask who to contact after you leave.
What you can do next
Ask the hospital about its learning disability liaison team.
Use the worksheet to help plan your conversation.
Read NHS hospital support guidance Web pageFuller informationThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- NHS hospital support Web pageFuller information
Finding liaison support, reasonable adjustments and hospital passports.
- An example of a hospital liaison service Web page
Gloucestershire Hospitals explains its role. Contact your own hospital for local arrangements.
- Getting help from PALS Web page
PALS can help identify contacts and explain hospital concerns and complaints.
- Accessible information and communication support Web page
NHS England guidance on identifying, recording and meeting communication needs.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Learning disability hospital liaison nurses
Finding specialist hospital support, arranging adjustments and planning care with the ward team.
England · Local services and age criteria vary · Capacity guidance applies from age 16
What hospital liaison means
Liaison means helping people and services work together. A learning disability hospital liaison nurse supports patients, families and hospital staff. They can help explain communication needs, identify adjustments and make care more accessible. Some hospitals have a wider learning disability and autism team. The team’s name, age criteria and availability vary. Ask what your hospital provides.
How to ask for help
Before a planned appointment or admission, ask the GP, hospital department or PALS for the team’s contact details. PALS is the Patient Advice and Liaison Service. Contact the team early to discuss support. During an unplanned admission, tell the ward about the learning disability and request liaison support. If there is no hospital team, ask whether the community learning disability team can advise.
Agree adjustments before care happens
Explain what makes care difficult and what helps. Possibilities include a quieter waiting space, extra appointment time, accessible explanations or a familiar supporter. The nurse can discuss adjustments with the department. Ask what has been agreed, who will arrange it and how staff will know. Discuss examinations or procedures that cause distress early. An adjustment must fit the individual; one approach will not suit everyone.
Communication, pain and health passports
Share an up-to-date hospital or communication passport if you use one. Explain how you communicate choice, refusal, pain and distress. Describe your usual health and changes staff should notice. Ask staff to speak directly to you, allow processing time and keep communication aids available. The nurse can help staff use this information. A passport supports conversation and assessment; it does not replace them.
Decisions, consent and independent advocacy
The liaison nurse may help make explanations accessible or support best-interests discussions. A learning disability alone does not mean someone lacks capacity. From age 16, staff must support decision-making and assess capacity for the particular decision when needed. The nurse’s job title does not give authority to consent for you. Relatives also have no automatic authority to consent for an adult. Ask who is responsible for the decision and whether an independent advocate is required. Hospital liaison does not replace independent advocacy, including an IMCA where the legal criteria are met. For children, ask how consent and involvement will be handled.
Who provides everyday and urgent care
The ward’s doctors and nurses remain responsible for clinical care. Liaison staff do not replace ward staffing or provide all bedside support. Some liaison services work weekdays only. Check their hours and the arrangements outside them. Agree who helps with eating, drinking, medicines, communication, toileting and moving. Explain if a familiar supporter cannot stay. Report worsening health directly to ward staff; do not wait for the liaison nurse.
Record access needs respectfully
Ask staff to record the support you need accurately and share it with relevant teams. Ask what is recorded and how it will be used. Explain privacy wishes and ask for errors to be corrected. Staff should explain applicable information-sharing arrangements. Recording care information and sharing it for direct care follow different rules from unrelated uses. A passport is not blanket consent to treatment or unrestricted sharing.
Plan admission and discharge together
The team can help connect hospital staff with community services and familiar supporters. Start discussing discharge needs early. Check communication, transport, equipment, medicines, follow-up and support at home with the responsible team. Ask who will coordinate each action and by when. Say if arrangements cannot meet needs. The liaison nurse can help discussions but does not personally decide every discharge, care or funding question.
If support is missing
Tell the nurse in charge what is needed and request a recorded plan. Ask PALS or the liaison team to help resolve access problems. Ask about independent NHS complaints advocacy if you need help complaining. Use the hospital-safety guide for urgent deterioration concerns. Do not wait for a complaint or liaison response when urgent medical care is needed. The optional worksheet below helps prepare a discussion; it does not replace hospital care records.
Words you could use
“Please contact the learning disability liaison team, record my adjustments and explain who will provide my support on the ward.”
More useful links
- NHS hospital support Web pageFuller information
Finding liaison support, reasonable adjustments and hospital passports.
- An example of a hospital liaison service Web page
Gloucestershire Hospitals explains its role. Contact your own hospital for local arrangements.
- Getting help from PALS Web page
PALS can help identify contacts and explain hospital concerns and complaints.
- Accessible information and communication support Web page
NHS England guidance on identifying, recording and meeting communication needs.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- NHS: learning disability hospital support Web pageFuller information
Preparation, liaison nurses, adjustments and passports.
- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS: learning disability hospital liaison Web page
Referral before or during hospital care, working with wards and discharge planning. Local arrangements.
- University Hospital Southampton NHS: learning disability and autism support Web page
An example of weekday liaison hours, adjustments and passport use. Local arrangements.
- Kingston and Richmond NHS: learning disability support Web page
Liaison support for appointments, preparation and best-interest meetings. Local arrangements.
- NHS England: clinical care for people with a learning disability Web pageProfessional guidance
All clinicians’ responsibilities, communication, specialist advice and avoiding overlooked symptoms.
- NHS: Mental Capacity Act Web pageFuller information
Decision-specific capacity, support, best interests and relevant legal authority.
- NHS: independent advocacy Web page
Independent advocates have a different role from NHS staff.
- NHS England: Accessible Information Standard Web page
Recording, sharing, meeting and reviewing communication needs.
- NHS England: using and sharing patient information Web page
Different rules for recording care, direct-care sharing and other uses of confidential information.
- NHS: PALS Web page
Resolving concerns and finding complaints support.
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