Improvement Standards

The improvement standards were launched in 2018 by NHS Improvement to ensure the provision of high quality, personalised and safe care from the NHS for the estimated 950,000 adults and 300,000 children with learning disabilities as well as the 440,000 adults and 120,000 children with autism across England. These standards were designed together with people with learning disabilities, autistic people, family members, carers and health professionals, to drive rapid and substantial improvements to patient experiences and equity of care. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in 2019, pledged that over the next five years, the national learning disability improvement standards would be implemented by all services funded by the NHS to ensure people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people can receive high quality, personalised and safe care when they use the NHS.

The four improvement standards against which trust performance is measured cover:

1. Respecting and protecting rights

2. Inclusion and engagement

3. Workforce

4. Specialist learning disability services

The first three ‘universal standards’ apply to all NHS trusts, and the fourth ‘specialist standard’ applies specifically to trusts that provide services commissioned exclusively for people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

A trust’s compliance with these standards demonstrates it has the right structures, processes, workforce and skills to deliver the outcomes that people with a learning disability, autistic people, their families and carers expect and deserve, as well as commitment to sustainable quality improvement in the services and pathways for this group. Trusts can publish details of their performance against these improvement standards in their annual quality accounts and demonstrate a sustainable improvement in their quality of services. Each of the four standards has a set of improvement measures that trusts are expected to adopt.