Who are we?
Our Community Teams for People with Learning Disabilities (CTPLD) support adults aged 18 and over who have a learning disability and additional health needs.
We are multi-disciplinary teams of health professionals working closely with local social care and other partner services to help people live well and access the support they need.
Please note: We are not integrated with Social Services.
What we do
We help people requiring support from a specialist learning disability health team who are unable to access mainstream NHS services. This includes providing assessments, treatment, and advice tailored to each person’s health and communication needs.
We support people to:
- Stay physically and mentally well
- Understand and manage long-term conditions like epilepsy or diabetes
- Communicate more effectively
- Eat, drink, and swallow safely
- Provide positive support to help reduce behaviours that may be harmful to themselves or others
- Access community services with reasonable adjustments
Our services
Learning Disability Physiotherapists provide specialist assessment and intervention to help with moving safely, sitting or lying comfortably, and doing everyday activities. We work alongside other professionals and services to support 24-hour postural care for people with complex needs. We can help people with mobility difficulties and can advise on falls prevention. We can also support recovery after illness or injury.
Many people with a learning disability will be able to access mainstream physiotherapy services with reasonable adjustments and the support of their family or carer, therefore we may signpost to these services. If mainstream physiotherapy services are unable to help a person with a learning disability, despite reasonable adjustments being made, then people can be referred to learning disability physiotherapy.
What we offer:
- Specialist assessment of movement, posture and mobility
- Help with falls prevention and postural care for people with complex needs
- Support with rehabilitation after illness or injury
- Advice and input for 24-hour postural care
Where possible, we’ll signpost to local physiotherapy services with reasonable adjustments. If these services can’t meet your needs, we can help.
We offer support with communication and swallowing for adults with learning disabilities.
Communication support:
- Assessments and advice tailored to your needs
- Strategies to help you and those around you communicate more easily
- Workshops for carers and staff to promote communication-friendly environments
Eating and drinking support (dysphagia):
- Specialist assessments to make sure meals are safe and enjoyable
- Person-centred plans to support safe swallowing
- Joint working with other professionals, like GPs and hospital teams
We don’t provide support for eating disorders but can signpost to the right services.
Occupational Therapists help people to take part in activities they enjoy, or need to do as part of everyday life.
We can help with:
- carrying out assessments to identify individual needs and set goals
- strategies and recommendations to help a person take part in daily activities
- identifying suitable activities for individual needs, both inside and outside the home
- support with motivation, daily routines, and sensory needs that may affect how someone takes part in activities or feels in different environments
- we work alongside individuals as well as with their family and caregivers so they can continue to support engagement in activities
Assessments take place in familiar settings, and we work closely with you, your family or support team.
Our team does not accept referrals for equipment or home adaptations, please contact your local Social Care team.
We offer hydrotherapy for adults with learning disabilities through our Oasis Therapy Suite – a fully accessible, sensory-equipped hydrotherapy pool located at St Ebba’s in Epsom.
What is hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy uses warm water and gentle movement to support physical and emotional wellbeing. It can help with:
- Pain relief and relaxation
- Improved mobility, balance and co-ordination
- Muscle strengthening and reduced swelling
- Recovery after surgery or injury
The pool includes sensory lighting, music and a DVD system to create a calm, enjoyable environment.
Who can use the service?
To use hydrotherapy, you must:
- Be over 18
- Have a diagnosed learning disability
- Be registered with a Surrey GP for at least 12 weeks
- Have health needs that cannot be met by mainstream services
People with autism are included if they also have a learning disability.
How to access the service:
You’ll need a physiotherapy assessment from a CTPLD physiotherapist to be referred.
Hydrotherapy may not be suitable for some health conditions. Please speak to our team before starting any treatment.
Nursing
Our Learning Disability Nurses can support your physical and emotional health.
We can help you:
- Understand and manage health conditions
- Prepare for and attend complex appointments
- Learn about healthy living and wellbeing
Helpful links:
- Easy Health – accessible health information
- Learning Disability and Autism Hub
- Capacity Guide
- Surrey Adult Community Services
We take a holistic approach to support your health and nutrition.
We offer help with:
- Healthy eating and weight management
- Nutrition support, including for people at risk of malnutrition
- Digestive health, including advice on IBS
- Eating behaviours and diet checks
If needed, we can refer to specialist services.
Our Psychiatry team provides mental health support for adults with a learning disability.
What our psychiatrists do:
- Assess and treat mental health conditions
- Support people with complex needs or high risks
- Help with medication, including specialist prescriptions like lithium and clozapine
- Medication management and physical health monitoring. We support the national STOMP programme, which helps reduce the use of unnecessary medication for people with a learning disability
- Review how mental health affects the whole person (mind and body)
We also:
- Support assessments for ADHD and autism (ASD)
- Dementia assessment, diagnosis and management, jointly with the dementia teams pathway
- Offer advice on managing behaviour (Positive Behaviour Support)
- Give support and guidance to GPs and professionals
- Carry out Mental Health Act assessments
Our team includes:
- Consultant Psychiatrists
- Doctors in training
- Advanced Nurse Prescribers
We help people understand and manage their emotions, behaviours and thinking.
Support may include:
- Talking therapies for anxiety, depression or trauma
- Assessing how behaviours affect wellbeing
- Understanding relationships, sexuality and emotional development
- Working with families, carers and support networks
- Dementia assessments (including for people with Down’s syndrome) including:
- Early assessment
-
Advice and training for carers and staff on how to support someone at each stage
-
Ongoing support after diagnosis, including help from our wider team
-
A named Dementia Co-ordinator or Clinical Health Support Worker where needed
We also support autism assessments and run Positive Support Clinics.
We provide dementia support for adults with learning disabilities, including those with Down’s syndrome.
Our team offers:
- Early assessments and post-diagnostic support
- Ongoing reviews as indicated
- Support from a dedicated Dementia Coordinator, Clinical Health Assistant, and wider team
We also provide training and advice for carers, families and staff.
We support foot health as part of wider health and wellbeing.
Please speak to your local team to find out more about access to podiatry.
We offer art therapy, drama therapy and music therapy to help people communicate experiences that are hard to put into words.
These therapies can help you:
- Explore difficult feelings
- Build confidence and self-awareness
- Improve emotional wellbeing
Our therapists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
More about the therapies we offer:
Getting support from our teams
We have two community teams for people with learning disabilities:
- one for East Surrey
- one for West Surrey and North East Hampshire
We use an open referral system. This means you can ask for support yourself, or someone can refer you.
Anyone can refer, including:
- GPs (family doctors)
- health or social care professionals,
- carers and families
- people who use our services
Your GP must be based in Surrey or North East Hampshire to access our support.
How to refer
You don’t need a GP appointment to make a referral.
For East Surrey (including Redhill and Leatherhead)
For West Surrey and NE Hampshire (including Aldershot, Guildford and Chertsey)
If you’re not sure which team to contact, please get in touch, and we’ll guide you.
We support adults aged 18 and over with learning disabilities whose health needs can’t be met by mainstream services.
To be eligible, a person must:
- Have a diagnosed learning disability (IQ below 70 and difficulties with everyday skills and independence)
- Be registered with a Surrey GP for at least 12 weeks
- Have a health need that requires specialist learning disability support
- Be aged 18 or over
We also:
- Support people with autism if they also have a learning disability
- Help with the transition to adult services from age 14 onward
We may not be the right service if:
- The person has an acquired brain injury after age 15
- They have a long-term mental illness (like schizophrenia) but no learning disability
- Their needs can be fully met by mainstream health or social care services
If you’re unsure whether someone is eligible, please get in touch.
Where to find us
Our teams are based across East and West Surrey and North East Hampshire. Each local team works closely with the people they support, as well as families, carers, and other professionals.
You can contact your local team directly using the links below:
East Surrey CTPLD
West Surrey CTPLD
The Oasis Therapy Suite (hydrotherapy pool) is also managed by our teams: Find out more
Reasonable adjustments and accessible information
We want our services to be accessible to everyone. If you have a learning disability or other need that makes it harder to use health services, we can make changes, called reasonable adjustments, to help.
This might include:
- Explaining things in a clear, simple way
- Extra support with appointments
- Help with understanding or giving consent
- Longer or quieter appointment times
- Information in Easy Read, large print, or other formats
We follow the Accessible Information Standard, which is a legal requirement for all NHS and adult social care providers.
If you need support to access our services, please let us know when you contact us. We’re here to help.
Helpful resources
- MENCAP - provide information on Learning Disabilities and the challenges someone may face.
- Department of Health - provide information on reasonable adjustments.