Learning disability and autism awareness

• NHS England Learning disability and autism — awareness about priority work related to improving health of people with a learning disability and autistic people. This can help you to develop local and neighbourhood services for people with a learning disability
• Webinar from RPS on learning disability and autism to raise awareness of what we mean by learning disability and autism, the health inequalities people face and tips to help with providing inclusive services. You can use this to reflect on your own practice and share awareness with colleagues. Also has links to further information
• Blog on Pharmacy’s role in reducing health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autism.

• Learning Disability Hub Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education (CPPE) Learning disabilities: CPPE is free to access for all pharmacy professionals and can be used as part of revalidation. It demonstrates you are improving your knowledge and skills to remain on the pharmacy register. It will help you to learn about what it means to be a person with a learning disability and adapt your communication style. You will be aware of the range of accessible resources and how they can be used in practice. It will help you to understand your role in promoting physical, mental and behavioural wellbeing in people with a learning disability as well as to understand how to adapt your practice to ensure excellent medicines optimisation in people with a learning disability
• The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism — e-learning for healthcare enables you to have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability. It will support you in your interactions with people and their families. (Access limited to NHS health or care organisation (registration required).

This section will help you if you are involved with undertaking mental capacity assessment, in asking whether a person needs a mental capacity assessment, and in asking about and referring to best interest decisions.

• Easy read information about Mental Capacity Act.
• Mental Capacity Act — Social care and support guide — NHS provides an overview of the Act and responsibilities.
• NHS England Guidance to support implementation of the Mental Capacity Act in acute trusts for adults with a learning disability is recent guidance for acute trusts.

This section will ensure pharmacists know their responsibilities within the digital flag, that they know how to use it and to ensure they are making reasonable adjustments whenever needed. You can also check if your workplace is meeting the criteria in the checklist.

• Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag — elearningfor healthcare — access limited to NHS health or care organisations (registration required).
• Understanding Reasonable adjustments
• NHS England » The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag action checklist

• Addressing medication safety inequalities across the system — SPS: Specialist Pharmacy Service — the first stop for professional medicines advice, this uses a number of films to address inequality issues including medicine safety, health inequalities, STOMP and STAMP and reasonable adjustments.

This section provides an overview of the passport, supporting pharmacists to ask the person if they have one and if they would be okay to show it to the pharmacist, and also providing information on how to get one.

• NHS England Health and care passports is designed to be a quick and easy way for a person to give health and social care professionals more information about their needs, choices, communication and reasonable adjustments.

This section will help pharmacists understand the health inequalities people with a learning disability and autistic people face and the impact of these.  

• NHS England Learning from lives and deaths — People with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR): an annual report of the lives and deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people.

• Personas for people with learning disability — printing (MedSIP March 2025) — Medicines Safety Improvement Programme — Futures: sets the lifestyle, environmental and personal issues faced by people with a learning disability with varying needs through four case profiles. It is useful to focus discussion on adapting communication, making reasonable adjustments and approaching medication related discussions.
• STOMP and STAMP — Futures: this is dedicated to highlighting and developing good practice relating to the most appropriate use of medication in people with a learning disability and autistic people. It includes links to training webinars, resources, reports and access to a community of practice, to ask questions and share good practice.

And resources that you can share with people and help you to ensure that people have information in accessible formats. It also includes discussion cards to make sure the person feels included in making decisions about their treatment, including medication 

• Shaun Webster MBE on why we need Bigger Better Labels on our medication and prescriptions — Easy Read Documents​ provides information and posters to promote access to bigger print labels as needed.
• Medica@teresationsand My Mental Health​ is a practical toolkit of resources to help teams to include the person and their support team to understand their medication.

This section supports you in educating customers and patients about their medication in an accessible format. It contains information about language specific leaflets for particular nationalities and ethnic communities and ensures the person and their care team are educated and informed so they can be fully included in joint decision-making. 

• Create Next App​. What’s my drug — medication information in accessible formats. Includes information given in verbal format as well as written and accessible ​.
• Easy Health | Home​ (free, but requires subscription)​. This has information about medication and general health care in an accessible format​.
• https://spectrom.wixsite.com/project/easy-read-medication-leaflets has multiple easy read leaflets about specific medication.
• Homepage — C&M Main Website​ has multiple examples of medication information leaflets in a range of formats and languages, including plain English and easy read​.

• Resources to support patients having a Structured Medication Review — The Health Innovation Network​ has patient information materials in different community languages to support and prepare people who have been invited for a medication review with their GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional.​ Easy read materials on this site​ include:
  • Patient invitation letter — easy read​​
  • Safely stopping medication — easy read​​
  • Me and my medicines charter — easy read​​

Co-SMR is a collaborative project that worked with healthcare professionals across the country, and people with Learning Disability, families and carers to co-produce tools and resources to use in practice for reviewing Psychotropic medication in practice. For more information about Co-SMR, please look at the NHS Futures STOMP STAMP platform, and the Summary document.

Information for patients, families and carers:

• Preparing for your medication review – easy read​
• Preparing for your medication review – plain English ​
• Invite letter to your medication review – easy read​
• Invite letter to your medication review – plain English​

Preparing for structured medication reviews​​:

• Guidance to help professionals prepare for psychotropic SMR​
• How to make reasonable adjustments check list
• Best Practice Guidance for completing a STOMP Structured Medication Review – full version
• Best Practice Guidance for completing a STOMP Structured Medication Review – summary

NHS Futures resource bank:

• This workspace is free to access with a suitable email via NHS Futures.

This section helps you to keep updated with all agents and understand their usefulness in treatment, understanding side effect profiles and what to look for and discuss in medication reviews.

• BNFC​: The British National Formulary for Children — no specific page on psychosis and related disorders information.
• BNF​: The British National Formulary information on benefits, side effects and monitoring requirements for first- and second-generation antipsychotics​.

• https://thehealthinnovationnetwork.co.uk/news/new-insights-on-improving-access-to-structured-medication-reviews-for-seldom-heard-communities/​ highlights research evidencing positive impact on attendance and impact of SMR in seldom heard communities.

• STOMP and STAMP — Futures highlights and develops good practice relating to the most appropriate use of medication in people with a learning disability and autistic people, including links to training webinars, resources, reports and access to a community of practice to ask questions and share good practice.
• Community of Practice Pilot Report outlines key recommendations in relation to the role local health systems and all pharmacy teams in the use of medication reviews to reduce over-medication of people with a learning disability.

• NHS England Stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people (STOMP) and supporting treatment and appropriate medication in paediatrics (STAMP)​ provides an overview and links to resources for professionals, patients and their families​​.
• Position-statement-ps0521-stomp-stamp.pdf is the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) STOMP Position Paper.

• NICE NG11​ and Quality Standard 101​ are NICE Guidelines relating to challenging behaviour and learning disabilities and associated standards, highlighting the pathway for prevention and interventions for behaviour that challenges. This includes psychological and environmental interventions as well as medication​.
• Stopping antidepressants is a Royal College of Psychiatry guide to stopping antidepressants including practical advice, schedules and safe practice.
• GP prescribing leaflet outlines the role GPs and those working in GP practices have in prescribing, reviewing and deprescribing psychotropic mediation for people with a learning disability.

• Preparing to visit a doctor to talk about medication​ is designed for a support worker who is accompanying a person with​ a learning disability, autism or both to a GP or consultant appointment.
• Medication Pathway​ is from the Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF) and is for families who have loved ones with more severe learning disability and whose behaviour can be thought to be challenging. It includes information on how to be included in decision-making and challenge long-standing medication no longer thought to be beneficial or is causing significant side effects.
• STOMP STAMP family guide​ is a co-produced resource to help family carers to understand more about medication and suggests questions to ask clinicians, especially in relation to children and young people.​

• STOMP Everyone working together to stop the overuse of psychotropic medicines and to improve people’s quality of life​. An easy read information leaflet. ​
• NHS England STOMP — Stopping the over medication of people with a learning disability, autism or both – translations​. Easy Read information about STOMP translated into other community languages.
• Stopping The Over-Medication of People — STOMP is a STOMP awareness guide for autistic adults and their families including explanations of words, guidance to manage health and medication and a workbook to help prepare for an appointment about medication.

• Link to Mind Ed training has 10 modules within the Mind ED training relating to psychotropic medication and STOMP STAMP, including awareness raising, impact of psychotropic prescribing, safely prescribing and deprescribing and service development.

• Richards story part 2​ is a film about the challenges a person and their family experienced — the importance of nonmedical strategies, regular reviews and co-production​.
• Shane’s Story shows the use of non-medication strategies to safely deprescribe psychotropic medication
• Debbie and Lucy’s Story shows how using non-medication strategies to prevent the prescribing of psychotropic medication for behaviour that challenges.
• Ethan’s Story shows how STOMP can be used to improve all aspects of health through quality medication optimisation.
• Collaboration in Sunderland explains how working in true collaboration leads to more successful outcomes related to medicines.

• STOMP and STAMP — Futures​ is dedicated to highlighting and developing good practice relating to the most appropriate use of medication in people with a learning disability and autistic people — includes links to training webinars, resources, reports and access to a community of practice to ask questions and share good practice.