Learning Disability Friendly Badge

The Learning Disability Friendly Badge was developed in collaboration with the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the local charity Grapevine and a group of GPs, who share an interest and passion in tackling health inequalities. 

The project began as a response to a low uptake in learning disability annual health checks in our region, and after the success of the collaborative campaign to increase the uptake of these important health checks, it was decided that the best way to maintain this success was to develop this quality standard for GP practices across Coventry and Warwickshire. 

A criteria checklist was created by the project team, which included clinicians, to enable every GP practice in our region to apply for accreditation of the Learning Disability Friendly Badge and thus become a Learning Disability Friendly Practice.  

Our aim is that every Learning Disability Friendly Practice will be a welcoming place for their patients who have a learning disability and support with early diagnosis, providing the best possible personalised care and making reasonable adjustments for this population, amongst other aspects. 

The name of the accreditation and the logo that is associated with it were created in close collaboration with Grapevine’s experts by experience (people who have a learning disability).  

To be accredited with the Learning Disability Friendly Badge, each GP practice will need to apply using the Learning Disability Friendly Badge application form (which includes details of the application process) that is available to download via the Coventry and Warwickshire ICB website’s Document Library: 
Document Library - Happy Healthy Lives 

The application form will guide the practice by asking them to demonstrate and evidence that they meet the following criteria: 

1. The GP practice has an identified Learning Disability Champion 
2. People with a learning disability receive personalised care 
3. People with a learning disability receive high quality Learning Disability Annual Health Checks that improve their health outcomes 
4. The GP practice makes reasonable adjustments to enable easier access and improve patients’ experience of their care. 

The applications submitted will be assessed every four months by a panel made up of a Grapevine expert by experience, a Grapevine project worker, a member of the ICB’s Primary Care and/or Quality Team, a reviewer from the LeDeR programme and a member of the Community Learning Disability Team. 

If successful with their application, the practice will be accredited with the Learning Disability Friendly Badge and be deemed a Learning Disability Friendly Practice; this status will be recognised by the RCGP and the local CQC for five years, before a review will need to take place to reassess the accreditation.