Jessica Lee

At my local community learning disability team, our goal is to support people with learning disabilities to develop to their maximum potential, improve their quality of life and increase their independence in all aspects of daily living. My responsibilities include receiving and prioritising referrals, completing independence led assessments and creating support plans, finding and co-ordinating services to support people, then evaluating the services and packages of care, and making adjustments. Another aspect of my role is to manage hospital admissions of patients with a learning disability, often advocating on their behalf and liaising with many professionals and family members to ensure their needs are met and reasonable adjustments are made. We also facilitate access to high quality primary health care services, and in doing so, support the improvement of them. Finally, I also practice my clinical skills by carrying out COVID-19 swab tests on home visits, and delivering depot injections to support individuals’ mental health.

As a newly qualified nurse currently doing my preceptorship year, I am keen to continue to learn how to be the best practitioner I can. The nature of the sector where we work means that things are always changing as new legislation and policies are developed, and attitudes and ideas evolve. For this reason I think it is crucial throughout my career to always be keen to learn, adapt, and grow. This will mean I can provide the best quality of care to individuals possible.

I believe the fellowship can help me continue my professional development and learn how to be an assertive, supportive leader within my team. I feel it will give me the tools to be aware of, and where relevant challenge, the culture of care in my work setting and ensure it is always person-centred in everything we do. Also ensuring we continuously develop and improve universal and specialist health services so that people with learning disabilities enjoy fair and equal access, experience and outcomes.