Improving Care for Service Users With Learning Disability by Increasing Early MDT Coordination for Those Referred With Behaviours That Challenge

AIMS: Our aim was for 80% of new referrals for behaviours that challenge within Tower Hamlets Community Learning Disability service to have an MDT coordinated approach by July 2022. This followed concerns about disjointed care and long waits for therapeutic support when being referred between different MDT branches within the service having a negative impact on patient care. METHODS: An MDT project team was formed and weekly meetings were arranged. A driver diagram was created. Our primary outcome measure was determined: percentage of referred patients per week that had MDT coordinated assessments, with data being collected manually from electronic progress notes and MDT meeting minutes. Number of referrals per week was recorded as a process measure. Baseline data were added to the Life QI web platform upon collection, allowing generation of run charts for outcome and process measures. The time-frame over which referrals were recorded was changed from weekly to fortnightly, to help differentiate graphically between zero values resulting from the absence of MDT coordination and those resulting from no referrals being received on a given week. Attempts were made to obtain service user input via easy-read questionnaires and subsequent discussion in a service user participation group. A weekly Positive Behavioural Support meeting was set up and a Positive Behavioural Support database was established, and the combination of these changes simplified data collection and gave a focus to MDT working and collaboration for these service users. Data were recorded from 28/06/2021 to 03/07/2022 initially and subsequently extended to 06/11/2022 as part of a further PDSA cycle. RESULTS: A shift in proportion of service users referred with behaviour that challenges who had MDT involvement at the point of allocation was observed, to above the mean value of 0.5, commencing 07/02/2022, this shift was sustained until the project's endpoint. In terms of our process measure, the median number of new behaviour that challenges referrals per fortnightly period to psychiatry and psychology was one. This ranged from 0-4 referrals per fortnightly period, but no sustained change in this value was observed over the course of the project. CONCLUSION: Implementing a new behaviour that challenges database and weekly meeting to focus on MDT coordinated working in those newly referred with behaviour that challenges has been successful in leading to a measurable and sustained improvement in the proportion of those service users receiving timely MDT coordinated care.