Community Learning Disabilities Teams

Community Learning Disabilities Teams (CLDTs) are multi-disciplinary
teams that provide assessment, intervention and develop care packages for
the health care and social care management of people with intellectual disabilities.
They generally consist of:
Social workers/care managers
Community nurses
Clinical psychologists
Physiotherapists
Occupational therapists
Psychiatrists
Speech and language therapists
Challenging behaviour workers
The Community Learning Disabilities Team has traditionally provided
direct specialist health care and social care management for people with
intellectual disabilities living in the community. The Government wants
the teams to refocus in line with the values set out in the White Paper
‘Valuing People’. They will now also:
Take on a health facilitation role by helping people access
general health services, both in-patient and out-patient
Provide specialist support and expertise to the staff working in
general services
Teach staff from social services and the independent sector to
become more familiar with how to support people with
intellectual disabilities to have their health needs met In terms of the mental health needs of people with intellectual disabilities,
the Community Learning Disabilities Team will address them if they have
a psychiatrist within the team. Some areas will have a separate specialist
mental health in intellectual disabilities team, which is described later.
Within some Community Learning Disabilities Teams community nurses
have completed specialized training in the mental health needs of people
with intellectual disabilities and will work closely with the psychiatrist.