The Tile House Surgery in Brentwood has become the first GP practice in Mid Essex to achieve Learning Disability Friendly GP Practice accreditation, recognising its commitment to improving healthcare access and reducing health inequalities for people with a learning disability.
The Learning Disability Friendly GP Practice programme is a quality improvement initiative that supports GP practices to provide more accessible, person-centred care for people with a learning disability through high-quality annual health checks, personalised reasonable adjustments and dedicated learning disability champions.
Originally developed in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the programme was introduced to Essex in 2023 before being formally established across by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT). Tile House Surgery became the pilot practice for the initiative within Brentwood, working closely with Sport for Confidence to demonstrate how the accreditation standards could be successfully embedded into everyday primary care.
The practice was assessed against a comprehensive set of criteria before presenting evidence to an independent accreditation panel comprising representatives from EPUT, Essex Integrated Care Board, Essex Carers Network, Adult Social Care and Sport for Confidence.
As part of the accreditation process, Tile House Surgery demonstrated a number of examples of best practice. These included; producing a virtual tour of the surgery and staff introductions to help patients feel more familiar with the environment before attending appointments, ensuring all relevant staff completed specialist learning disability training, offering and implementing reasonable adjustments where appropriate and ensuring they are documented into patient records and delivering good quality face to face annual health checks.
The practice has also achieved a Learning Disability Annual Health Check completion rate of 95 per cent for the second consecutive year, with every completed health check including a comprehensive face-to-face physical health assessment by a GP.
The accreditation represents part of the wider work Sport for Confidence is delivering across the Brentwood Primary Care Network, working with GP surgeries to improve both the quality and uptake of Learning Disability Annual Health Checks.
Kimberley Dutton, Senior Occupational Therapist at Sport for Confidence, says: “This accreditation is a fantastic achievement for Tile House Surgery and reflects years of commitment to making healthcare more accessible, personalised and inclusive for people with a learning disability.
“Our role has been to work alongside the practice to embed the principles of person-centred care, improve the quality of annual health checks and ensure reasonable adjustments become part of everyday practice. We hope this achievement inspires other GP practices across Essex to see what is possible when health partners work together to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes for people with a learning disability.”
Representatives from Sport for Confidence, EPUT and Tile House Surgery recently came together to celebrate the achievement and present the practice with its accreditation certificate.
Julie McMillan, Deputy Practice Manager speaking on behalf of Tile House Surgery, says: “We are incredibly proud of the entire team at Tile House Surgery for achieving our NHS Learning Disability Accreditation. This recognition reflects the dedication, compassion, and commitment shown by every member of staff in ensuring our practice provides inclusive, accessible, and high-quality care for people with learning disabilities. It is a fantastic achievement and one that demonstrates our shared commitment to continually improving the services we provide to our patients and community.”
It is hoped the success of Tile House Surgery will encourage other GP practices across Essex to work towards Learning Disability Friendly GP Practice accreditation, to create more equitable, accessible healthcare for people with a learning disability.
To learn more about Tile House Surgery, watch their video here: https://www.tilehousesurgery.com/learning-disabilities
