Learning Disabilities

We are a team of four Specialist Learning Disability Dietitians covering the whole of Norfolk as a county-wide service.

What we offer

As Specialist Learning Disability Dietitians we ensure our service users receive the correct dietary advice that is person-centred to their needs, taking into account their learning disability, with reasonable adjustments made to support them where necessary. Multi-disciplinary work is essential and there are five different LD Teams across Norfolk (North, South, East, West and City) that we cover and work in.

We see patients with a learning disability for a range of nutritional concerns including: Nutrition Support, Type 1 & 2 Diabetes, Allergies, Intolerances, Coeliac Disease, IBS, Metabolic Conditions, Weight Management and Vitamin & Mineral deficiencies. We work out in the community with our MDT colleagues and tailor our advice to create sometimes very bespoke dietary advice for our patients.

Who’s it for

The service will accept referrals for people with a learning disability (and a dietary need) with two or more of the following:

The service user has been unable to have their mental health and /or physical health needs met through mainstream service provision with support and reasonable adjustments.
The presence of behaviours that challenge, where the behaviour is of severity and frequency to cause significant risk to self, others or the environment.
The service user requires an integrated specialist LD team approach to care, and other LD health professionals are involved at the same time.
The service user’s learning disability is impacting on their ability to engage/comply with therapy or treatment. Eg: Has an impact on most areas of a person’s life, significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information, to learn new skills (impaired intelligence) or reduced skills to cope with independent with everyday life