Going to Hospital

Why might it be of interest?

SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence) write some interesting articles and these 2 articles are about going to hospital.  The main guide is linked above but there is also an easy read guide which you can see here:  https://www.scie.org.uk/app/uploads/2025/12/Get-me-to-hospital-easy-read-guide_November-2025_FINAL.pdf?utm_campaign=15513471_Safeguarding%20newsletter%20June%202026&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SOCIAL%20CARE%20INSTITUTE%20FOR%20EXCELLENCE%20&utm_sfid=0036f00003XqJiFAAV&utm_role=Other&dm_i=4O5,98I9R,D7NZ03,12RKMH,1,0,0,0

I think a key take away from this article is to give it some thought before it happens – about how you would get your young person to hospital.  This could be for a scheduled appointment but it might also be in an emergency.

Many of our young people will be reluctant to go to a hospital.  This article discusses how the mental capacity act is relevant to this decision – ie whether the young person can make this decision for themselves or not.  There are things you can do to be prepared such as have something written into their care plan; reasonable adjustments on their clinical notes; regular health check ups so these become a normal part of their life; practice runs.

Medical staff, such as paramedics, will not be able to force the issue if the person refuses or you may need to think about whether you would have to use some restraint or sedation.

It would be helpful to try to understand why they are reluctant – it may not be the hospital itself – it could be that it’s busy places or bright lights – and then you can better work out how to manage the situation.

For non emergencies your local hospital may have a patient support service who you can contact for support.  I used this service at West Mid only last year and can highly recommend it – I wrote about it here:  https://ruils.co.uk/article/learning-disability-support-service-in-hospitals/