About

This year is the eighth year that the NHS Benchmarking Network have provided comprehensive evaluation of trusts’ compliance with the national learning disability improvement standards for NHS trusts. The benchmarking project consists of 6 main collections this year:

Launching in November 2025

1. Organisational level collection

   The organisational level data for the Learning Disability Improvement Standards project is submitted online through the NHS Benchmarking Network members’ area. It is completed by a nominated project lead, as well as other nominated staff members. The survey questions aim to collate data on policies and protocols within organisations’ activity, workforce and service quality.

   There have been a number of areas of focus for services provided to people with learning disabilities and/or autism over the last few years. These include: the ability to flag people with learning disabilities and/or autism on patient systems, demonstration of reasonable adjustments to care pathways, promotion of anti-discriminatory measures and ensuring people with learning disabilities and/or autism are empowered to exercise their rights.

   Click here for the Year 8 organisational level collection data specifications

2. Staff survey

   The survey allows staff members to give their views on their trust and delivery of care to patients with a learning disability and/or autistic patients anonymously. Trusts across England were provided with a unique URL link to distribute to staff members who had provided care for patients with a learning disability and/or autistic patients. The URL link provided staff with access to a survey hosted by the NHS Benchmarking Network, which consisted of a series of multiple choice questions.

   The topics explored throughout the survey include: the ability of staff to identify what reasonable adjustments patients required, the involvement of patients and family carers in how care was delivered, and whether staff had received the necessary training required to meet the needs of people with a learning disability and/or autism.

   Click here for the Year 8 staff survey data specifications

Following collaboration and scoping with NHS England and LD England, a further four components will be launched in January 2026:

1.    Seven regional patient focus groups – facilitated by LD England

2.    An online patient survey – accessed via a URL/QR code. Promotion materials for the survey will be provided

3.    An online family/carer survey – accessed via a URL/QR code. Promotion materials for the survey will be provided

4.    A pilot clinical case note review. Participating Trusts will be asked to review 5 – 10 clinical case notes of patients with a learning disability who have been seen by the Trust during the last year.

Who can participate?

All Acute, Community and Mental Health NHS Trusts can participate and submit data to the core project. This includes organisations that provide universal services as well as those that provide specialist learning disability and autism services.

Getting involved

LDIS for NHS trusts opens for data collection on Monday 3rd November 2025, go to the member’s area to register your organisation and start submitting your data, or click on the ‘data collection’ button at the top right-hand corner of this webpage. Data collection will be open until 31st March 2026.

Click here to access the Year 8 project guidance

LDIS for Health & Justice

The team are also scoping benchmarking projects for a number of services within the Health & Justice system including Prisons, Liaison and Diversion Services, Mental Health Treatment Requirement Services, RECONNECT services, Immigration Removal Centres, and Sexual Assault Referral Centres. The specifications for these projects are still being reviewed and timescales will be determined as soon as possible.

Timescales for the Health & Justice project will be confirmed in the near future.