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Charity funded vulnerable inpatient bags support hospital visits to people with learning disabilities

A donation of just £16 could fund a vulnerable inpatient (VIP) bag for a person with a learning disability.

A Hospital VIP bag is a rucksack which helps to support people when they go to hospital by identifying that a person has a learning disability.

Each of the green bags contains a drink bottle, a sensory item, a mindful colouring book and crayons, along with a checklist of the things a person needs to take to hospital with them, easy read information about visiting the hospital to enable it to be pre-packed and ready for a hospital visit. There is also an easy read sheet containing four important questions for the individual to show to healthcare professionals:

  • what is wrong with me?
  • what is going to happen next?
  • what can I do to help myself?
  • when am I likely to go home?

It also contains a hospital passport, which tells healthcare professionals about a person’s learning disability, how they like to communicate and how to make things easier for them.

The bags help people with a learning disability to access health settings more easily, and reduce the worry about what they need to take with them and if any questions that arise, as the information is already in the bag.

In North Lincolnshire, more than 230 people have been given a Hospital VIP bag to support them on hospital visits, via our North Lincolnshire Community Learning Disability team, thanks to charitable funding and in Doncaster there have been 115 issued to date.

Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust Primary Liaison Nurse said: “This is a simple idea, that makes a real difference.

“People with a learning disability may struggle in certain environments like hospitals, which they can find daunting and upsetting.

“Our aim is to support them to access hospitals for their physical health needs and for health professionals to have a better understanding or their needs.”

Published: January 29, 2025