Commissioning services for people with learning disabilities in Scotland: linking evidence and practice

Commissioning has been defined as 'The process of translating aspirations and need into timely and quality services' (CSCI 2006). This paper describes the development of some practical guidance for people involved in commissioning services for individuals with learning disabilities. A national conference was organised in November 2005 to look at the question of 'What works in learning disability services?', i.e. what approaches have proven effectiveness in the planning, commissioning and provision of services for people with learning disabilities. This was followed by four workshops around Scotland to seek practitioners' views on commissioning, at a strategic and at an individual level. From this, written and online guidelines were devised, based on seven steps with a number of associated key questions. These guidelines aim to inform commissioners about available research and good practice, and provide a method of recording the basis on which commissioners make their decisions for models of care and their experiences in a way that could be shared with others.