The Integrated Community Learning Disability Team won a coveted London Health & Social Care Award in the service transformation category. This award recognises services that have been transformed and provides an exceptional experience for those who receive and deliver them.

The award went to the Atheldene Project, which operates from the Atheldene Day Centre in Garratt Lane, which is run by Social Services and caters for local people with Learning Disabilities.

The project, which was established in December 2006, provides full time specialist occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. The Wandsworth Community Learning Disability Team works intensively with Social Care staff to provide services to a group of adults with complex needs. Through the project the staff at the centre are able to develop the skills and confidence they require to fully engage with service users.

Health staff in the Wandsworth Community Learning Disability Team are employed by the PCT and seconded to Wandsworth Borough Council. Therapy funding for the Atheldene Project comes from Social Services and has now been extended for a further two years with plans to roll this model of practice out to the other complex needs groups within the Learning Disability Service.