A doctor has been recognised after their improvements to mental health access for people with learning disabilities have been adopted by HM Courts.

Consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of learning disability services Dr Indermeet Sawhney has been nominated for Clinical Leader of the Year for making mental health tribunals more accessible to people with learning disabilities.

Her easy read guidance for face-to-face and virtual tribunal hearings has now been adopted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and HM Courts and Tribunals Service and published as official guidance on the UK government website to help make equal justice accessible for all.

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Dr Sawhey said: “I am both delighted and flattered to have been shortlisted for the Clinical Leader of the Year award but our main priority, focus and motivation must be ensuring that people with learning disabilities get equal treatment, both in terms of the law and in improved health care outcomes.”

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is celebrating two shortlist entries at the largest annual awards programme for the health sector, The Health Service Journal Awards, which received more than 1,000 submissions across 25 categories.

As well as Clinical Leader of the Year, the trust is also shortlisted in the Innovation and Improvement in Reducing Healthcare Inequalities category for introducing enhanced physical health checks for people with learning disabilities.

Dr Sawhney led on the development of increased checks and monitoring, using the latest modern technology, to remotely monitor physical health and identify problems sooner for people with learning disabilities, who are at a higher risk of preventable death.

Trust executive director of quality and medical leadership Professor Asif Zia said: “To get to the shortlisting stage is a fantastic achievement and recognition of the work and dedication that Indermeet and the wider Trust team have shown in supporting our service users and carers.

“Indermeet is an excellent clinician who always thinks of service users first while the work we have done to introduce enhanced physical health checks for people with learning disabilities is a positive, much-needed initiative which has made a real difference to our service users.”

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust provides health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in November.

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