Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to address the serious problems that people with intellectual disability face in getting their healthcare needs met in general hospitals by improving the training of general hospital staff. Design/methodology/approach -Review of recent developments in models of service provision including the development of intellectual disability liaison nurses and the RAID model in liaison psychiatry. Findings -There is much scope for intellectual disability liaison nurses and liaison psychiatry services to work together in staff training in general hospitals. There is a clear strategic role for both services in convincing the management of general hospitals to implement such training using economic and quality arguments. Originality/value -The authors suggest a new model of working to improve the healthcare outcomes of people with intellectual disabilities through effective training of staff in general hospitals.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on Durrant’s paper “Factors influencing the quality of care learning disabled patients receive in hospital”. Design/methodology/approach The commentary identifies examples of practice in acute hospital provision consistent with the themes outlined in Durrant’s paper. Findings The themes identified in Durrant’s paper are easily recognisable. At the same time, there is a need to more fully understand the complexity of acute hospitals and to involve mainstream health-care staff in development and delivery of training on learning disability. Consideration should be given to the development of new specialist roles. Originality/value The commentary provides a practice perspective arising from wide clinical experience.