Treading the learning disability boards

Acting and Learning Disability Nursing wouldn’t appear to make great bedfellows but in Mark Gray’s case, the two turned out to be a match made in heaven!

That’s because Mark started his career as an Actor and during one of those “resting periods” which all thespians experience at some stage, he was asked to oversee a play scheme for people with learning disabilities.

“There was a deafblind lad who had Down’s Syndrome and that resonated personal with me because I went to a special school as a child due to being severely deaf in both ears,” he recalls.

“That meant my first language was signed English and as this this little guy in the play scheme wouldn't communicate with anybody. I made it my mission to do so and within the seven weeks he was fully involved in everything we did.

“I realised just how rewarding that was when I went through that process and somebody said to me have you ever thought about learning disability nursing and the rest is history!”

Mark became a Learning Disability Nurse in the 1980s and has been involved in the sector ever since, working in hospitals. community services and day services.

And then I carried on with my nursing career and I worked in day services and within a hospital setting then community nursing.

In 1987 he was working for social services and set up a day service for people with profound disability. “That was my first kind of introduction into complex needs,” he says.

“I always had an interest in this area because of the sensory nature of it.”

Mark then went to work for Royal National Institute for the Blind where he was the National Training and Research Development Officer in Multiple Disability, a job which took him around the world. He also did a further degree in deafblind communication and communication with people with profound disabilities.

This later resulted in a role as Head of Regional Services for DeafBlind UK. He has also been Chair of the British Institute for Learned Disability and Chair of the National Network for Learned Disability Nursing.

Mark then set up his own consultancy, Mark Gray Associates, which he continues to run today and when we were looking to set up our new complex care service, and based on all his experience, he was the perfect candidate.

He is working closely with our Managing Director, Simon Ford, Care Manager Chloe Holmes and Case Leader Leah McCrum.

Mark said: “It’s always exciting setting something like this up from scratch and Leah and I have been busy looking at the care plans of current customers to see if they would benefit from the service, as well as identifying the case managers, commissioners and schools in Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire who may be able to refer to us.

“And we’re looking into the recruitment of Support Workers and the extra training they will need to help our customers to be independent in their own homes and communities.”

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