ABSTRACT
The prime goal facing health and social care agencies in the learning disability field is to focus upon the unique needs of each individual and flexibly deploy services from a range of agencies to meet those needs. There is no single established way of doing this, but it is clear that the established system does not do it well. Exhortations to organisations, professions and other provider interests to work together more closely litter the policy landscape, but the reality is too often a jumble of services fractionalised by professional, cultural and organisational boundaries, as well as by tiers of governance (Webb, 1991).
