Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) has been awarded £380,000 to expand its specialist Disability Intensive Care Enhanced (DICE) service, providing vital support to children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both.
The funding from Toucan – the West Midlands CAMHS Provider Collaborative – will enable our Children and Young People’s Division to increase staffing and extend the reach of the DICE service for the next 18 months. This means we will be able to support more young people across Birmingham who are at risk of psychiatric hospital admission, helping them access timely intervention and preventing inappropriate admissions wherever possible.
At the end of 2024, more than 200 children and young people with a learning disability or autism were in hospital across England, with Birmingham recording more admissions than expected locally*.
The DICE service works intensively with young people and their families and the professional network for around 12 weeks to reduce the risk of psychiatric admission, improve crisis response, and support safe discharge. The new investment will strengthen the team with additional nursing, allied professionals, peer support and clinical support staff, enabling DICE to work with more young people, operate more proactively with teams across the Children and Young People’s Division.
Louise Bull-Tyagi, Lead nurse for learning disabilities and DICE, said:
“We are delighted to secure this investment, which will have a real and immediate impact for families across Birmingham. Expanding the DICE service means we can reach more children and young people at risk, providing the right support at the right time and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.
“This fixed term funding will allow us to develop a stronger, multidisciplinary approach to care for young people who have a diagnosis of learning disability and/or autism. By working closely with families, schools, and community teams, we can intervene earlier, prevent crises, and improve the long-term outcomes.”
The initiative supports the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan, which highlights the need for greater investment in intensive and crisis community support for people with a learning disability, autism or both.
*Data courtesy of the Learning Disabilities in Birmingham Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Deep Dive Report (2024); Assuring Transformation Dataset (NHS Digital).
Published: 2 June 2026
