25th July 2025
Stopping the Overmedication of People with Learning Disabilities (STOMP)
STOMP is an NHS-led campaign to stop the over-medication of people with learning disabilities and autism.
30-35,000 people are on excessive doses of psychotropic (mood altering) medication – with drastic effects on an individual’s health – often prescribed for years without a proper review.
Dimensions’ ambition is to ensure that this does not happen.
We work in partnership with a multi- disciplinary team of GP’s, families, psychiatrists, LD nurses and Behavioural Support Teams so that we can achieve better lives for the people we support. People just like Katy:
Katy’s story
Katy was diagnosed with epilepsy and a learning disability when she was 11 years old.
She was reported to have ‘drop seizures’ and required medication to manage these. She lived with family until she was 19, when she moved into residential care.
From here, she moved through several residential care homes over the course of 27 years until she was hospitalised due to a fall caused by malnutrition.
As a result, she was unable to return to her previous setting as it was in an upstairs room and she had become bedbound. She was assessed and discharged to Dimensions.
Getting to know Katy
Katy arrived only with a pair of pyjamas. There was little history on where she had been before or what had led her to require the care of the high dependency unit.
On admission, she weighed only 5st3lbs. She was bed-bound and too weak to mobilise herself, requiring a hoist and never leaving the house.
Katy made no effort to interact with her staff or the other people. She had some speech but it was slurred and it seemed to tire her even to try.
Due to her severe malnutrition, she was prescribed a cocktail of vitamin supplements to give her essential nutrients, amongst a variety of other medications for epilepsy, depression and mood stabilisers.
It was clear that Katy disliked taking her medication as she often refused it. Family members explained to colleagues that they would only call her in the afternoon because there was no point in calling earlier as she was “too drugged up.”
Katy’s medication was severely affecting her way of life.
Katy’s support team took the lead in requesting a reduction in medication and also a referral to the Intensive Outreach Service from the doctor.
The family were very much on board with the plan. The first medication to be reduced was Tegretol, a drug ordinarily used for the management of epilepsy, but also used for the control of bi-polar disorder as well as a mood stabiliser.
Katy was on Tegretol as a mood stabiliser rather than to control her epilepsy. Initially the G.P. reduced the Tegretol from 500mg to 400mg. Staff were to monitor the reactions to this reduction by completing daily logs, seizure activity logs and ABC charts.
Katy was unaltered by the change. There were no differences noted in presentation or frequency, both in her seizure activity or the behaviour.
At the next review the doctor agreed a more drastic reduction, halving the Tegretol from 400mg to 200mg. The monitoring was to continue and the review to take place after the first two weeks.
In the first week of this greater reduction, staff recorded a slight increase in seizure activity. The Intensive Outreach Service were on call for advice with these incidents, although these seemed to stabilise to ordinary levels within the week. Once the first week had passed something started to change.
Katy changed!
She became more alert and didn’t spend the entire day in and out of sleep. There was no distressed behaviour from Katy towards her support team… in fact she started speaking and joking with them! It even became apparent that Katy actually had an Irish accent – something that had been completely missed due to her limited communication.
Katy started to eat her food, build up her strength and be able to self-transfer to her wheelchair. Before long, she began walking again.
She continued to improve over the following weeks and her support team was able to build a strong relationship, finding out her likes and dislikes.
As she learned to trust those around her, she started going to community based groups and attending a day centre.
Katy now enjoys going to a music group and staff have discovered that she knows many lyrics to songs – her favourites including ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the Beatles and ‘Mama Mia’ by Abba.
She has more choice, independence, and has been given the opportunity to start living her life.
Indeed, her family were speechless with the difference they witnessed in a recent visit. More than anything, they want Katy’s story to be told – they were elated with the progress that had been made via the dedication of the staff team and the reduction in psychotropic medications.
Katy now weighs 7st7lbs and enjoys picking clothes, perfume and make up to wear for the day’s activities ahead. Her life has improved dramatically.
Katy has her life back!