Watchdog calls for sweeping and sustained changes to neglected services for people with learning disabilities

Published: 3 December 2007

Healthcare Commission says national performance measures needed after first audit of services for people with learning difficulties

The Healthcare Commission said today (Monday) that




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sweeping and sustained changes are needed to services for people with learning difficulties if they are to meet the standards expected in the 21st century.

It published the first audit of specialist inpatient healthcare services for people with learning difficulties, which included one of the largest inspection programs it has ever carried out.

The Commission found that most services for people with learning difficulties provide poor standards of care and there are unacceptable variations in the quality of services throughout the country.

Death By Indifference

This report will set out why we (MENCAP) believe there is institutional discrimination within the NHS, and why people with a learning disability get worse healthcare than non-disabled people. We present the stories of six people who we believe have died unnecessarily. We do so because healthcare professionals need to realise the serious — even fatal — consequences of their lack of understanding. We do so to point out that these professionals must work to ensure that such tragedies can never happen again.