Why tackling learning disability health inequalities must be a government priority
People with learning disabilities and autism can die decades earlier than the general population and the government must address such gross health inequalities
People with learning disabilities and autism can die decades earlier than the general population and the government must address such gross health inequalities
People with learning disabilities and autism die decades earlier than the general population. We know this from successive LeDeR reports.
For people with autism and a learning disability the difference can be approaching 30 years according to the latest LeDeR report published in November 2023, which is based on data for 2022. Of the 2,054 deaths in people with a learning disability 853 (42%) were avoidable. The report goes on to make the point that good care can prevent deaths.
‘Why do nearly one in three NHS trusts in England not have a learning disability liaison service employing a registered learning disability nurse?’
There is also much evidence, including the RCN’s Impact of Staffing Levels on Safe and Effective Patient Care, that employing the right number of qualified and experienced nurses significantly improves patient outcomes.
Learning disability nurses are best placed to understand individual and family needs
This evidence applies to learning disability nurses as much as to any other field of practice. Your unique training, experience and skills means that you are best placed to understand individuals’ and families’ needs in this specialty.
Why then do nearly one in three NHS trusts in England not have a learning disability liaison service employing a registered learning disability nurse?
Our investigation, Exclusive: ‘shocking’ hospital learning disability nurse gaps, shows that of the 110 NHS trusts who responded to our Freedom of Investigation request (made to 136 trusts), 15 said they did not have any kind of a learning disability liaison service. A further 17 described having a ‘safeguarding team’ that provides support to patients but with no access to a learning disability nurse at all.
UK government needs to get to grips with health inequality
Our report shows that the learning disability liaison nurse post is under-recognised by NHS trusts which maybe one reason why some do not fund it. Sometimes it can be difficult to recruit and teams are made up of people from other specialties.
People with learning disabilities deserve better and let’s hope the new UK government gets to grips with this gross health inequality and national shame.
Have you tried RCNi Plus yet?
RCNi Plus offers unlimited access to RCNi Learning, Learning Disability Practice, Nursing Standard, our other specialist journals and RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to store your CPD for revalidation. Use the discount code TRIALPLUS to get it half price for three months. Click here for more details
