11/12/08
Leading health bodies unite to stop discrimination against people with a learning disability in NHS care
A group of key health organisations, chaired by the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences’ Jim Blair, has joined forces with Mencap, the UK’s leading learning disability charity, to produce a best practice guide for health professionals on improving healthcare for people with a learning disability.
Getting it Right, published today (11 December), is part of the health organisations’ support for Mencap’s campaign to stop discrimination against people with a learning disability in NHS care. An interactive website accompanies the guide - www.mencap.org.uk/gettingitright
The health bodies, which include the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal Society of Medicine, and which represent over one million health professionals in the UK, came together in response to the publication of Mencap’s Death by indifference report. In the report, Mencap highlighted the deaths of six people with a learning disability in NHS care.
Mark Goldring, chief executive of Mencap, says: “Mencap’s report, Death by indifference, and Sir Jonathan Michael’s independent inquiry Healthcare for all showed that people with a learning disability receive poorer healthcare than the general population.
“Mencap welcomes the support of the organisations involved and their recognition that something needs to be done. We hope that all health professionals use this practical resource to improve the level of healthcare given to people with a learning disability.”
Jim Blair, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences and Chair of the Getting it Right group says: “It is everybody’s business to provide equitable care and treatment for people with learning disabilities in the acute care sector. Getting it right will alert health professionals of all levels – from the receptionist to the most senior clinician - to their responsibility to ensure people with a learning disability receive the best possible treatment.”
Martin Bollard, Vice Chair of the Getting it Right group representing the Royal College of General Practitioners, comments: “The Getting it right guide represents what can be achieved when different health bodies collaborate effectively on behalf of vulnerable members of society. With the continued efforts of the groups who have developed this guide, it is hoped that the future risk of fatalities and discrimination against people with learning disabilities within mainstream healthcare can be reduced.”
For more information and to download the guidance, visit www.mencap.org.uk/gettingitright