Streeting urges GP practices to improve access for people with a learning disability

General practice staff across England have been urged to help improve primary care access for people with a learning disability, in a letter sent by the health and social care secretary together with leading charity Mencap.

Wes Streeting has joined forces with Mencap’s government engagement officer Ismail Kaji, who has a learning disability, to ask all GP practices to ensure eligible patients are added to learning disability registers.

They also stressed the importance of offering annual health checks and personalised health plans.

Related Article: Learning disability nursing needs urgent ‘rescue plan’

Providing annual health checks and health action plans, the letter reads, ‘ensures access to additional support (such as vaccinations, immunisations and cancer screening), accessible information and tailored support to meet their reasonable adjustment needs’.

Mr Streeting said that access to annual health checks has been increasing in recent years, with ‘around 80% of people’ with a learning disability now receiving these annual check-ups, according to recent figures.

‘As part of our 10 Year Health Plan, we’re determined to continue to build on these efforts to ensure the front door to the NHS is truly open to all.

‘That’s why Mencap and I are asking all GPs to make full use of the financial incentives available to ensure those that need it have access to this valuable support, so that no one with a learning disability misses out,’ he explained.

The letter highlights alarming data from the NHS’s Learning from Lives and Deaths (LeDeR) programme, which found that people with a learning disability die, on average, 19.5 years earlier than the general population. Many of these deaths are considered avoidable.

Mr Kaji said: ‘As a person with a learning disability, I’m pleased that Wes Streeting agreed to write a joint letter with me, showing GPs what accessible easy read communication looks like, and asking them to play a vital role in supporting people with a learning disability with their health needs.’

Related Article: England’s domestic supply of learning disability nurses projected to end by 2028

‘Vital tools’ 

Mencap’s chief executive, Jon Sparkes, said health checks are ‘vital tools’ for improving the health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability.

He stressed the need to better include people with a mild learning disability, and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the learning disability health check scheme.

‘As the NHS moves to prevent illness and treat people in the community, annual health checks are a clear example of what the NHS needs to do to support people with early intervention and tailored services that meet their needs,’ Mr Sparkes said.

Earlier this month, Mencap warned that England’s nursing disability workforce is at risk of ‘imminent collapse’ and demanded an urgent meeting with ministers to agree a ‘rescue plan’ for the profession.

Related Article: New training code published for nurses on learning disability and autism

In June, Nursing in Practice exclusively reported that England’s domestic supply of learning disability nurses is projected to end by 2028.

Nursing in Practice has been exploring the powerful role registered learning disability nurses (RNLDs) play in delivering annual health checks in general practice and will be publishing a feature on the topic later this month.