Dan Scorer, Head of Policy at the learning disability charity Mencap, said:

“Long before COVID, people with a learning disability faced serious health inequalities. Now CQC’s review of inappropriate DNACPRs placed on people is further evidence of the discrimination they’ve faced during the pandemic.  

“We welcome the review which has found evidence of all the concerns that people with a learning disability, their families and care providers raised. And now we’re looking forward to working with the CQC as the work moves into its next phase - making sure that key recommendations are made to Government around addressing poor practice.”

CQC's interim report can be found here.

-ENDS-

For further information or to arrange an interview with a Mencap spokesperson or case study, please contact Mencap’s media team on: media@mencap.org.uk or 020 7696 5414 (including out of hours).         

Notes to editors

About Mencap   

There are approximately 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities. Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want. 

Visit www.mencap.org.uk.  

For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact Mencap’s Freephone Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111 (10am-3pm, Monday-Friday) or email help@mencap.org.uk.         

What is a learning disability?

  • A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which can cause problems with everyday tasks – for example shopping and cooking, or travelling to new places – which affects someone for their whole life;    
  • Learning disability is not a mental illness or a learning difficulty, such as dyslexia. Very often the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used interchangeably with ‘learning disability’;     
  • People with a learning disability can take longer to learn new things and may need support to develop new skills, understand difficult information and engage with other people. The level of support someone needs is different with every individual. For example, someone with a severe learning disability might need much more support with daily tasks than someone with a mild learning disability.