Jackie O’Sullivan, Executive Director of Communications, Advocacy and Activism at the learning disability charity Mencap, said:
"The new report from MPs on the COVID response shows once again the suffering that people with a learning disability have faced. It highlights the unacceptably high death rate of people with a learning disability, the barriers people faced to accessing healthcare, and - in some instances - the use of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders placed on people’s files just because they had a learning disability. And despite people with a learning disability facing serious healthcare inequalities even before COVID, the Government failed to produce guidance that considered their needs during the pandemic.
"The high death rate of people from ethnic minority groups is also appalling, and leaves people with a learning disability from ethnic minority backgrounds in danger of double discrimination. A recent report from the Race Equality Foundation pointed out that 40% of the disproportionate number of deaths of people with a learning disability were of people from Black and Pakistani communities.
"These inequalities can no longer by ignored. Even with the pandemic abating, we will still see people with a learning disability missing out on what they need from health services – something that happened even before COVID. This crisis must be the wake-up call that results in urgent system change. The Government needs to address the shocking levels of premature death that people with a learning disability continue to face."