Health leaders and campaigners came together to talk about life expectancy, avoidable deaths and other barriers people with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
face when accessing healthcare at our first Health Inequalities Summit, attended by HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh recently.
We hope the summit will help with long term joint planning and action to reduce the inequalities people with a learning disability face. We want to see everyone with a learning disability to be on the Learning Disability register with their doctor, and the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism being rolled out swiftly.
Learn more about the Health Inequalities Summit 2023
Hear from chief executive Edel Harris, campaigns officer Vijay Patel, campaigner Cath Horbury, and engagement lead Ciara Lawrence talk about the importance of the summit and what we want it to achieve.
HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh – our current Patron – has supported us for nearly 20 years, and heard from NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, our Chair Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, and campaigners like Cath Horbury who spoke about the benefits of annual health checks.
Paula McGowan also spoke passionately about her work campaigning for
mandatory
Mandatory means that something must be done.
training for health and social care staff following the death of her son Oliver. HRH also met Treat Me Well campaigners and people involved in the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training.
One Treat Me Well campaigner Michelle Ornstein said: “I am part of a group of people with a learning disability that promote annual health checks and encourage people to sign up to the
learning disability register
The learning disability register is a list of people with a learning disability that the doctor’s surgery looks after.
.
“I feel very strongly that other people with a learning disability need to know what a difference some small steps can make to their lives. It was very special to meet The Duchess of Edinburgh and see everyone working together to make changes”.
Mencap’s Treat Me Well campaign – which launched in February 2018 - has aimed to transform how the NHS treats people with a learning disability. Whilst some progress has been made, including the Oliver McGowan training being made mandatory and a significant increase in patients with a learning disability having a Learning Disability Health Check, people with a learning disability still face shocking health inequalities.
Last year’s Learning Disability Mortality Review showed the appalling level of early and avoidable deaths experienced by people with a learning disability; on average people with a learning disability die 25 years younger than the general population and 49% of deaths of people with a learning disability were judged avoidable, compared to 22% for the general population.
“Health inequalities cannot be ignored,” said our chair, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said. “People with a learning disability have a right to access good quality and timely care that meets their needs and helps support them to live happy and healthy lives.
“We hope today’s inaugural Health Inequalities Summit is the first step on the road to working together to deliver a shared plan to tackle the shocking levels of premature death and health inequalities that people with a learning disability continue to face.”