In response to the Care Quality Commission’s annual ‘State of Care’
assessment
An assessment is a way of finding out what help a person needs. When you have an assessment, you might have to go to a meeting or fill in a form.
of services in England, Jon Sparkes OBE, Chief Executive of
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.
charity Mencap, said:
"This important report paints a clear picture of the understaffed, under-resourced and pressured situation across health and care services in England. This situation has a disproportionate impact on people with a learning disability, who face a lack of understanding of their needs and services that fail to adapt to them.
“It shows clearly that too few people with a learning disability are receiving specialist support like annual health checks and enrolment on the GP
learning disability register
The learning disability register is a list of people with a learning disability that the doctor’s surgery looks after.
. These are important measures designed to tackle the considerable inequalities faced by people with a learning disability who die on average nearly 20 years younger than the general population - yet many struggle to even access their GP.
“The report also shows how a lack of clinical expertise and community A community is the people and places in an area. support is trapping people in long term segregation for far too long – being locked away from your loved ones because of this is truly awful.
“And it shows the impact of the workforce challenges so evident in last week’s Skills for Care report. We’re very worried about the impact of ending the visa scheme.
“The Government is well aware of these challenges and needs to speed up the measures they’re putting in place to tackle them. We look forward to the roll out of the
NHS
The NHS is the National Health Service. The NHS gives free healthcare to everyone in the UK and includes things like your GP (doctors) surgery and hospitals.
10 year plan - it’s vital people with a learning disability are at the heart of it.”
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact Mencap’s media team on: [email protected] or 02076 965414 (including out of hours).
Note to editors
About Mencap
Mencap exists to ensure the UK is the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives. We support people directly and
campaign
A campaign is when people work together to try to change something.
with people with a learning disability, their families and carers. We work to change laws, increase representation and campaign for better health,
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
and
employment
Employment means having a job.
opportunities for the 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK.
What is a learning disability?
- A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which affects someone for their whole life. Typically, people with a learning disability need more time to learn and process information. They may need extra support to develop skills, complete tasks and interact with others, or they may have more complex needs requiring round-the clock care. The level of support needed is different for everyone and may change during a person’s lifetime.
- Learning disability is NOT a mental illness or a learning difficulty. Often, the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used in place of ‘learning disability’. Having a learning difficulty (such as ADHD or
dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty. People who have dyslexia can find it hard to read, write and spell.
) may mean a person learns at a different pace or in a different way BUT – unlike a learning disability - it does not affect a person’s intellect. With the right support, most people with a learning disability can lead happy, healthy, independent lives. At Mencap, it’s our mission to remove societal barriers and shatter misconceptions to make this more possible for more people.
Mencap’s guide to reporting on Learning Disability
When it comes to creating content with people with a learning disability, we know many people feel nervous about saying and doing the wrong thing. Our guide for journalists, covers everything from up-to-date facts and figures to the right language to use. It also includes tips on how to work with people with a learning disability to gather the best content.
