01 August 2008
NHS trust boards must take the lead in ensuring equal treatment for people with learning disabilities, the NHS Confederation said this week, following a critical report on the service's implementation of anti-discrimination laws.
Sir Jonathan Michael's independent inquiry said the NHS was ignoring laws designed to protect patients with learning disabilities. As a result, patients were suffering, or even dying. The inquiry was launched following the deaths of six patients, which were highlighted in a report by the charity Mencap last year.
Michael's report, Healthcare for all, published on July 29, said new laws were not needed but the NHS must ensure existing ones worked effectively.
'Although there are examples of good practice, witnesses described some appalling examples of discrimination, abuse and neglect across the range of health services,' the report added.
Michael, the former chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, noted that the health needs of people with learning disabilities were not a national priority in the NHS Operating Framework for 2008/09. These patients also 'slipped through the inspectorial and regulatory net'.
Alison Giraud-Saunders, co-director of the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, called for immediate action to implement the inquiry's recommendations.
A culture change was needed, according to NHS Confederation acting chief executive Steve Barnett. 'The challenge for boards is to ensure providing first-class services for people with learning disabilities is a fundamental part of the service they offer,' he said. 'NHS employers recognise there is a need for increased understanding of learning disability issues among health care staff and therefore support recommendations to increase staff training and awareness.'
Mencap chief executive Dame Jo Williams said: 'It is clear that there is a desperate need for mandatory learning disability training for all health care professionals.'
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said poor treatment of people with learning disabilities was unacceptable.
He promised to publish a full response to the report before the end of the year.
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