A leading Christian charity which works with over 2,500 people with learning disabilities across the UK has backed a report published on Monday claiming the NHS and social services in England are failing to meet the health needs of people with learning disabilities.
The Prospects charity is also urging Government ministers, NHS directors and social service leaders to host an urgent consultation with people with learning disabilities who want to tell them “we are people too!”
The health service and local government ombudsmen said the standard of care of people with learning disabilities was an "indictment of our society" after reviewing the deaths of six people. They found one man died as a result of failings in his care, while a second death could have been avoided.
The ombudsmen investigated the cases after they were highlighted by the charity Mencap.
They looked into complaints made by the families of the six people who died between 2003 and 2005. The report found failings by hospitals, local health bosses, the official NHS regulator and social care services provided by councils, although none of the complaints against GPs were upheld. It linked the care of two of the six - Mark Cannon, 30, from Romford, east London, and Martin Ryan, 43, from Richmond, west London - to their eventual deaths.
It also said the failings in the care of two more - Tom Wakefield, 20, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and Ted Hughes, 61, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire - was partly due to the fact that they had learning disabilities.
Care was found to be inadequate in the final two cases, although the ombudsmen ruled this could not be put down to the way the organisations treated people with learning disabilities. Nonetheless, they said there was enough evidence to suggest the problems were endemic across the services.
