Health needs of people with learning disabilities neglected
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《英国医生杂志》
People with learning disabilities are being neglected in hospital and receiving a poor standard of care across the NHS in England and Northern Ireland, says the learning disability charity Mencap in a report. The report marks the launch of Mencap抯 campaign for better health care for this group of patients.
"People with a learning disability have the same rights as everybody else, and healthcare professionals should ensure they are treated with the same respect and values as other members of society," said Jo Williams, the charity抯 chief executive. "Mencap won抰 settle for anything less." As part of its campaign, Mencap plans to ask MPs to pressure their local primary care trusts to improve services.
The charity is also calling for an inquiry to determine why people with a learning disability are more likely to die at an early age compared with the general population. The report says that people with a learning disability are three times more likely to die from respiratory disease and have higher risks of coronary heart disease and gastrointestinal cancer.
The report also highlights the substantial healthcare needs of people with a learning disability. Nearly one in four (22%) have epilepsy compared with 1% of the general population, a third has a mental health problem, and four in 10 have hearing problems.
Mencap is recommending annual health checks for all people with a learning disability to ensure their needs are identified. The charity also wants the NHS to ensure that people with a learning disability have fair access to mainstream services, with monitoring included as part of routine equality audits.
As part of the research for this report, Mencap surveyed 1000 people with learning disabilities. In common with most patient polls, the survey showed a high level of satisfaction with services overall. But Mencap says that disturbing individual case studies were unearthed, in which patients were misdiagnosed, undertreated, or inadequately nursed in hospital. In some of these cases the patient was left with increased disability or died.
The report also cites a survey of 215 GPs, 75% of whom said they had received no training to help them treat people with a learning disability. A patient抯 learning disability could make it more difficult to determine a diagnosis, according to 90% of the GPs.
The NHS Confederation, which represents hospital and primary care trust management, welcomed the Mencap report and said that much had already been done to raise the profile and quality of services for people with learning disabilities.
However, a spokesman added: "This report shows that there are still sizeable gaps in access to the health care and treatment which people with a whole range of needs require." The confederation was "optimistic" that improvements could be made through the right partnership approach at local level.(London Colleen Shannon)
"People with a learning disability have the same rights as everybody else, and healthcare professionals should ensure they are treated with the same respect and values as other members of society," said Jo Williams, the charity抯 chief executive. "Mencap won抰 settle for anything less." As part of its campaign, Mencap plans to ask MPs to pressure their local primary care trusts to improve services.
The charity is also calling for an inquiry to determine why people with a learning disability are more likely to die at an early age compared with the general population. The report says that people with a learning disability are three times more likely to die from respiratory disease and have higher risks of coronary heart disease and gastrointestinal cancer.
The report also highlights the substantial healthcare needs of people with a learning disability. Nearly one in four (22%) have epilepsy compared with 1% of the general population, a third has a mental health problem, and four in 10 have hearing problems.
Mencap is recommending annual health checks for all people with a learning disability to ensure their needs are identified. The charity also wants the NHS to ensure that people with a learning disability have fair access to mainstream services, with monitoring included as part of routine equality audits.
As part of the research for this report, Mencap surveyed 1000 people with learning disabilities. In common with most patient polls, the survey showed a high level of satisfaction with services overall. But Mencap says that disturbing individual case studies were unearthed, in which patients were misdiagnosed, undertreated, or inadequately nursed in hospital. In some of these cases the patient was left with increased disability or died.
The report also cites a survey of 215 GPs, 75% of whom said they had received no training to help them treat people with a learning disability. A patient抯 learning disability could make it more difficult to determine a diagnosis, according to 90% of the GPs.
The NHS Confederation, which represents hospital and primary care trust management, welcomed the Mencap report and said that much had already been done to raise the profile and quality of services for people with learning disabilities.
However, a spokesman added: "This report shows that there are still sizeable gaps in access to the health care and treatment which people with a whole range of needs require." The confederation was "optimistic" that improvements could be made through the right partnership approach at local level.(London Colleen Shannon)