WEC Calls On Government To Investigate Why Eligible People Are Not On The Learning Disability Register
The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) is calling for an investigation into why eligible people are not on the Learning Disability Register.
The Register entitles people with a learning disability or autism to receive reasonable adjustments, such as support when making decisions and access to an annual health check. However, the WEC has found that 75% of eligible people are not registered and struggled to convince their GP or surgery staff to register them.
MPs on the cross-party committee warned that people with a learning disability and autistic people face significant health inequalities, including an “unacceptable level of premature and avoidable deaths”.
In its new report entitled ‘Inequalities in healthcare and employment for people with a learning disability and autistic people’, WEC concluded “overall care and outcomes too often still fall below acceptable standards”.
WEC called on the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England to work with national and local learning disability organisations and charities and the Royal College of General Practitioners to investigate why eligible people are not on the learning disability register and take appropriate action to increase registration.
The report recommended the work should include an assessment of the reasons why eligible people who have applied to be on the register have been denied access to it and a review of the existing guidance for GPs to ensure it captures all those who are eligible for registration.
The report urged the Government to “radically increase the funding allocated to reducing waiting times for an autism assessment” warning: “It is clear that current efforts to address the waiting list backlog are inadequate and that the additional funding that has been allocated is far short of what is required.”
MPs on the Committee recommended Ministers explain why the number of autistic people detained in mental health hospitals has increased and how it plans to reduce that number, and by when. Ministers, it added, should set out the measures it will take to improve access to and availability of community-based alternatives to inpatient settings, including the additional resources it plans to allocate to support this.
The report also warned people with a learning disability and autistic people “face the widest employment gap of all people with disabilities and find it difficult to get their foot in the door”.
It called on the Government to publish a new disability employment goal based on relative measures and set out how it plans to achieve it; ensure that work to improve Disability Confident and Access to Work includes reviewing the extent to which those policies are helping employers to recruit and support people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP said:
“It is deeply concerning to see that health inequalities continue to be significant among people with learning disabilities and autism, including an unacceptable level of premature and avoidable deaths compared to the general population.
“The Committee heard from people who struggled to convince their GP to put them on the learning disability register and only achieved success once the media and politicians were involved. They should not have to reach that point, and not everyone will feel empowered to argue their case or have access to such advocacy to assist them. The system has to work better to ensure all people with a learning disability have access to good healthcare.
“The Government has fallen short on its commitment to halve the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people inappropriately detained in mental health hospitals. It must learn from previous failings and increase support for community-based alternatives to detention and do more to stop people reaching crisis in the first instance.”
“On work opportunities, it is vital the Government acts to close the unacceptably wide employment gap for people with a learning disability and autistic people and sets out plans on how to achieve this, with specific targets to measure progress.”
