Confidential Inquiry into the deaths of people with learning disabilities Identifying patients with learning disabilities Pauline Heslop Anna Marriott
Identifying patients with learning disabilities One of the key recommendations of the Michael report in The CI highlighted the continuing need to identify people with learning disabilities in healthcare settings to avoid their serious disadvantage.
Key issues Lack of identification in: GP referral letters Hospital record systems Lack of awareness that reasonable adjustments might be required. Limited ability to extract data about people with learning disabilities.
Impact of not identifying patients Reasonable adjustments not provided. Poor access to healthcare services. Missed appointments, with associated cost. Unable to extract data about people with learning disabilities to feed into JSNAs. Lack of intelligence to support commissioning priorities. x
Considerations Patient sensitivities. Effective data sharing protocols. Systems must be flexible enough to respond to the information.
The way forward?