New report: My Health, My Say: the experiences of people with a learning disability using local health and social care services
Mencap, the UK charity supporting people with learning disabilities, states that ‘a significant proportion of the differences in health between people with a learning disability and the general population [...] are to do with the way people with a learning disability are treated by health, mental health and social care services, as well as lifestyle factors.’
Issues were raised with Healthwatch Sheffield concerning the possibility that with changes in service delivery, the needs of this relatively small but vulnerable group and their access to health and social care services may be overlooked, and highlighting their continued poor health outcomes.
We wanted to explore this more thoroughly, and with the help of Sheffield Mencap & Gateway, we heard from 143 people with a Learning Disability who lived in Sheffield. We compared the responses they provided with a similar survey run by Healthwatch in 2014, which surveyed the general population.
Key findings:
- The attitude of staff is key to an individual’s experience of using a service.
- Respondents told us that their experiences of services could be improved if more health and social care professionals had a better understanding of the needs of people with a learning disability.
- Communicating and sharing information effectively is a recurring theme. Written materials need to be both appropriate and accessible.
- Regular two-way communication was important to respondents, including regular social care reviews.
- Many people with learning disabilities also have physical disabilities so appropriate access to services is important. A calming physical environment is ideal.
- Specific barriers and challenges to accessing services were highlighted as having a negative impact on those with a learning disability. These included difficulties with access to a social worker, the transition from children and young people to adult services, and variability of day care services.
What next?
We have made several recommendations for improvement to the local council and NHS trusts.
As a Local Healthwatch, carrying out this research and analysis has also helped us to consider our role in promoting and supporting the involvement of local people with Learning Disabilities in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of local care services. We have made commitments to increase our involvement of people with Learning Disabilities in future work, and we are now attending forums where we can centre the voices of people with Learning Disabilities and raise the issues we're hearing directly to local decision makers.
Interested in reading more?
You can read the full report, and the responses we receive from local services, below:
