People with Learning Disabilities: Acute Illness Debate
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Baroness Pidgeon
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People with Learning Disabilities: Acute Illness
Baroness Pidgeon Excerpts(2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Pidgeon (LD)
My Lords, specialist training in the care of people with a learning disability is critical to reducing avoidable mortality. Will the Government fund dedicated senior clinician roles in learning disability medicine across community, acute and mental health settings to provide the leadership that is necessary to improve healthcare outcomes for this population?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
There are a number of aspects to that area. We have greatly increased the mandatory training requirement and the numbers who have been trained. The noble Baroness also points to the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. We have seen an increase in nursing staff in that regard. It is a matter for the local provider to decide, but the workforce plan, which we will be seeing soon, will be very helpful in this regard.