Learning Disabilities Mortality Review

Lord O'Shaughnessy Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

I can say absolutely that priority will be given to this. The mandatory training consultation, which has just been completed, was published on 13 February. The consultation lasted eight weeks but such was the volume of responses to it that it was extended by a further month; it received more than 5,000 responses, which the department is currently going through. There has been a commitment to a response within two to three months. The Government are taking this extremely seriously.

[Lord O’Shaughnessy (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her answers and the commitment and empathy she has shown, but let us be clear: what we are describing is appalling. The fact that people with learning disabilities—Down’s syndrome, autism and the like—have shorter life expectancies is completely unacceptable. I know that the Government and the Minister personally are committed to doing something about that but I want to return to the issue of training. To change a culture, we need to change not just the curricula of people training to enter the profession but the attitudes of everybody already working in the caring profession who do not always take these issues seriously. I appreciate that my noble friend will not be able to give details ahead of the consultation response in two to three months’ time, but can she give a commitment that we will think about not only training—in medical colleges, on nursing courses and so on—but continuing professional development so that everybody who is likely to have contact with people with learning disabilities in a care setting will have the opportunity to retrain, to understand the needs of these people and to make sure that we provide them with the care they deserve?

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

I thank my noble friend for his question. He is absolutely right: it is a disgrace that the reports demonstrate that too many people with learning disabilities are still dying prematurely and, all too often, for preventable reasons. We must ensure that we drive through the entire health system a change to make this come to an end. This is partly a matter of leadership, which is why it is absolutely right that Stephen Powis, the NHS England medical director, will write personally to doctors saying that it is not appropriate for DNRs to be based on disability and learning disabilities. It is why learning disabilities have been made a priority throughout the long-term plan and key programmes in the plan prioritise improving the physical healthcare of people with learning disabilities; that is important because it drives the issue up the priorities list of those working on an already busy schedule. It is also why the consultation on mandatory training will be brought forward as a matter of priority. Only when you have that combination of leadership, the practical healthcare programmes funded in the long-term plan and training will you get the culture change that my noble friend rightly identified as necessary.