Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to data published by the Care Quality Commission on 2 June 2020 on deaths of people with a learning disability, what changes he plans to make to the covid-19 testing regime to ensure that people with a learning disability are able to access covid-19 testing.

From 7 June 2020 all remaining adult care homes will be able to access whole care home testing for all residents and asymptomatic staff through the digital portal at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test-care-home

These will include specialist adult care homes catering for adults with learning disabilities or mental health issues, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries and other categories for younger adults under 65 years.

We are continuing to explore how we can support other parts of the care sector such as supported living settings, extra care settings and domiciliary care. Anyone with suspected COVID-19 symptoms in these settings can access testing at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test-essential-workers