Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address variations in uptake and quality of annual health checks for people with a learning disability.

General Practitioners are supported to deliver annual health checks for people with learning disabilities from the age of 14 through the Designated Enhanced Service payment scheme. The promotion of and increased access to annual health checks is a priority for NHS England.

NHS England is working in partnership with the Improving Health and Lives team in Public Health England to deliver workshops for stakeholders, and to improve information to people with learning disabilities and their families and carers to support them to access the services.

NHS England’s work in 2014-15 has focused on analysing the variation in uptake at the level of its Area Teams, including engaging with a range of stakeholders to assess the barriers and obstacles to improving uptake. This early engagement and analysis has highlighted the importance that local clinical leadership has had in driving up uptake in areas where there is higher uptake.