Care for People with Learning Difficulties inquiry – Inclusion London’s evidence

Inclusion London submitted evidence to the Public Accounts Select Committee’s inquiry into care for people with learning difficulties.

Inclusion London evidence: Care of People with Learning Difficulties

Our response supported one of the key aims of the ‘Transforming Care’ programme to move people with learning difficulties out of mental health hospitals back into their own community with the necessary levels of support. The programme is much needed because 950 (32%) of people with learning difficulties were inpatients in September 2015 in England, even though their care plan did not suggest a need for inpatient care.

Choosing where and with whom you live

People with learning difficulties wish to live in their own home near family and friends as non-disabled people do. The key element is choice – being able to choose where and with whom you live with as non-disabled people do. People with learning difficulties also wish to be active and participate in the community and to work.

Assessments

‘You don’t want to go to one of those units for an assessment you will never get out’ so said a person with learning difficulties a year or so ago. It can be difficult for a person with learning difficulties to get out of a hospital once admitted and many years are spent as an inpatient   – the average stay is 5 years according to NAO report. We recommend that in future people with learning difficulties/autism are not sent away from home for assessments.

Self harm/incidents

We are concerned that the percentage of inpatients with learning inpatients that are self-harming is high – 24%  in 2015,[1] while it is only 0.4% for the whole population as a whole according to the Mental Health Foundation.  Also the percentage of inpatients experiencing ‘incidents’ such as physical assault, restraint, seclusion, self-harm, or accidents is even higher at 56%.

Unexpected deaths

According to data received by the Guardian newspaper under Freedom of Information laws in 2016 only 35% (137) of the 397 unexpected deaths were investigated.  Overall just 222 out of 1,638 deaths of patients with learning disabilities were investigated since 2011.  We are concerned that the lack of investigation and is because the death of person with learning difficulties is considered less important i.e. it is discriminatory practice.

Inclusion London’s evidence is available to download here: Inclusion London evidence: Care of People with Learning Difficulties

The Select Committee’s report has now been published, it found that people with learning difficulties have ‘been badly let down’:

‘Following the Winterbourne View scandal in 2011, the Government committed to discharging inpatients with learning difficulties and challenging behaviour back to their homes and communities, where appropriate…..

The number of people with learning disabilities remaining in hospital has not fallen, and has been broadly stable at around 3,200. We welcome the acknowledgement from NHS England that it was indefensible to make so little progress against the commitment, as a result of which people had been badly let down.”

The Select Committee’s report is available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/report-caring-for-people-with-learning-disabilities/