Learning Disability Partnership: health sub-group

With evidence telling us that people with a learning disability in England are 50 times more likely to have a shorter life expectancy than people without a learning disability, we know that there is a lot of work we need to do to improve the situation.

 

You can read more about the importance of improving the health of people with learning disabilities by downloading ‘Our Plan’ below. It will also explain how, with the support of the health sub-group, we are planning to make these improvements, and what these actions will mean for people with learning disabilities.

 

In the meantime, there is a variety of ways individuals with a learning disability can be supported to monitor their health.

One of the ways we can do this is to offer everyone with a learning disability the chance complete a Health Action Plan. The plan will help the person to identify their health needs and what should be done to treat or manage them. The Health Action Plan can be taken to appointments and updated by any health professional such as GPs, dentists and hospitals. It acts as an up-to-date record of the person’s changing health needs.

 

Most GPs in Luton also offer people with a learning disability an annual health check to monitor their health.

 

Also at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital there are specialist nurses to support people with learning disabilities and ensure they have an understanding of what is happening.

 

Through the work of the health sub-group we want to make sure that people with a learning disability are accessing the right health services; that agencies are working together to give the most complete care; and that people with learning disabilities are living as healthy a life as possible.

 

For further information visit our Learning Disability Partnership page.

 

You can download minutes of the health sub-group meetings below.