In a report laid before Parliament on 23 March 2009 Ann Abraham, Health Service Ombudsman and Jerry White, Local Government Ombudsman, called for an urgent review of health and social care for people with learning disabilities.
The cases of Mark Cannon, 30; Warren Cox, 30; Edward Hughes, 61; Emma Kemp, 26; Martin Ryan, 43 and Tom Wakefield, 20 and were brought to public attention in Mencap’s 2007 report Death by Indifference.
Reading about their deaths is a real sad indictment on the state of the current NHS services I hope this will be a landmark turning point and the end of such sorry tales of inadequate services.
hed reports that services for people with learning disabilities have not always worked well the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), Healthcare Commission and the Mental Health Act Commission have worked jointly to review how well people with learning disabilities and complex needs are being supported by their local services.
Just published on the DH website this document aims to describe example of good practice in health facilitation and health action planning which were given specific targets in the white paper Valuing People. This document also intends to support the previous Action for Health – Health Action Plans and Health Facilitation guidance given to Learning Disability Partnership Boards some time ago.
