DH Response To The Healthcare Commission (HCC) Audit On Learning Disabilities, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 03 Dec 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis said:

"People with Learning Disabilities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. It is totally unacceptable for anyone with a learning disability to be treated in a way that compromises their human rights.

"We welcome this report and its findings and are pleased that the HCC will now be monitoring NHS Trusts performance on learning disability services every year. All relevant NHS organisations will have to deliver action plans setting out what they are doing to address shortcomings in learning disability services identified by the Healthcare Commission's audit.

"Tomorrow I will be launching a consultation on the reform of support to people with learning disabilities. This will include proposals to transfer responsibility for commissioning services from the NHS to local government and a focus on ensuring people have access to appropriate supported accommodation.

"We are already committed to closing all NHS Campuses, which account for over 50% of the people covered by this report, by 2010. In August this year I announced that £175 million would be available over the next three years to assist Primary Care Trusts to help us achieve this important goal."

Department of Health, UK