Death To Indifference? UK

Main Category: Mental Health
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 21 Nov 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Representatives from three Royal Colleges and leading learning disability groups, met at the Royal Society of Medicine to pledge an end to the poor quality of healthcare experienced by people with a learning disability.

"Death To Indifference" brought together the Royal Society of Medicine's Intellectual Disability Forum, the royal colleges of General Practitioners, Nursing and Psychiatry, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and learning disability charity Mencap.

It was the first time these groups had come together to discuss the issues highlighted in Mencap's "Death by indifference" report and the Disability Rights Commission (now Equality and Human Rights Commission) report "Equal treatment - Closing the gap". Both reports (see Note) highlighted widespread poor treatment of patients with learning disabilities and mental health problems.

Following the meeting, a new cross-college and cross-agency working group is to be formed to tackle the disturbing inadequacies in the treatment received by people with a learning disability in NHS care.

Martin Bollard, from the Royal College of Nursing and chair of the Conference's Working Party, commented: "Despite more than thirty years of legislation, policy guidance and central directives it is a scandal that people with learning disabilities are so often treated so shamefully by our healthcare system.

"Why is it that all the energy, time, effort, planning and countless meetings on this subject hasn't translated into efficient joint planning and commissioning of their health needs? We have been haemorrhaging public money and getting nowhere. And now things have to change."

The conference heard how professional indifference had led to unnecessary deaths - as highlighted in both the above reports.

Jim Blair, President of the Royal Society of Medicine's Intellectual Disability Forum, said: "There is a lack of education and training and a lack of accountability and that's why vulnerable people have died. We have seen the same 'institutionalised discrimination' described in the Stephen Lawrence report."

The new working group will meet regularly at the Royal Society of Medicine. "We want - and demand - better treatment for these users of NHS services, and that means individual accountability of professionals." said Blair. "The RSM and the Royal Colleges have been around for over 200 years and it's taken us this long to get this far. Let's hope it takes us a fraction of that time to get us working together effectively to improve healthcare provision to this group."

Quotes from delegates at the "Death to Indifference" conference.

"I'm fed up of inquiry after inquiry making no difference whatsoever." Delegate with learning disabilities who cares for his brother who also has learning disabilities and a heart condition.

"My daughter was treated as a non-person. She had no name above her bed, no named doctor or named nurse…she was in hospital for five weeks and lost two stone."
Mother of 53 year old woman with Down's Syndrome.

"They say he feels no pain."
Mother of 22 year old son with severe learning disabilities.

Note:

Death by indifference report. Mencap works with people with a learning disability and their families and carers.
Equal Treatment - Closing the Gap. In 2006, the Disability Rights Commission (now the Equality and Human Rights Commission) carried out a formal investigation into physical health inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities and mental health problems.

Royal Society of Medicine

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