Ombudsman criticises care for patients with learning disabilities

26 Mar 2009

The Health Service and Local Government Ombudsmen says the NHS and social services are failing people with learning disabilities.

The Ombudsmen reviewed the deaths of six people and found “significant and distressing failures”.

Ann Abraham, the Health Service Ombudsman for England, said the standard of care for people with learning disabilities was an “indictment of our society”.

The Ombudsmen looked into the six cases following complaints by the families of the people that died. The charity Mencap also highlighted the cases.

The report found that the death of Mark Cannon occurred “as a consequence of service failure and maladministration”. He had been admitted to hospital with a broken leg but was not given pain relief or the correct medication for his epilepsy. He died eight and a half weeks after being admitted to hospital.

Another patient, Martin Ryan, was admitted to hospital after suffering a stroke. He went 26 days without food, leading the ombudsman to say it was likely that his death could have been avoided “had the care and treatment provided not fallen so far below the relevant standard.

The Ombudsman upheld complaints in two other deaths, while criticising aspects of care in the remaining two cases.

The review also criticised the way that complaints were handled, saying that the families were left “drained and demoralised”.

Ann Abraham said: “The recurrence of complaints across different agencies leads us to believe that the quality of care in the NHS and social services for people with learning disabilities is at best patchy and at worst an indictment of our society.”

Guy Forster, a medical negligence lawyer based in Birmingham, said:“The failures identified by this report must not be dismissed as isolated incidents but taken as being indicative of a wider problem.  Urgent and effective action must be taken to ensure there is adequate provision for these vulnerable patients."

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