PLD deaths due to ‘wrong NHS care’

More than 1,200 people with a learning disability die in England each year because they are not getting the right healthcare within the NHS, claims Mencap. Taking data from the three-year confidential inquiry into premature deaths of people with a learning disability in the south west of England, published last month, Mencap estimates that 1,238 children and adults have died unnecessarily across the country as a whole. Funded by the Department of Health, the Inquiry found that 37% of the deaths of people with a learning disability were considered avoidable. Compared to the general population, men with a learning disability died on average 13 years earlier, while women with a learning disability died 20 years earlier.