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Accessible summary People with learning disabilities do not live as long as other people or as long as many should., Nationally, people with learning disabilities do not get as good help when they do get ill., This paper looks at work that was conducted in Lincolnshire to see how the health of people with learning disabilities compared to the rest of the population., The report recommended changes which could be made to make things better., Summary The NHS Constitution requires all NHS organisations to provide high-quality comprehensive services, based on clinical need, which do not discriminate between patients (DH 2010a). Together with its health and social care partners, the NHS also has a statutory duty of care to meet the needs of all patients with dignity and compassion. Recent evidence has revealed sharp failures in the NHS to meet these goals in relation to people with learning disabilities nationally. This article considers the well-established evidence that the latter group have worse health experiences and worse health outcomes than the population as a whole, which significantly contributes to marked inequalities both in morbidity and mortality. The public sector equality duty of the Equality Act 2010 imposes a statutory requirement on health and social care agencies to address such inequalities. This article draws on the first systematic health needs assessment ( HNA) of adults with learning disabilities in the county of Lincolnshire, established in 2011 to identify their health needs and make recommendations for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible summary • People with learning disabilities have more health needs than the general population, and those health needs are different and require more specialised services. There is evidence of poorer outcomes and less effective health interventions for people with learning disabilities in Scotland, and elsewhere. • Reducing health inequalities is currently a key priority for the Scottish Government and National Health Service (NHS) policy has encouraged patient involvement in healthcare planning and delivery. This article reports on an NHS initiative to involve people with learning disabilities as ‘expert patient’ reviewers in national review teams, looking at the quality of inpatient and community services for people with learning disabilities. All 15 Health Boards in Scotland were reviewed, using a set of quality indicators. Details of the planning and support arrangements are reported. The success of the initiative was evaluated. • This involvement of people with learning disabilities as reviewers of NHS services has tested traditional assumptions and challenged the power imbalance in patient-provider relationships. Recommendations are made for the future success of similar schemes. Reducing health inequalities is a key priority for the Scottish Government. Health authorities are expected to meet quality targets. The involvement of people with learning disabilities in health service review teams has been one of the initiatives used in by National Health Service Quality Improvement Scotland to empower patients and improve health services. This paper describes this initiative, how it was planned, and an evaluation by health staff, carers and people with learning disabilities. Recommendations are made to ensure the future success of this type of initiative in Scotland and elsewhere. This initiative was evaluated positively and tested traditional assumptions, challenging the power imbalance in patient-provider relationships. The theory and the practice of including people with learning disabilities as ‘expert patient’ reviewers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]