On 2 June 2020, CQC published data on deaths of people with a learning disability during the pandemic. This data shows an increase of 134% on the number of people dying that were reported to CQC compared to last year. You can read the standard and easy read report on their website 

Gary, Engagement and membership Lead at Learning Disability England, wrote about what this means and you can read that in Community Care here.

In Kent the Council and NHS have quickly looked at what happened when people with learning disabilities died from Corona virus (Covid 19) from March to May this year.

They did this so that they can understand what people’s support or treatment was like and start to work out what can be done differently so less people get Corona virus and die.

The reviews were done really quickly so there is more work to do and more ideas to work on but the staff in Kent did not want to wait.

They want to make sure they are working on now what will help more people be safe through Corona virus

The 1^st recommendations are

1. People in Supported Living and Care Homes should have their Oxygen saturation levels checked as regularly as their temperature
2. Care Homes and Supported Living services should be able to get testing for COVID-19.
3. Supporters, families and people who have support services should be able to get equal and joint good quality bereavement and trauma support
4. Everyone should be actively supported to have loving relationships
5. People should be supported to have people who are familiar to them with them when they are dying

You can read the presentation on the work so far here

What do you think or know?

At Learning Disability England we want to help everyone share ideas and solutions so we can all get better at dealing with Corona virus

Can you share what you have learnt or what is working for you in your life or the service you are part of?

Get in touch if you can e mail us on info@LDEngland.org.uk