This review will look at how physical healthcare is provided for people with a learning disability and people who use mental health services.
Areas of poor physical healthcare have been identified across primary to secondary care and the CQC aims to:
- promote improvement in the way that the physical health care needs of people with learning disabilities and people who use mental health services are addressed
- publish robust and objective local assessments of performance
- ensure the worst performers develop action plans
- make local and national recommendations
- produce benchmarking data and shared learning from the best performers.
The review will look at:
- Access: For example, the extent to which people are registered with GPs and have access to health checks and screening tests in general practice;
- Assessment: For example, whether people are identified on admission, particularly to acute general trusts, and have particular assessments of risk of choking, suicide, self-harm.
- Care delivery: For example, basic nursing care and appropriate monitoring in relation to nutrition and hydration; pain management & medicine management, and appropriate responses to crises.
- Communication with patients and their carers: For example, whether people are provided with appropriate adjustments to aid communication with them e.g. extended appointments; and whether they are given information in the appropriate form to enable choice/empowerment
The CQC plan is to carry out area-based assessments covering GPs / PCTs, general acute hospitals and specialist learning disability and mental health inpatient settings.
They will be collecting data for the review between February and May 2010 and will be will publishing a national report ion the findings in autumn 2010.
If you would like to contribute to the review or receive updates by email, please contact the CQC at reviews.studies@cqc.org.uk