Patient safety is under the microscope

The study by the National Patient Safety Agency pinpointed specific areas of concern, including use of inappropriate physical restraint.

It also focuses on the heightened risk of problems with swallowing.

The report is based on feedback from patients, carers and health and social care workers.

Our next step will be to work up practical, effective solutions that will improve the safety and quality of healthcare for this group. Lord Philip Hunt

It says that people with learning disabilities are often vulnerable and socially excluded, and things are more likely to go wrong for them when they go into hospital.

For this reason, it is important that plenty of easy-to-understand information is made readily accessible to them and their carers.

The report says that unless physical restraint is carried out properly it carries a risk of injury.

It also warns that people with learning disabilities are more likely to have problems with swallowing, which can lead to respiratory tract infections - a leading cause of early death.

And it says there may be an increased that conditions are misdiagnosed, or not spotted at all, because symptoms are not recognised early enough.

Good practice

The report was launched by NPSA chairman Lord Philip Hunt at the group's conference in Birmingham on Tuesday.

He said: "The study gives us a much clearer understanding of the patient safety issues affecting people with learning disabilities.

"Our next step will be to work up practical, effective solutions that will improve the safety and quality of healthcare for this group."

Lord Hunt said the agency had met with frontline staff who had highlighted examples of existing good practice. These might become the basis for national guidelines.

He said: "These include designated learning disability nurse liaison roles in wards and departments and a `handy hints card' used for general healthcare staff to better understand the communication needs of people with learning disabilities."

Speaking Up!, a Cambridge-based learning disability self-advocacy charity, was commissioned by the NPSA to gather the healthcare experiences of people with learning disabilities and their carers across England and Wales.