Care England expresses concern at COVID-19: Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities

Care England, the largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, has expressed great concern at new research indicating that the mortality rate from Covid-19 for those with a learning disability was up to six times higher during the first wave of the pandemic than the general population.

Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England, says:

“This damning report underscores the disproportionate effect Covid-19 has had on those with a learning disability. Care England has consistently highlighted to central government the need for priority to be given to supporting measures to aid preventing the spread of Covid-19 in care settings which support these individuals. Although emerging systems to manage the virus are now being put in place, such as access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 testing for staff and residents, we are immensely disappointed that such measures were not actioned sooner in order to safeguard some of society’s most vulnerable. There are many lessons to learn”.

The report, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-deaths-of-people-with-learning-disabilities/covid-19-deaths-of-people-identified-as-having-learning-disabilities-summary published on 12 November by Public Health England (PHE), examines data over the spring of 2020 from The English Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) and NHS England’s COVID-19 Patient Notification System (CPNS) which records deaths in hospital settings.

The data reveals that the rate of Covid-19 deaths notified to LeDeR, from 21 March to 5 June, was 451 per 100,000 people with learning disabilities, 4.1 times the rate for the general population. Significantly, LeDeR suggests this rate could be as high as 692 per 100,000 once the data has been adjusted to account for under-reporting, which is 6.3 times the general population rate.

Within care settings, the CQC data, which covered the period from 10 April to 15 May, indicates that Covid-19 accounted for 54% of deaths of adults with learning disabilities in residential care and 53% of deaths of adults with learning disabilities receiving community-based social care.

The report coincides with the Lords’ Public Services Select Committee Lessons from COVID−19: major report on public services which acknowledges that whilst the Government’s own pandemic planning rightly identified social care as needing significant support during an outbreak of a disease like COVID-19, it remained the poor relation to the NHS when it came to funding during lockdown.
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/430/public-services-committee/news/123559/lessons-from-covid19-major-report-on-public-services-launched/

Martin Green continues:

“The immense loss of life has been a tragedy and has highlighted that the impetus for change that Covid-19 has catalysed needs to be harnessed, not forgotten in order to facilitate a fully integrated health and social care system.”