Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health (): Today I am delighted
to announce the launch of the consultation on the draft Oliver
McGowan Code of Practice (the Code) on statutory learning
disability and autism training. The launch of this consultation
represents a significant moment in the journey towards improved
care and treatment of people with a learning disability and
autistic people. I welcome anyone with an interest to complete
the consultation and share their views on the draft Code. An easy
read version of the draft Code and consultation will be made
available as soon as they are ready.
The purpose of the Code is to ensure that service providers
registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have the
necessary guidance to meet the new legal requirement introduced
in the Health and Care Act 2022. The effect of the new
requirement is that, from 1 July 2022, CQC-registered providers
are required to ensure their staff receive training on learning
disability and autism, appropriate to their role. To aid those
who need to comply with the new training requirement the
Secretary of State is obliged by the 2022 Act to issue a Code of
practice setting out what we consider is required in order for
them to comply. Therefore, this draft Code sets out the standards
this training must meet to comply with the legislation and
guidance on what I believe providers need to do to meet those
standards.
As set out in the draft Code, the Oliver McGowan Mandatory
Training on Learning Disability and Autism is the Government’s
preferred and recommended package to support CQC-registered
providers to meet the new requirement introduced by the Health
and Care Act 2022. The training is named after Oliver McGowan, a
young autistic teenager with a mild learning disability, who
sadly died after having a severe reaction to medication given to
him against his and his family’s strong wishes. Oliver’s parents,
Paula and Tom McGowan, have campaigned for better training for
health and care staff to improve understanding of the needs of
people with a learning disability or autistic people. The
training was trialled in England during 2021 with over 8000
people and is helping to ensure that staff are equipped with the
right skills to care for people with a learning disability and
autistic people.
In my role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the
Department of Health and Social Care, I have heard experiences of
the poor care and treatment received by people with a learning
disability and autistic people, which has highlighted the
importance of introducing this legal requirement and the
development and publication of the Code.
I look forward to receiving responses to this consultation to
help us to develop a Code that supports health and care staff to
provide high-quality care for people with a learning disability
and autistic people which complies with the legislative
requirements. Too often people with a learning disability and
autistic people experience poorer health outcomes and higher
mortality than the general population. We are confident that
these disparities can be reduced when health and care staff are
equipped with the right skills and knowledge. The draft Code
therefore represents a crucial step in the right direction.
