We respond to 2023 LeDeR Report

The Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) programme was established in 2017 to improve healthcare for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Tanya Claridge, our Director of Clinical Governance, responds to the release of the 2023 report:

“We welcome the long-awaited publication of the 2023 LeDeR report, however the findings make for a stark and difficult read. It is simply unacceptable that people with learning disabilities and autistic people continue to experience such deep inequalities, particularly those with severe or profound needs, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Every number in this report represents a person whose life matters.”

She continued, “We are however, pleased to see the strong focus on co-production in this year’s publication. Under our charity’s new five-year organisational strategy, Community Integrated Care is committed to making sure that people with lived experience are not only heard – but are truly at the heart of shaping the support they receive.”

“As a sector, we must take forward the learning from this review and challenge ourselves to do better. This means ensuring that people supported have equitable access to health services that meet their needs when they need them, and that we actively advocate and campaign for urgent reform to make those services genuinely inclusive. The report should also act as a vital accountability tool for Government and regulators – not only to measure progress, but to drive the systemic change required to remove the disabling barriers evidenced throughout. Only then can we build a health and social care system that is truly enabling, inclusive, and fair for all.”

You can read the main LeDeR report here: Main LeDeR Report.

The easy-read version of the report is also available here: Easy Read version.