Report on the experiences of local people with a learning disability when using hospital services
Every year National Mencap, a charity that works with and supports people with a learning disability, organise Learning Disability week.
The week raises awareness in the community about the issues and problems people with learning disabilities can face.
This year, 18th – 24th June 2018, the focus was on health – in particular promotion of the Treat Me Well campaign.
Summary
From the 47 surveys people told us about 172 interactions (uses) of services.
- 64% of people rated their experience as good
- 28% of people rated their experience as ok
- 5% of people rated their experience as bad
- 3% of people did not tell us about how they rated their experience
The services people used most were:
- Outpatient Clinic (to see a doctor or nurse)
67% of people rated their experience as good
- Phlebotomy (blood tests)
63% of people rated their experience as good.
When we asked people to tell us more about their experiences the main themes of the comments were:
- Medical care is very good
- Communication and information could be improved especially when explaining conditions, treatment and procedures
- Long waiting times and busy clinics can be difficult
When we asked people if they had any ideas to make hospital services better
for people with learning disabilities, the main themes were:
- Improving communication and accessible information
- Providing a consistent person to help the person through the process (admission, treatment, discharge etc.)
- Reducing stress and anxiety by reducing waiting times and accessing
- clinics when they are not busy.
- Identifying additional communication and support needs beforehand.
