Treatment of clients in the NHS: a case study

The families of people with learning disability frequently report that their relatives receive poor care when they attend hospital as in-patients. For some individuals the consequences have been fatal. Despite official responses there is growing evidence to suggest that this situation remains unchanged and may even be worsening.

Here we present a case study. The narrative is related principally by two close relatives and with additional contributions from caregivers who worked regularly with the gentleman whose experiences form the basis for this account.

From this we must conclude that current provision is inadequate. Hospital staff of all grades and backgrounds clearly need more training and education in caring for people with learning disability who present as patients. This is urgent because the learning disability population is growing and ageing and will necessarily be more frequently in contact with secondary care.