People with learning disabilities have long experienced brutal inequalities in healthcare, much of which has been horribly well documented over decades.
A study by the University of Manchester on appallingly late cancer diagnoses found symptoms were investigated less often, and patients had less treatment and a poorer prognosis.
So the evidence stacks up, the actions and pleas for improvement are clear, yet actual change is pitifully slow.
For this reason, we regularly highlight practices to counter unequal treatment, such as the video project on accessible healthcare from campaigner (and Community Living trustee) Shaun Webster. He was driven to work on the film project after he had a dreadful experience following his prostate cancer diagnosis. He is now well, and keen to encourage others to use hospital passports. These inform staff about a person’s needs, how they communicate and what medication they take.
Not difficult
The fact that good experiences in healthcare are possible – and they are not difficult for providers to arrange – is also the subject of a moving piece from parent advocate Sam Carlisle.
Carlisle writes about how health professionals addressed her daughter’s Elvi’s terror of hospitals so she could have a series of tests. The sense of relief is palpable as Carlisle describes how her faith in the NHS was restored, with “common sense prevailing”.
Healthcare professionals addressed her daughter’s terror of hospitals. The sense of relief is palpable as her faith in the NHS was restored, with ‘common sense prevailing’
This in stark contrast with the harrowing story of Louis Cartwright. The 17-year-old, as George Julian reports, went undiagnosed and untreated. One expert told the coroner that the young man would have lived had a blood test been done.
The coroner found the cause of death could not be ascertained and ruled he died from natural causes. The family said after his inquest: “We believe he was allowed to die due to indifference.”
People and families continue to be failed yet it should not be difficult when much of what makes a positive outcome depends on common sense – or at least treating people as fully human.
Saba Salman
Editor
