Report about people with learning disabilities and their GP (Easy Read)

Healthwatch Bexley met with a group of people with learning disabilities, in October 2016, to gather their experience of healthcare services. This work was done as part of the Big Health Check Day.

The report identifies a number of key issues: people generally needed help to book GP appointments, while the majority were not aware that they could make an appointment online; speaking with staff and GPs was sometimes difficult to understand, particularly when speaking with medical jargon or speaking fast; seeing the same doctor was not an available option, which could make people anxious; many people did not receive a health check or did not know why they should receive one; the Black Book that has people’s health history is sometimes difficult to read or difficult to remember to bring to appointments; GP appointments are short.

The report makes the following recommendations:

• Healthcare staff should make booking an appointment easy

• Provide longer appointments if needed

• Make information about health conditions and treatment available and easy to read

• Explain why one should have a health check

• Receive learning disability awareness training