St Leonards disabled man neglected by NHS
A St Leonards man died unnecessarily due to widespread ignorance and neglect within the NHS, a independent inquiry has found.
The Inquiry was commissioned by the Department of Health in response to the publication of Mencap's Death by Indifference report which included the story of 30 year-old Warren Cox, who died in NHS care.
The deaths of five other people with a learning disability were documented in the report, published on Tuesday (July 29).
The inquiry found that people with a learning disability face unnecessary suffering and sometimes even death because guidance designed to give them full access to healthcare are not being followed.
Warren died following perforation of the appendix.
His mother and father repeatedly asked whether Warren had appendicitis or a blocked bowel when doctors visited Warren. They were told Warren had a virus.
Warren died in September 2004. He had a severe learning disability and very little speech, but could make himself understood to his family.
In response to the Inquiry, Dame Jo Williams, chief executive of learning disability charity, Mencap said: "It proves that people with a learning disability are being discriminated against in the NHS,
which is leading to unnecessary pain and death.
"It is clear that there is a desperate need for mandatory learning disability training for all health care professionals, and for people with a learning disability and their families and carers to be at
the centre of all decisions made surrounding their healthcare.
"The findings and recommendations will bring some comfort to the families in Mencap's Death by indifference report, who bravely told their stories to highlight the widespread discrimination and ignorance."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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