‘Urgent’ reviews launched by NHSE as death rates double

NHS England and NHS Improvement have ordered urgent reviews into the deaths of people with a learning disability and autism during the pandemic, HSJ has learned.

In May, the regulators said the COVID-19 death rates among this population were broadly in line with the rest of the population.

But in early June, the Care Quality Commission published data which suggested death rates of people with learning disabilities and/or autism had doubled during the pandemic.

In an announcement posted on a social media group for Royal College of Nursing members last week, NHSE/I said they were “urgently seeking clinical reviewers with experience in learning disability”.

The message to the private Facebook group, seen by HSJ, added: “The effects of coronavirus are having a far-reaching impact on all our lives. As we learn more about the virus, we are taking steps to make changes to safeguard our well-being.

“For people with a learning disability, the number of deaths has doubled during the covid pandemic. (compared to data on the number of deaths recorded during the same period last year). As a result, we have a large number of deaths of people with a learning disability who have died during the pandemic whose deaths we want to review.”

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Source: HSJ, 1 July 2020