Government acts after claims covid deaths of disabled people are being 'ignored'

Deaths of those with learning disabilities and autism fromCOVID-19 are to be analysed by Public Health England (PHE), HSJ can reveal.

Several senior sources have confirmed PHE has put together a group, which includes independent experts, to analyse mortality data. They had previously not been included in the government’s inquiry into the over-representation of some groups among covid fatalities.

The news comes amid mounting concerns from major charities over the of lack transparency in data collected centrally on the deaths of people from these these groups during the pandemic. 

In a letter yesterday , seen by HSJ, Labour’s shadow secretary for social care Liz Kendall, urged Department of Health and Social Care minister Helen Whately to publish data on deaths reported to the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review Programme (LeDer).

Earlier this week NHS England and NHS Improvement told HSJ the weekly data it is receiving from the national learning disability morality review programme (LeDer) on suspected and confirmed deaths of those with learning disabilities and autism from COVID-19 would not be published until next year.

In her letter Ms Liz Kendall said the Government should “immediately” release the deaths notifications being provided by LeDer along with a “retrospective” analysis from the beginning of the pandemic.

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Source: HSJ, 7 May 2020