Report: HSCIC Learning Disability Census – Inpatient care experiences

A report published today gives a snapshot of the experiences of people with learning disabilities who are inpatients in either NHS or independent services, and provides a new insight into regional variations of care.

The ‘Learning Disability Census: Further Analysis Report’, is published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and provides regional breakdowns of national information that was published as part of the 2014 Learning Disability Census in January 2015. The census considers inpatients with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and/or behaviour that challenges, giving information about their characteristics and their experiences of care in NHS and independent facilities in England on September 30 2014.

The publication includes information about the use of antipsychotic medication, and the frequency of experiences of self-harm; accidents; physical assault; restraint and seclusion. It also reports on the length of stay and distance from home; the number of patients with an agreed care plan; the reason for the patient being in inpatient care; and how many patients have been receiving continuous inpatient care since the Census in 2013. This information was published at a national level in January 2015, but is today broken to down to NHS Area Team level for the first time.

The full report can be viewed at http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/ldcensusfurther14