Sheffield’s learning from deaths of people with a learning disability programme (LeDeR)

People with a learning disability often have poorer physical and mental health than other people and may face barriers to accessing health and care to keep them healthy.   On average men with learning disabilities die 23 years earlier than men without learning disabilities and for women it is 27 years earlier– mostly from preventable illnesses and in part due to physical health needs being overlooked.

 The national learning from deaths of people with a learning disability (LeDeR) programme was set up in April 2015 as a service improvement programme to look at why people are dying and what we can do to change services locally and nationally to improve the health of people with a learning disability and reduce health inequalities. It grew out of the Confidential Inquiry into Premature Deaths of People with a Learning Disability (CIPOLD).

 Clinical Commissioning Groups are required to produce Annual Reports, the aim of which is to bring local information and learning together from the reviews of deaths in Sheffield to understand and to reflect on themes that can inform and improve practice across the health and social care community in Sheffield. The people whose deaths are reported in this reports are people who were known and loved by many and whose loss will have had a profound impact on those around them.

 Our LeDeR improvement plans are closely aligned with the cross-organisational Sheffield strategy for Improving the physical health of people living with learning disabilities, autism, and severe mental illness (2019-2022)

 Sheffield CCG LeDeR Reports

You can download:

• Our first LeDeR report which includes data for 2016-2020, as well as examples of action from learning collated in 2020 can be downloaded here.
• Our latest report which covers the period April 2020-March 2021 can be downloaded here.  An accessible version of this report will also be provided. 

 

Update to the LeDeR Policy

Nationally, the NHS has worked with stakeholders including bereaved families, people with a learning disability and autistic people over the past 12 months to update and develop the new policy which will focus not only on completing reviews but on ensuring that local health and social care systems implement actions at a local level to improve and save lives.

The new policy, which looks at the life of a person as well as their death, will also now extend to include all people who are autistic – who do not have learning disability – as well. 

As the new policy will only be phased in from June 2021, the data in our latest local report focuses on people with a learning disability or learning disability and autism, and not those with autism alone.  However, our strategic plan for 2021-25 has been updated to include the full scope of the new policy, including extension for all people who are autistic – who do not have learning disability – as well.

For more information you can contact Liz Tooke in the Mental Health, Learning Disability, Autism, Dementia - Commissioning Portfolio (Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group) - liz.tooke@nhs.net