Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce premature death among people (a) with autism and a learning disability and (b) with autism and no learning disability.

Alistair Burt

Information is not collected centrally on how many clinical commissioning groups collect prevalence and standardised mortality data on autistic people as part of their joint strategic needs assessments.

The National Health Service is taking action to reduce premature death among people with autism and a learning disability, and with autism by increasing annual health checks for people with learning disabilities, including for those who also have autism. The NHS is working to reduce variation and improve care for physical health conditions that disproportionately impact on people with learning disabilities who also may have autism, including epilepsy and cancer. NHS England has commissioned the world’s first Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to support local areas to review deaths of people with learning disabilities and to use the information to improve service provision. This review programme for people with learning disabilities includes those who also have autism.

Think Autism set out a clear, cross Government programme of action, developed alongside people with autism, their families and carers to improve their lives and reduce premature mortality through better access to healthcare by making adjustments to services. This includes supporting the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGPs) Autism Initiative to improve understanding of autism amongst GPs.