Improving annual health checks

Did you complete the Healthwatch survey on annual health checks?

People with a learning disability often have poorer physical and mental health and a risk of premature mortality compared to other people. To help tackle these issues the NHS introduced an annual appointment for people with Learning Disabilities with their GP.

Feedback from the learning disability community in Hertfordshire highlighted concerns about the uptake and quality of these checks locally. In response, Healthwatch Hertfordshire wanted to understand these concerns and launched a research project to investigate.

Working with its Learning Disability Service Watch group, they ran a survey to find out what people think. A high response rate to the survey meant that nearly 500 people shared their experiences. A full report of the findings, Experiences of Annual Health Checks: Voices from the Learning Disability Community is now available on Healthwatch Hertfordshire’s website and shared with service providers across the County.

You can see an easy read version of the report here

Or, the full report here.

The findings provide a very rich picture of local concerns and issues, particularly around the quality and comprehensiveness of Annual Health Checks. The results show that, despite some good practice, this is not always the case and the report makes clear recommendations for change. Annual Health Checks should help make lives of people with learning disabilities healthier.

Annual Health Checks were established to address the health inequalities that people with learning disabilities so often face. It is therefore vital that we ensure everyone who would benefit from such an annual review experiences a thorough and satisfactory one. The checks need to be offered in a way that gives people choice and encourages them to bring a relative or carer if this would be helpful for them.

If you would like a paper copy of either of the reports, please email localoffer@hertfordshire.gov.uk