Economic implications of current and future provision of English learning disability health services

摘要

People with learning disabilities represent approximately 2.3% of the population. Levels of physical disability, sensory impairment and mental health difficulties provide enormous challenges to the health and social services responsible for their care. Following political initiatives, such as Valuing People, statutory frameworks implementing care standards and changes to the Mental Health Act, as well as economic implications, are significant. Pharmacotherapy for the projected treatment of Alzheimer's dementia in Down's syndrome will require major investment. There is a disproportionate impact on rural services as an urban/rural divide grows in the residential care services. Increasing movement of specialist provision from the National Health Service to the private sector, with recruitment and retention issues pulling clinicians in the same direction, is slowly changing the economics of learning disability services as we know them.