School absences and exclusions experienced by children with learning disabilities and autistic children in 2016/17 in England

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine data on absences and exclusions from school amongst children with learning disabilities and autistic children in England in 2016/2017. Design/methodology/approach: Data were drawn from Department for Education statistics for the school year 2016/2017 on school absences (authorised and unauthorised) and school exclusions (fixed-period and permanent) for children in the primary special educational needs categories of moderate learning difficulty (MLD), severe learning difficulty (SLD), profound and multiple learning difficulty (PMLD) and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Findings: Authorised school absence rates were higher for all groups of children investigated compared to children without special educational needs, primarily due to illnesses and health-related appointments. Rates of unauthorised school absences were low. Rates of fixed-period and permanent school exclusions were higher for children with MLD and ASD compared to children without SEN, and lower for children with SLD and PMLD. Reasons given for exclusions were similar across children (persistent disruptive behaviour, physical assault against a pupil, verbal abuse against an adult), although physical assault against an adult was also commonly mentioned for children with SLD, PMLD or ASD. Social implications: Reducing school absences for children with learning disabilities and autistic children will involve co-ordination of health and social care support arrangements to ensure they are convenient and efficient for children and families. In terms of exclusions, schools need to consider the extent to which they are making reasonable adjustments for children with learning disabilities and autistic children. Originality/value: This paper presents in one place statistics concerning school absences and school exclusions for children with learning disabilities and autistic children in England

Deprivation of liberty applications concerning people with learning disabilities in England:Trends over time and geographical variation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse trends over time and geographical variation in Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications for adults with learning disabilities. Design/methodology/approach - Secondary analysis of national- and local authority-level statistics collected and reported by NHS Digital. Findings - There has been a sharp national increase in the number of completed and granted DoLS applications regarding adults with learning disabilities since the 2014 "Cheshire West" Supreme Court judgement, with a greater proportion of completed DoLS applications being granted. There is extreme geographical variation across local authorities in England in the rates at which DoLS applications are being made and granted. Practical implications - The extreme variation in DoLS applications regarding adults with learning disabilities is highly unlikely to be a function of differences in mental capacity and living circumstances experienced by adults with learning disabilities across local authorities, and urgent attention needs to be paid to this variation. Originality/value - This is the first paper to analyse the geographical variation at local authority level for completed and granted DoLS applications regarding adults with learning disabilities

Living arrangements of adults with learning disabilities across the UK

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to compare data from national social care statistics on the living situations of people with learning disabilities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Design/methodology/approach - National social care statistics (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) reporting the living situations of adults with learning disabilities ( residential and nursing care, living with family, other forms of accommodation) were accessed, with data extracted on trends over time and rate of service use. Findings - There were substantial differences in the statistics collected across the UK. Overall, there were higher reported rates of adults with learning disabilities in residential/nursing accommodation in England than Scotland or Wales, but much lower reported rates of adults living in other forms of unsupported and supported accommodation and much lower reported rates of adults living with their families. In all three countries, trends over time suggest that reductions in residential care towards more independent living options may be stalling. In Northern Ireland reductions in currently extensive residential and nursing care services are continuing, unlike other parts of the UK. Social implications - Despite similar policy ambitions across the four parts of the UK, statistics on the living situations of adults with learning disabilities report substantial differences. Originality/value - This paper is a first attempt to compare national social care statistics concerning the living situations of adults with learning disabilities across the UK. With increasing divergence of health and social service systems, further comparative analyses of services for people with learning disabilities are needed

Policy Briefing: Implementing empirical ethics and rights - IDEAS for ensuring disability equity in research

Research collaboration between University of York, De Montfort University and Lancaster UniversityIn this policy briefing, we illustrate the development and potential of tools developed from commissioned public health research project where empirical ethics was combined with human rights to elucidate a critical framework for conducting and evaluating Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) in public health and disabilit

CQC inspection reports for acute NHS trusts:Are there relationships between the comments in inspection reports regarding people with learning disabilities and CQC hospital/trust ratings?

Purpose - People with learning disabilities are at risk of poor health and premature death. Due to these inequalities, NHS trusts are required to make reasonable adjustments to their care, such as longer appointment times, with the legal duty on them being “anticipatory”. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - Secondary analysis of CQC acute hospital inspection reports asking the following research questions: Do CQC inspection reports mention people with learning disabilities? Where issues concerning people with learning disabilities are reported in CQC hospital inspection reports, what issues and reasonable adjustments are reported? Are there any relationships between comments made in the inspection reports and CQC ratings of the trusts? Findings - In total, 29 of the 30 trust-wide inspection reports (97 per cent) and 58 of the 61 specific site reports (95 per cent) included at least one mention of people with learning disability/ies. Most comments about practices for people with learning disabilities were positive across all CQC inspection output types and across all CQC overall ratings, although the proportion of positive comments decreased and the proportion of negative comments increased as CQC ratings became less positive. Research limitations/implications - Overall the authors found that CQC inspection reports routinely contained some information regarding how well the hospitals were working for people with learning disabilities. The depth of information in reports varied across trusts, with the potential for CQC reports to more consistently report information collected during inspections. Originality/value - The report updates and extends a report published by the Public Health England Learning Disabilities Observatory in 2015

Specialist inpatient services for people with learning disabilities across the four countries of the UK

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare data from national censuses on specialist inpatient service use by people with learning disabilities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Design/methodology/approach National statistics (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) reporting inpatient service censuses including people with learning disabilities were accessed, with data extracted on trends over time, rate of service use, young people and length of stay. Findings The number and rate of people with learning disabilities in specialist inpatient services varied across the UK: 230 people in Scotland (rate 4.88 per 100,000 population); 3,250 people in England (5.48); 183 people in Wales (5.90); 144 people in Northern Ireland (7.82). The number of people in inpatient services in Northern Ireland halved over four years, in other areas reductions were modest. Between 5 and 8 per cent of people in inpatient services were children/young people. Median length of stay in the person?s current inpatient service varied: 19 months in England; 33 months in Scotland; three to five years in Northern Ireland. Social implications Different parts of the UK vary in the scale of their specialist inpatient services for people with learning disabilities. With the exception of Northern Ireland, which may still be in the last stages of completing a ?regular? deinstitutionalisation programme, strong policy prescriptions for substantial reductions in specialist inpatient services are currently only resulting in modest reductions. Originality/value This paper is a first attempt to compare national inpatient service statistics across the UK. With increasing divergence of health and social service systems, further comparative analyses of services for people with learning disabilities are needed

The Impact of Short Breaks on Families with a Disabled Child: Report One of the Quantitative Phase

This document reports on a cross-sectional sample of families with a disabled child using short breaks in England; it describes the characteristics of children and families using short breaks, the nature and quantity of the short breaks they are using, their experiences of and satisfaction with short breaks and which factors are associated with a range of outcomes for family carers, disabled children and their siblings. This report uses both quantitative data derived from standardised questions and qualitative data from family members’ written responses to open-ended questions in the survey instruments