Dear Colleagues
Please find below and attached a press release announcing the launch of the website for the Improving Heath And Lives Learning Disabilities Observatory ( www.ihal.org.uk or www.improvinghealthandlives.org.uk ). This is a DH-funded public health observatory concerning people with learning disabilities, jointly run by the North East Public Health Observatory, the Centre for Disability Research at Lancaster University, and the National Development Team for Inclusion.
Please have a look round the site and register to get more regular updates etc - and please pass this message on to networks of colleagues who might be interested.
If you've got any ideas for improving the website or any ideas for relevant national datasets that you think we might not be aware of, please contact in contact with me (Chris Hatton) at ( [log in to unmask] ).
Best wishes
Chris Hatton
Improving Health And Lives Learning Disabilities Observatory Launched.
27th July 2010
CONTACT Gyles Glover - [log in to unmask] - 07792 673037 - 0191
334 0418 / 0400
The Public Health Observatory for people with learning disabilities, recommended by Sir Jonathan Michael in his Inquiry following Mencap's report 'Death by Indifference' was launched this week. Based in the NHS North East Public Health Observatory in Stockton-On-Tees, the unit is a collaboration with the Centre for Disability Research (CeDR) at Lancaster University and the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi).
The Michael report recommended the setting up of an Observatory, noting that one of the key obstacles to delivering and evaluating the effectiveness of health services for people with learning disabilities was a lack of information. The lack of markers for learning disabilities (like ethnic markers) in national datasets makes people with this problem statistically invisible. The Observatory's remit is to collate and report all the data that are currently available, work to widen the scope of this, and to help in developing approaches (including numerical tools) to aid planners, commissioners and service managers locally to make health services more accessible to people with learning disabilities.
Rob Greig, chief executive of NDTi said: "Together, we will support the NHS and local authorities to make more evidence based decisions on commissioning and service delivery for those with learning disabilities. Initially, we will be working with several local health communities across the country to provide practical advice and support to help improve services for people with learning disabilities. Over the next three years, wider learning from the new observatory will be shared across the country through a series of regional events."
Professor Eric Emerson of CeDR said: "It is imperative that we address the health and social inequalities faced by people with learning disabilities living in England today. By monitoring progress and improving the scope and quality of information available to key stakeholders, the new observatory can make a very real difference."
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The observatory can be found at www.ihal.org.uk (or
www.improvinghealthandlives.org.uk)
The accompanying picture shows Gyles Glover showing Anne Williams, national director for learning disabilities and Ann Norman, Learning Disabilities and Criminal Justice Nursing Adviser to the RCN and a member of the Michael Enquiry team a map of the variation in rates of learning disabilities identified by GPs. The map can be seen at http://www.ihal.org.uk/numbers/doctors/maps/
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Email: [log in to unmask]
Mobile Phone: 07792 673 037
Skype: gyles.glover
http://www.improvinghealthandlives.org.uk
Work address:
The Learning Disabilities Observatory at NEPHO, Wolfson Research Institute, University of Durham Queen's Campus University Boulevard Stockton on Tees
TS17 6BH
Office phone 0191 334 0418
fax 0191 334 0391
GMC Number: 2462228
--
Email: [log in to unmask]
Mobile Phone: 07792 673 037
Skype: gyles.glover
http://www.improvinghealthandlives.org.uk
Work address:
The Learning Disabilities Observatory at NEPHO, Wolfson Research Institute, University of Durham Queen's Campus University Boulevard Stockton on Tees
TS17 6BH
Office phone 0191 334 0418
fax 0191 334 0391
GMC Number: 2462228
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