Received in today, an email from the Petitions team at Parliament:

Dear xxxxxx,

Parliament debated the petition you signed – “Prevent avoidable deaths by making autism/learning disability training mandatory”

Watch the debate: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/b10b5496-54a6-4262-bb54-5c74ec58eedf

Read the transcript: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-10-22/debates/F8EBB4E2-C858-4B5B-B2E0-39D0C25EAA4C/AutismAndLearningDisabilityTrainingHealthcareProfessionals

Read the research: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/news-parliament-2017/autism-training-22-10/

The petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/221033

Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament

It is actually worth looking particularly at the transcript of this Westminster Hall debate. The debate may not have been well attended (to judge from the TV images), but those attending were knowledgable of  and/or interested in the issues raised.

I noted especially the informed comments on the difficulty that people with learning disabilities and/or autism now have in accessing mental health services, and on the ‘variable’ quality of those services when available; also the concerns raised about the training of all nurses, and additionally about the critical shortage of learning disability nurses.

Several speakers referred to the fact that health care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism is one of the five priorities within  NHS’s  ’10 Year Plan’  announced in August. (I refer you to recent posts on this and to our  ‘Learning Disability, Health and Obesity’ page. )

If nothing else, read the transcript of the debate for the closing contributions of Minister Carol Dinenage, which summarise the government’s commitment to improvement and included this statement:

“In addition to the existing criteria for professional regulation and registration, there are also existing health and social care regulations that are designed to ensure staff have had appropriate training. However, it is clear from the tragic deaths of Oliver and the many, many like him that that is not enough; we need to go further. One of the recommendations in the LeDeR report echoes the petition in saying that there should be mandatory learning disability training for all health and care staff.

We welcome that recommendation and we have made a commitment to consult formally on it, and we will conclude the consultation by the end of March. I can also confirm that we will include autism within this consultation. My aim is not to mess around with this work, as I have already articulated; the Government’s plans will be published by the summer and regulations could be introduced by the end of 2019. A formal consultation is essential if we are going to change regulations, which is one of the routes by which we can ensure that training is absolutely mandatory.”