Public Health England’s research (Covid deaths for people with learning disability in England six times average, 12 November) reveals yet more discrimination against this marginalised group in society. From the beginning of the pandemic, this group of people, particularly those in care homes, have had their needs ignored. Decades of underfunding of social care has stripped many of the services used by those with learning disabilities and autistic young people and adults down to the bare minimum, and the costs of surviving the pandemic have hastened this decline.
The emphasis on the damage to health in care homes, and the emotional impact of separation from loved ones, has been almost exclusively focused on the elderly and people with dementia, yet younger people with learning disabilities and autism are suffering anxiety, loneliness and distress too, as are their families. The promise of priority access to any potential vaccine has been given only to the elderly, not everyone at risk, in care homes.
Students are being promised fast-track testing so they can be reunited with their families at Christmas. Where is the fast-track testing for young people with learning disabilities and autism so they can be with their families at Christmas? A monthly test of residents in care homes is simply a PR exercise from a government failing in its responsibilities to the most vulnerable in society.
Maggie Lyons
Sheffield
