Publication, Part of Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities
Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities Experimental Statistics 2019 to 2020
Experimental statistics, Other reports and statistics, Official statistics in development
Data Quality Notice
NHS England had identified an issue with the data for the following indicator which was reported in the Interactive Visualisation Tool and the data csv file for this publication:
LDOB080 - Number of patients recorded on their general practice’s Learning Disabilities Register aged 14 years or over who have received an annual learning disability health check and have been provided with a health action plan, as at the end of the reporting period.
The proportion of people on the learning disability register with a heath check and health action plan was lower than expected. We have investigated the issue and found an error in the data extraction. We have therefore removed LDOB080 from the published Power BI and csv files for years 2019-20 through to 2024-25. An alternative source of this data is available for this indicator and we recommend that you refer to the Learning Disability Health Check Scheme publication for March 2020: Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme - NHS England Digital
13 May 2026 11:58 AM
Cancer Screening
Breast, cervical or colorectal cancer screening test, 2019-20
A significantly smaller proportion of patients with a Learning Disability had a breast, cervical and/or colorectal cancer screening test in 2019-20 compared to patients without a Learning Disability. The level of difference varies depending on the type of cancer.
Patients must give their consent to the screening procedure - this is known as informed consent.
Methods for screening vary depending on the type of cancer for more information go to the NHS website 'Screening and Earlier Diagnosis'.
Cervical smear test- adequate sample, 2019-20
In 2019-20, 40.0% of patients with a learning disability were eligible for a cervical smear test compared to 47.1% of patients without a learning disability.
Around a third of eligible patents with a learning disability had an adequate smear test compared to nearly three quarters of eligible patents without a learning disability for the same period.
A sample may be deemed inadequate for a variety of reasons including:
- poor cellular sample (scanty)
- consists largely of blood, neutrophils, or polymorphs with few squamous cells.
- showed marked cytolysis where few intact squamous cells remain.
- lacked endocervical cells in follow up of treated endocervical dyskaryosis.
- No brush head in vial.
- Fluid spilt/leaked from vial.
Cervical smear test
The proportion of eligible patients with a learning disability who had an adequate smear test increased by 2.4 percentage points between 2015-16 to 2019-20 (31.2% 2015-16 to 33.6% 2019-20) whilst the proportion of eligible patients without a learning disability who had an adequate smear test increased by 0.7 percentage points over the same period (71.0% 2015-16 to 71.8% 2019-20).
Last edited: 13 May 2026 3:39 pm