
Annual Health Checks
Yesterday, the government released the NHS operational planning guidance for 2025/26. The document outlines the priorities for the NHS in the coming year. A number of targets are missing from this year’s guidance, including the goal for 75% of people with a learning disability to receive an annual health check.
The reason for annual health checks is that “people with a learning disability often have poorer physical and mental health than other people. An annual health check can improve people’s health by spotting problems earlier.” (NHS England). In 2022, 42% of deaths of people with a learning disability were avoidable – almost double the number of avoidable deaths in the general population. Annual Health Checks are a crucial way to catch health issues early, and to address the significant health inequalities that people with a learning disability face.
In 2024, The Challenging Behaviour Foundation worked with family carers, professionals and experts to co-produce a lifelong action plan for people with severe learning disabilities. Two of the key actions called for by both families and professionals to improve health were for all individuals with a learning disability aged 14+ to be on the learning disability register and for everyone on the learning disability register to receive an annual health check.
While people with a learning disability should still be able to access an annual health check, removing the target from the NHS England operational planning guidance both makes this less of a priority, and will likely mean that data will not be collected on how many people with a learning disability receive annual health checks. Without data being collected, we won’t be able to tell whether people are receiving the care that they are entitled to – or to identify where in the country additional work needs to be done to promote this right. Currently, only 26% of people with a learning disability are on the learning disability register – meaning that only 20% of people with a learning disability are receiving annual health checks (Nuffield Trust, 2024).
Jacqui Shurlock, CEO of the CBF said:
“Children, young people and adults with learning disabilities are more likely to experience health problems than the general population. Families tell us they face extra barriers to accessing healthcare for relatives with a severe learning disability and it is harder for people with severe learning disabilities to let people know about pain or feeling unwell. If someone is unwell or in pain, they may also more likely to display behaviours that challenge.
Much more action is needed to address the well documented health inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities. High quality annual health checks are an important preventative measure. It is widely agreed that they can prevent premature death and reduce unnecessary suffering by identifying some of the health problems commonly experienced by people with a learning disability, these include respiratory illnesses, heart disease, cancer and epilepsy.
We urge the government to reconsider the omission of annual health checks from this year’s NHS priorities.”
Further information on Annual Health Checks
Lord Darzi’s 2024 independent report into the National Health Service in England found that “people with a learning disability are twice as likely to die from preventable causes and four times as likely to die from treatable causes—with areas such as respiratory care and cancer care of particular concern. There are multiple barriers that prevent people with learning disabilities from accessing the care that they need.” The report also identified that there is a significant way to go to ensure that all people with a learning disability over the age of 14 receive annual health checks.
Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England
Research by the Race Equality Foundation shows that people with a learning disability from Black, South Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds have a dramatically lower life expectancy than their white counterparts. The average age of death of people with a learning disability from minority ethnic backgrounds is 34 years.
Links
NHS Operational Planning Guidance 25/26: 2025/26 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance: what you need to know | NHS Confederation
NHS England webpage: NHS England » Annual health checks
Co-Produced, Lifelong Action Plan: Health – Actions for Policy Makers – Challenging Behaviour Foundation
If you are concerned that your relative’s health needs are not being met, please contact the CBF Family Support team:
Call: 0300 666 0126
Or email: support@thecbf.org.uk
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