Charity urge government review after disabled people “left behind” during Covid-19 pandemic

By Rachael Burford, Local Democracy Reporter

A review into why people with learning disabilities were “left behind at every stage” during the Covid-19 crisis should be completed post pandemic, a leading charity said today.

Yesterday the Government confirmed people with learning disabilities will be next in line to receive the Covid vaccine after the group was missed off the priority lists, despite statistics showing they die at six times the rate of the wider population with the virus.

It follows a campaign by Jo Whiley whose younger sister Francis, 53, has the rare Cri du Chat genetic syndrome and was admitted to hospital after an outbreak in her Northamptonshire care home.

The BBC DJ, 55, warned the disabled risk becoming “forgotten” victims of the pandemic and said she had been offered the vaccine before her sister, who survived the virus but has been left with complications including “worrying diabetes and high blood pressure issues”.

Jackie O’Sullivan, Mencap’s executive director of advocacy, said the pandemic had had a “severe” effect on the estimated 1.5million people with a learning disability in the UK, with many shielding for almost a year and usual services closed.

She added they and their carers were “last in the queue” for PPE, testing and then the vaccine.

“There was data early in the pandemic which showed the affect the virus has on people with learning disabilities,” she said.

“Care homes for older people were prioritised and rightly. [But] we lagged so far behind when it came to PPE and testing. They were left behind at every stage. There is no question they have been at the bottom of the list.

“That is definitely something we would like to bring out in a post pandemic review. An analysis of what we can do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

It comes as a new study today revealed nearly two-thirds of disabled people are experiencing chronic loneliness during lockdown, sparking a fears of a mental health crisis facing the population.

The research by disability charity Sense said cases of loneliness has jumped by a quarter in the last year after surveying 1,011 people.

Sense chief executive Richard Kramer said: “Throughout the pandemic the needs of disabled people have been overlooked, and they have often felt forgotten.

“The Government must recognise the severe impact the pandemic is having on disabled people.”