Background: NHS England's "Transforming Care" agenda aims to reduce the number of adults with intellectual disabilities and autistic adults in mental health hospitals. The aim was to understand the demographic and clinical characteristics of those most at risk of admission. Method: A cohort, retrospective study of adults using community…

In England, the national mortality review programme for people with intellectual disabilities, the LeDeR programme, was established in 2015. The programme supports local areas to review the deaths of all people with intellectual disabilities aged 4 years and over. Each death has an initial review; if indicated, a full multi-agency review takes…

Young people moving from child and adolescent secure hospitals present with complex needs and vulnerabilities and are more likely to experience poor transition outcomes. Previous research has indicated the presence of several risk factors in periods of transition, such as poor liaison among services, lack of proper planning, shortage of beds in…

Autistic people are over-represented at gender clinics, but there is limited research to guide clinical practice with this group. We investigated the perspectives of clinicians working with autistic patients who experience gender dysphoria. We asked clinicians about the relationship between autism and gender dysphoria, and whether they work…

Autistic people have difficulties recalling episodic memories, including retrieving fewer or less specific and detailed memories compared to typically developing people. However, the ability to effectively recall episodic memories is crucial in many real-world contexts, such as the criminal justice system, medical consultations, and employment…

Recalling specific past experiences is critical for most formal social interactions, including when being interviewed for employment, as a witness or defendant in the criminal justice system, or as a patient during a clinical consultation. Such interviews can be difficult for autistic adults under standard open questioning, yet applied research…

Background: Obesity is common in adults with intellectual disabilities, yet little is known about how weight management interventions are provided for this population. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were held with 14 healthcare practitioners involved in weight management interventions in an English county. A study topic guide was developed to…

Background: There is limited research documenting the health and/or psychological services accessed by adults with rare genetic syndromes who engage in challenging behaviour. The study documented service receipt and associations with person characteristics. Method: Thirty-two parents of adults with rare genetic syndromes completed an adapted…

The NHS Constitution requires all NHS organisations to provide high-quality comprehensive services, based on clinical need, which do not discriminate between patients (DH 2010a). Together with its health and social care partners, the NHS also has a statutory duty of care to meet the needs of all patients with dignity and compassion. Recent…

Aims: To explore how service users' views of measuring addiction recovery differ from those of service providers. Methods: Five focus groups conducted in two English cities with (i) people currently using Class A drugs (n = 6); (ii) people currently using alcohol (n = 12); (iii) individuals in residential detoxification (n = 12); (iv) individuals…

Little is known about the health status of and health risks faced by adults with intellectual disability who do not use intellectual disability services. Self-report data collected from 1,022 people with mild intellectual disability in England indicated that people who do not use intellectual disability services are more likely to smoke tobacco…

Background: Patients with intellectual disabilities (ID) receive health care by proxy. It is family members and/or paid support staff who must recognise health problems, communicate with clinicians, and report the benefits, if any, of a particular treatment. At the same time international and national statutes protect and promote the right of…

There is very limited evidence on the patterns of recreational substance use among adults with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) who have co-morbid mental health problems. In this study we collected clinical and socio-demographic information as well as data on substance use patterns for consecutive new referrals (N = 115) to specialist mental health…

When people are ill, they want to know what is happening to them and how they can get better. Current health policies support patients' access to health information and encourage them to take part in decisions regarding their health. But little is known about how patients learn and the difficulties they may encounter in the process. This paper…

An audit was carried out to gain an overview of the profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) population in a local health trust to inform current and future service provision. An overview of the issues faced in developing clear defining criteria is presented. Published definitions of PMLD were used to identify clients from data held on…