The number of people with a learning disability who were screened for cancer or received an NHS health check in 2018/19 increased compared with the previous year, official figures have shown.
New data released by NHS Digital this month show the proportion of people with a learning disability who had a health check rose one percentage point from 55.1% in 2017/18 to 56.1% in 2018/19.
Meawhile, over the same period the proportion receiving cervical screening increased from 31.2% to 33.7%, and the rates of screening for colorectal cancer went from from 77.8% to 83%.
However, the figures also showed that people with a learning disability were nearly four times as likely to die compared with the general population between 2016 and 2019.
People with a learning disability also had higher rates of epilepsy, dysphagia and depression than the general population, according to the data.
The Government proposed in 2018 that personal health budgets should be extended to people with a learning disability to help manage their health and social care needs.
