Learning Disabilities: Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reinstating the annual health check target of 75% for people with learning disabilities.
Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed
The Department and NHS England have not undertaken a specific assessment of reinstating the 75% annual health check target for people with a learning disability. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to general practitioners (GPs) in October 2025 emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and providing high quality annual health checks. These checks are the first line of defence for people with a learning disability, many of whom live with additional health needs, including long-term conditions. Strong support from GPs to maintain learning disability annual health checks has enabled more people than ever before to receive a health check and health action plan, an increase of more than 20% since 2020.
As of March 2025, 81.5% of eligible people on the GP learning disability register received an annual health check, surpassing the previous 75% National Health Service target.
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