NHS Health Navigator Project

Working with GPs across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

We are working in together with NHS Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (NHS BNSSG ICB) to raise awareness of the importance of annual health checks for people with a learning disability from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Health outcomes for people with a learning disability

Research shows that health outcomes or people with a learning disability are worse than for the ‘general’ population. Life expectancy is lower on average by 20 years. For people from ethnic minority communities this is even worse. A review by the Race Equality Foundation has found that the average life expectancy for people with a learning disability from ethnic minority communities is 34 years old.

Annual health checks and the learning disability register

We have been commissioned to work with families from ethnic minorities to raise awareness of the importance of annual health checks. We will be supporting carers and families to ensure that the person with a learning disability attends their GP surgery for an annual health check. They are legally entitled to have an annual health check from the age of 14 onwards.

The person with a learning disability needs to be on the learning disability register before then can get an annual health check. This can be done through their GP. A person can go on the learning disability register at any age: they can be a child, a teenager or an adult.

Being on the learning disability register lets health services know that the person who has a learning disability may need reasonable adjustments to help them go to their appointments.

Some examples of reasonable adjustments are:

offering longer appointments
having a quiet room waiting room
information in easy read or large print
having a carer or support worker attend
having a choice of a face to face or virtual appointment

To find out more about the learning disability register watch this short video from Mencap.

How we will support our families

There will be five areas we will be working on to help families:

To support the person to register with a GP if they have not already done so
To support the person to register on the learning disability register at their GP
To support the person to have their annual health check with their GP
To follow up on the health action plan with the person and support them to follow through on the plan
To support the person to continue to have their annual health check the following year

This project will be running from November 2024 to November 2026.