Big news for the Treat me well campaign
Written by Paul McGowan
Today, the Government has announced plans for mandatory learning disability and autism training for all health and social care staff. The training is named after my son Oliver.
Oliver was a vibrant teenager who loved life. He was training to become a Paralympian and was playing in the England Development football squads. He was fit and healthy, and yet he died in hospital in 2016 at the age of only 18. We believe that Oliver’s death was highly preventable.
Following Oliver’s inquest it became obvious, we had lost Oliver simply because doctors and nurses did not have any training in understanding autism and learning disability. If they had, they would have known how to support Oliver's medical, social and emotional needs, and how to adapt the hospital environment to help Oliver to understand what was happening to him.
I wanted to send a big thank you to everyone who has been involved with the Treat me well campaign and everyone who signed my petition for training. The Government listened to us and ran a consultation on this issue, and now this training could transform how people with a learning disability are treated when they are in hospital.
What can you do now? If you haven't already signed up to support Treat me well, you can do so here.
You can find out more about Government's plans here, and watch me and Mencap's Head of Policy, Dan Scorer, on BBC Breakfast this morning here (08.10).
This announcement shows that campaigning really does work and when we all join together to call for change, we can achieve great things.
Thank you for campaigning with me and the Treat me well campaign.
Best wishes,
Paula McGowan
