Over half of adults with learning difficulties do not live past 65, report says

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Over half of adults with learning difficulties do not live past 65, report saysImage source, Rosalie LanderImage caption, Charlie Lander (centre) died aged 48 after swallowing a plastic gloveByErica Witherington and Beth Rose, Disability affairs reportersPublished5 minutes agoMore than half of adults with learning disabilities in England die before the age of 65, an annual report into mortality suggests. For the general population, that figure is 15%, according to the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review, which is known as the LeDeR and was commissioned by NHS England. It looked at deaths recorded between 2021 and 2024 and found those with a learning disability died, on average, 19 years younger than the general population.

A government spokesperson said "significant action" was already underway to improve care, adding that ministers would "do all we can for people with a learning disability and autistic people. "In a written ministerial statement, the government said the LeDeR findings were "stark", while learning disability group Staying Alive and Well said "far too many people with a learning disability are still dying too young" and that it should be "headline news". The LeDeR found the proportion of avoidable deaths among those with learning disabilities, resulting from treatable conditions such as pneumonia or epilepsy, had "significantly declined" from 46% in 2021 to 39% in 2024, but remained almost double that of the general adult population.

The Details

The review was established in 2015 to examine the high mortality rates of people with learning disabilities and autism. When deaths are registered with the review, it looks into the person's life, the healthcare they received, their cause of death and whether anything could have been done differently. The subsequent report has been compiled by King's College London.

The Staying Alive and Well group said: "The numbers in this report are not just numbers for us. This is very real to us. This is about people.

People dying too young: that could be us. "The group said people with learning disabilities could feel "discriminated against or not taken seriously" when they needed healthcare, which made them "angry and upset". "Don't look away, however uncomfortable it makes you feel," they said.

"It may seem like we're not getting anywhere, but we want you to keep reporting and reviewing the deaths of people with a learning disability. "Image source, Staying Alive and WellImage caption, Members of the Staying Alive and Well group worked on the LeDeR report to help make it more understandable for people with learning disabilitiesThe government has confirmed Monday's report will be the final LeDeR publication in the current format, with future data due to be recorded alongside other health outcomes for people with autism and ADHD in England. In the written ministerial statement, health minister Preet Kaur Gill said the statistics highlighted in the report were "unacceptable".

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.