How to get care right for people with learning disabilities in the emergency department: ask and engage.

Healthcare professionals are legally obliged to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that people, including those with learning disabilities, can access appropriate and timely care. However, although people with learning disabilities are high users of general health services, staff have little understanding of learning disability with a negative effect on patient experience and outcomes. This article explores some of the challenges experienced by people with learning disabilities in the emergency department (ED).

Care adjustments for people with learning disabilities in hospitals.

Health inequalities start early in life for people with learning disabilities. In the UK, they can arise from various barriers that people experience when trying to access care that should be appropriate, timely and effective. Inequalities in health care are likely to result in many NHS organisations breaching their legal responsibilities, as outlined in the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005, the Equality Act 2010 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Emerson and Baines 2010).

Assessing the value of the internet in health improvement.

The internet is a powerful tool that provides easy access to information. Many people access it for health information and bring the material gathered to health appointments. However, the information may not always be correct or adequately monitored for quality.

E-learning: a virtual challenge for educators.

This article examines e-learning in nurse education, specifically in learning disability nurse education, exploring its anticipated impact and discussing the importance of managing its implementation. Ways of utilising new technologies for the benefit of nursing students are analysed. The article also looks at how nurses' use of e-learning can help people with learning disabilities and cautions against relying on an overly technological approach in the humanistic fields of education and nursing.