Publications by authors named "Paul Winterbottom"
Economic implications of current and future provision of English learning disability health services.
Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res
August 2004
Article Synopsis
- People with learning disabilities make up about 2.3% of the population, facing significant challenges from various physical and mental health issues that strain health and social services.
- Political actions and frameworks have aimed to improve care standards, but financial investments, especially for treatments like Alzheimer's in individuals with Down's syndrome, remain critical.
- There’s a growing divide in care quality between urban and rural areas, alongside a shift from public to private sector services, complicating recruitment and retention of clinicians in learning disability services.
Background: Following the closure of asylums and widespread changes in the population distribution of people with learning disabilities, there has been little investigation of changing expenditure requirements of health authorities in England.
Aims: To compare expenditure on learning disability health services across England with the burden of services regionally, as estimated by numbers of people with learning disabilities.
Method: A national database was set up using data from the National Audit Commission and the Department of Health.