LeDeR Reviews

The Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) programme was set up by NHS England to improve the health and social care of people with learning disabilities. It is coordinated by Bristol University but managed locally by each authority.

If a person with a learning disability (aged 4 years or over) dies the LeDeR programme should be notified so that a review can be carried out and any learning identified.

In each case the reviewer will look at the health needs of the individual and the care they were getting, as well as whether annual health checks were being carried out, the right services were being accessed, medication was being reviewed, and reasonable adjustments were being made.

The programme also provides support to local areas to take forward any lessons learned in the reviews to make improvements to service provision.

Key processes to deliver mortality reviews of people with learning disabilities have been established in Newcastle and Gateshead with a local steering group established since Jan 2018. The Newcastle Gateshead Integrated Care Board (ICB) takes the Strategic lead for this area of work. The ICB has developed a robust quality assurance process to ensure that reviewers are supported, and that ultimately the system delivers high quality reviews and shares the lessons learned across local systems feeding into both North East and Cumbria and nationally.