Supporting people with learning disabilities to have blood tests

Abstract

People with learning disabilities experience challenges in accessing effective healthcare and undergoing invasive investigations, including blood tests. Disability discrimination legislation places the onus on services to make reasonable adjustments so that this group can receive effective health interventions. If people have capacity to consent, a refusal to undergo a diagnostic procedure or investigation must be respected. If they do not have capacity to consent, however, chemical or physical restraint may be used to facilitate procedures. Locally, service users were, on occasion, not receiving timely diagnosis of their health conditions because of their refusal to undergo a blood test. Individual desensitisation work was often undertaken as a result, as was treatment under sedation, with varying degrees of success.This article explores the implementation of an evidence-based group intervention that aimed to increase the likelihood that people with a learning disability would consent to receive blood tests without the need for chemical or physical restraint. Since its implementation in 2011 seven groups have been completed with a total of 18 participants, of whom 14 had a blood test successfully.