Your Learning Disability Annual Health Check
What is an annual health check?
- If you are 14 years or older and have a learning disability, you can get a free health check every year at the GP surgery
- This is to help you stay healthy and to find problems early
- You can bring someone with you, like a family member, friend or carer
Why is it important?
- People with learning disabilities can sometimes have extra health problems
- You may not always feel ill when something is wrong
- The health check helps find problems before they get worse
- It helps you and your carer to understand your health and what you can do to look after yourself
What happens before your appointment?
- The surgery will send you a letter inviting you for your health check
- If you do not answer, we will phone you
- We will ask if you need any reasonable adjustments – for example:
- a longer appointment
- a quieter waiting room
What happens at your appointment?
You will normally see a nurse and a doctor. We will:
- Check your weight, height and blood pressure
- Ask about your eyes, hearing, teeth and skin
- Talk about your eating and drinking habits
- Ask if you smoke or drink alcohol, and help you cut down if you want
- Check your medication
- Talk about how you feel – your mood, behaviour and sleep
- Ask about any pain or health problems
- Make sure your vaccinations are up to date
Other things we may check
- Your heart, lungs and breathing
- Your bowel and bladder health
- Your mobility (how you get around) and posture
- Your sexual health (if you want to talk about it)
- We may need to arrange a blood, wee or poo test
What to bring
- Your personal health record if you have one
- A urine sample if we have asked for it
- Any medicines you are taking
After your health check
- We will explain what we found and give you advice
- We will tell you if you need more tests or treatment
- We will update your care plan
- You can ask questions at any time
Your rights
- You have the right to good healthcare
- You have the right to understand what is happening
- You can say yes or no to any part of the check
- We will always respect your privacy
If you have questions
- Call the surgery and ask for the Learning Disability Lead Nurse or Lead GP
We are here to help you stay healthy and get the care you need