Help from your GP surgery | Learning disabilities

Learning disability register
Reasonable adjustments and accessible information
Annual health check

Learning disability register

If you have a learning disability, your GP should put you on the learning disability register.

If you are on the learning disability register, you get additional support from your GP.

Mencap have information in different languages, easy read guides, and videos.

Reasonable adjustments and accessible information

It is important that your GP knows all about you.

GPs can add information to your record, so they understand the best ways to talk to you and to help you get the health care you need. This is called reasonable adjustments.

Complete this form and give it to your GP to make sure they know what you need: reasonable adjustments and accessible information form (DOC, 1.72mb).

For more information about reasonable adjustments and why they are important:

read this easy read guide or
watch this rap music video by the Purple All-Stars.

Annual health check

If you have a learning disability and you are aged 14 or over, your GP will offer you an annual health check.

Having a yearly health check means you're less likely to get seriously sick or die from things that can be prevented.

If you’re under 25 years old, visit our annual health checks page on the SEND Local Offer.

To find out what an annual health check is, who it is for and why it is important:

Video of the purple all stars talking about annual health checks

watch this video from the Purple All-Stars or
visit the Mencap website - they have a video and an easy read guide.

Before your appointment

Go through the annual health check preparation form (PDF 568KB). Think about any important things you want to tell the doctor.
Keep a copy of the form in your Purple Folder.
Send the form to your GP, if they ask for it - this will help you and your GP prioritise the most important things to talk about.

On the day of your appointment

Take your annual health check preparation form with you.
If you are going to the appointment on your own, you might want to take an annual health check checklist (PDF 621kb). You can tick off each section to make sure you talk about all your health needs.
At your appointment, the doctor will make sure you know what the check is for and how it helps you stay healthy. If you don't understand, the doctor will decide what's best for you.

At the end of your appointment

You should get an annual health check action plan. This is a list of all the actions you have agreed together, which will help your health.
You should get a stay healthy at home checklist (PDF 979kb). This has lots of guides for looking after your health.
If you need any help, contact the learning disability nurses.

"My annual health check has helped find health problems I didn’t know I had. I now look after my own health better because of all the things that we talk about."

Gavin Howcroft, Expert by Experience Advisor