How a nurse is fighting for the rights of people with learning disabilities

Jim Blair is unequivocal about why the welfare of people with learning disabilities warrants attention. "It is really important that we look at this as a human rights issue," he says. "A joint parliamentary committee report on human rights in 2008 effectively found this country guilty of violating the human rights of people with a learning disability. And [a year later] you had the [health] ombudsman saying that, at best, services were patchy and, at worst, an indictment of society. That's incredible."

After a 20-year career in the NHS working with learning disabled patients, Blair is familiar with the catalogue of problems they have faced, from sub-standard care to serious neglect leading to premature deaths. As a result, the consultant nurse has made it his mission to spearhead innovative improvements to care, including a "patient passport" that allows medical professionals to instantly access vital patient information.

Cognisant of recent revelations about abuse of adults with learning difficulties at Winterbourne View hospital near Bristol, and a series of reports from the charity Mencap about avoidable deaths in the NHS, Blair speaks with a visceral urgency about what he and others are doing about the longstanding failures of the healthcare system to provide for people with learning disabilities.

Blair says there is a growing impetus for change in the health system and within communities, and that the government should concentrate on recommending pragmatic initiatives such as having a national panel for learning disability that includes people with a disability and their carers.

He believes a "tipping point" has been reached for advocates and for people with learning disabilities. "We are getting a bigger voice. We are getting listened to more – and that's a very good thing."

"Article by Miss.Mary O'Hara"