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The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced that NHS staff and social care workers in England will now undergo mandatory training on autism and learning disabilities. The training programme, which has been named after a patient in Bristol who sadly lost their life, will aim to improve care for people with autism and learning disabilities so that all staff understand their needs.

It is the first training of its kind to be introduced to all care staff. The Department of Health and Social Care is hoping the new training, which will be rolled out nationwide following a brief pilot scheme, will help close the inequality gap for patients with autism or learning disabilities. Patients admitted to hospitals and care homes with learning disabilities or on the autism spectrum are four times more likely to die before the age of 75 than other patients reports say.

Matt Hancock has also announced that his department will be reviewing the care of all 2,250 people with a learning disability who are in hospital within the next twelve months. This is in addition to a new independent panel, being chaired by Baroness Sheila Hollins, a professor of psychiatry and learning disabilities, which will work to oversee the care of children in hospital with additional needs.

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