Disparities in the uptake of learning disability (intellectual disability) annual health checks

BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disabilities (referred to as learning disabilities in the United Kingdom) face considerable health inequalities. One attempt to address these in England has been through incentivising General Practices to complete annual health checks with people with a learning disability aged 14 or over. AIM: We aimed to examine recent trends in learning disability registers and the uptake of learning disability annual health checks in England. DESIGN AND SETTING: Secondary analysis of publicly available data. METHODS: We compiled and analysed NHS England data on the learning disabilities annual health check scheme from January 2022 to November 2025. RESULTS: The number of 14-17year-olds and adults on learning disability registers increased during this period by 30.49% and 14.53%, respectively. The most recent estimates indicate that around 0.588% of patients are on learning disability registers and 0.526% are also aged ≥14-years-old and eligible for annual health checks. The uptake of annual health checks increased slightly from 68.08% to 71.58% among 14-17-year-olds, and from 79.07% to 80.71% among adults. Uptake is lowest in the South-West and East of England, and highest in London, but is similar across deciles of patient deprivation and practice size. CONCLUSION: Ascertainment of people with a learning disability by primary care services appears to be improving but remains between a third and a quarter of prevalence estimates. The uptake of annual health checks among 14-17-year-olds continues to lag behind that of adults.