Anyone can tell us when someone with a learning disability or an autistic person dies. Once LeDeR is notified of someone's death, their case is referred to a reviewer in the person's local area. The reviewer will contact the following people to talk about the person's life and death:
- family member or carer
- the person's GP
- at least one other person who knew them well, for example, another healthcare professional, a care provider, another family member or a friend.
LeDeR reviews should be completed within six months of LeDeR being told about the person's death. Sometimes it will not be possible to complete the review in 6 months because there might be other processes going on like a coroner’s inquest or another investigation. A LeDeR review waits until all these have happened first.
We know that some family members might not be ready to talk with us straight away. A reviewer or member of our team will perform an initial review which includes:
- speaking to the family member or someone close to the person who died. This allows us to build up a picture of their life and the type of person they were. This will also help the reviewer understand more about the person. The reviewer might also speak to someone they lived with or a carer who they were close to
- a detailed conversation with the GP or a review of the persons GP records
- a conversation with at least one other person involved in the care of the person who died
After this, the reviewer uses their judgement to decide if a focused review needs to happen. A focused review will usually happen if:
- the reviewer finds areas of concern or things they think we can learn from
- the person is from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background
- The person was autistic with no learning disability
- The person had been under mental health or criminal justice restrictions at the time of death or 5 years previously
A family member can always ask us to complete a focused review. A conversation will take place between the family and the reviewer about the expected outcome of a LeDeR review.
What happens next
A focused review will look in more detail at the person’s life. The review will also involve more people with different jobs.
The reviewer will send the completed review to the local governance group or panel with the areas of learning, good practice and concern. The group or panel will decide on actions to take, who will take these actions and the help they need to reduce health inequalities and stop people dying too young.