Anyone can notify the death of someone with a learning disability or an autistic person. Once the death is notified to the online LeDeR system the information is shared with the local integrated care board who allocate a reviewer.
LeDeR reviews should be completed within six months of the ICB 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 straight away. A reviewer 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 for a focused review to be completed. A conversation will take place between the family and the reviewer about the expected outcome of a LeDeR review, always remembering that the review is about learning for the future.
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 roles.
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 what actions to take, who will take these actions to reduce health inequalities and stop people dying too young.