Health boards failing to carry out vital checks for adults with learning disabilities brought in to stop repeat of tragic case

Three years after the Scottish Government promised health checks for every adult with learning disabilities to save lives and prevent a repeat of the Margaret Fleming scandal, some health boards have failed to deliver any.

Others have not even identified half of the 40,000 people who are eligible, with just 2,573 checks completed according to the latest figures.

MSP Paul O’Kane and campaigners are warning that people are now dying from treatable illnesses because of the shambolic failed roll-out of the service bankrolled by an extra £6 million in public funding.

Margaret Fleming, 19, was murdered in Inverkip, Inverclyde, in 1999 after she was placed in the care of Eddie Cairns and Avril Jones, who collected £200,000 in benefits while health and care officials failed to check on the teen for almost 20 years.

Labour MSP O’Kane said: “What happened to Margaret is a stark reminder of the vulnerability of some people with learning disabilities.

“The Scottish Government have broken every promise to this community who’ve had to fight for the support and care they are entitled to.

“The rollout of these health checks has been shambolic. Hardly any have been completed, and almost half those who should be entitled to the service have not been identified.

“Some health boards say they haven’t been given enough funding.”

Up to 17,000 of the most vulnerable remain “invisible” like Margaret Fleming, at risk of falling through the cracks because health boards do not have them on their lists.

O’Kane said: “If health boards have no idea just who these people are, how on Earth are some of our most vulnerable people ever going to get the health checks they need?”

Research shows people with learning disabilities have a life expectancy of 20 years less than the general population and are nine times more likely to die of a treatable illness.

O’Kane said: “Some health boards haven’t even started carrying out checks, and we suspect others are so hard-pressed, they’ve been using their share of annual £2m extra funding to shore up other services.”

In a letter to health chiefs in January, Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd said: “My expectation is that all health boards in Scotland will be delivering annual health checks by March 31, 2025, and implementation is completed during 2025-26.”

But figures from the end of last year revealed several health boards including NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Shetland have not even started.

Greater Glasgow & Clyde, which has around 13,000 adults with learning disabilities, completed 939 health checks, while NHS Lothian, with 7,000 eligible adults, completed 231.

Dumfries and Galloway, with 1,300, completed four. With 2,000 eligible adults, NHS Fife has offered 580.

Caroline Cameron, health and social care director of NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said while they completed 760 checks, reductions in funding have forced the health board to “pause” the scheme. She said: “Further work will be undertaken to explore alternative models to deliver on the ambition of an annual health check alongside the delivery of core services.”

NHS Forth Valley said it piloted the health check scheme but would not confirm how many checks have been completed. NHS Highland, with 1,200 people eligible, completed 139.

Jenny Miller, of disability charity PAMIS, said: “People are dying today because they haven’t been treated for serious conditions which are overlooked because of their learning disabilities.

“Many in our community have conditions like cerebral palsy or neurological disorders which make it ­difficult for them to communicate, so there is a very real danger that serious conditions are not being caught.”

Eddie McConnell, chief executive of Down’s Syndrome Scotland, said: “We were delighted when the government announced annual health checks, describing it as a game- changer which could save many lives.

“The fact that so many of our community have still not received their health check three years on means we, as a society, are accepting that people with learning disabilities will continue to die prematurely from complications that are largely avoidable and preventable.”

Todd said: “The Scottish Government is providing funding to NHS boards to deliver this vital policy. Health checks are now being delivered to thousands across Scotland, bringing positive results.

“However, whilst there is good progress in some areas, progress in other areas needs to improve and this requires leadership and commitment at a local level. We will continue to work closely with NHS boards to support the change we expect to see.”

What happened to Margaret Fleming shocked Scotland, sparking a major review which warned that vulnerable others could be easily harmed and targeted after she ­“disappeared” and nobody noticed.

Bafta-winning filmmaker Lorraine McKechnie, whose film on the teen’s disappearance highlighted major inadequacies in the system, said: “It was unbearably shocking that the system which was supposed to protect her actually allowed her to become invisible for almost 20 years.

“This dreadful episode showed exactly why it is vital that we as a society look out for each other, and all adults who are seen as vulnerable receive annual health checks and proper support if we are we ever to prevent a repeat of such a case.”

Predators Cairney and Jones murdered Margaret, 19, in 1999 at their Inverkip home. The teenager had been placed in their care, but no officials checked on her as the evil pair collected her benefits of almost £200,000. Cairney, 82, died in prison in 2023 without ever revealing where Margaret’s body had been taken.