HEALTHCARE commissioners in Thurrock have been working hard with families and people living with learning disabilities to put together a collection of resources for borough GP practices and people living with learning difficulties to encourage better take up of the free annual health check.

Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group is working with practices to help increase the number of people registered with learning disabilities as they know that there are many people aged 14 and over who have a learning difficulty but are not registered.

A statement says: "We want to improve health outcomes for people. Having an annual health check is a great way to pick up any conditions early and prevent future ill health.

"The resources are to help people understand the process of going for a health check, and for GP practices in helping people with LD improve their experience of the annual health check from invitation to completing a Health Action Plan. Click the red additional information link below to see details of what resources are available.

Together with partners in NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG, Thurrock CCG has produced a video on the benefits of the Annual Health Checks for people with learning disabilities. You can hear from people who share their thoughts on annual health checks, their experiences of visiting their GP practices, and their ideas of how things can be made better.